Cat Clone: Cc (for carbon copy) is just over a year old. Her birth on Dec. 22, 2001, was big news when it was announced last February because it was the first time a household pet had been cloned. Previous mammal clones were barnyard animals like cows and goats
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Fancy a Cat Clone?
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Rainbow the cat is a typical calico with splotches of brown, tan and gold on white. Cc, her clone, has a striped gray coat over white.
Rainbow is reserved. Cc is curious and playful.
Rainbow is chunky. Cc is sleek.
Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society might be inclined to say: I told you so. But then, so would cc's creators at Texas A&M University.
Sure, you can clone your favorite cat. But the copy will not necessarily act or even look like the original.
Cc (for carbon copy) is just over a year old. Her birth on Dec. 22, 2001, was big news when it was announced last February because it was the first time a household pet had been cloned. Previous mammal clones were barnyard animals like cows and goats.
Cc's creation was funded by Genetic Savings & Clone, a company that hopes to make money from people's desires to duplicate their favorite pets. Last February, in the journal Nature, the A&M researchers published details of the project and DNA test results that showed cc was a clone.
But people who hope cloning will resurrect a pet will be disappointed, said Duane Kraemer, one of A&M's animal cloning experts.
Experts say environment is as important as genes in determining a cat's personality. And as far as appearance, having the same DNA as another calico cat doesn't always produce the same coat pattern.
"This vindicates the opposition we espoused from the beginning, that cloning does not lead to duplication," said Pacelle, senior vice president of the Humane Society of the United States.
"Not only does cloning not produce a physical duplicate, but it can never reproduce the behavior or personality of a cat that you want to keep around. There are millions of cats in shelters and with rescue groups that need homes, and the last thing we need is a new production strategy for cats."
Before the birth of cc, Genetic Savings & Clone had hundreds of pet DNA samples stored at a cost of $895 for healthy animals and $1,395 for sick or dead animals.
Lou Hawthorne, Genetic Savings & Clone chief executive, has estimated that the cost to create a clone will initially be in the low five figures and later drop to the low four figures.
Though cc's arrival sparked a deluge of calls from pet owners, more research is needed to figure out how to produce consistently healthy clones before the company can start doing it commercially, said Ben Carlson, the company's spokesman.
"A year ago, we said we'd start commercial services in a year, and here we are a year later," Carlson said. "It's really impossible for us to make a certain prediction as to how long it's going to take to develop the technology to get successful results."
There is a demand from dog lovers, but scientists so far have been unable to clone a canine.
In fact, cc's creation was the result of a dog lover, not a cat lover. University of Phoenix founder John Sperling wanted a duplicate of his collie mix, Missy. With his $3.7 million, Texas A&M launched the "Missyplicity" project over four years ago.
Now, Missy is dead, euthanized last year because of an inoperable growth on her esophagus. Sperling has redirected his funding to the Sausalito, California, Genetic Savings & Clone, which he hopes will one day deliver a clone of Missy.
Carlson said the company tells pet owners that cloning won't resurrect their pet and that the company has turned away some customers clearly interested in getting the same animal.
"In the short term, it's easy to exploit that misperception," he said. "But in the long term, it's unethical, and the pet owner will quickly find that, 'Hey, this isn't Fluffy, this puppy doesn't recognize me or know all the old tricks.'"
However, he said cloning could reproduce what a pet owner considers to be exceptional genes, particularly from an animal with unknown parentage or one that has been spayed or neutered.
"A small percentage of the population know exactly what they want and they want to stick with it -- another animal as similar as possible," Carlson said. "That's the motive we've encountered among our clients."
But disclaimers could go unheard by pet owners desperate to duplicate an animal, said University of Pennsylvania bioethicist Arthur Caplan, a critic of cloning and companies that purport to sell it.
He said animal lovers bond with pets because of their personalities and behaviors, not the genetic material that defines the immune system or blood type.
"The new cloned dog won't know the old tricks you have to teach them," Caplan said. "It doesn't matter how many genes they have in common."
With the Missyplicity funding gone, Texas A&M will continue trying to break new ground in cloning farm animals, wildlife and dogs, but it is finished with cats and any commercial pet venture.
As for cc, the Texas scientists say she has shown no signs of genetic defects.
"She's been perfectly healthy and perfectly a cat ever since her birth," Kraemer said. "That's true of all our clones. You'd have to be told they were cloned in order to know" they weren't conceived the natural way.
Even so, cc has been protected by a sterile environment, a precaution to make sure she is healthy; visitors are not allowed to pet her.
That will change gradually when she moves into her new home with Kraemer and his wife, Shirley. The Kraemers will introduce her slowly, first exposing her to people who have cats before letting her cavort with their other two felines.
In time, they plan to breed cc and let her produce some carbon copies of her own. But they are looking for just the right tom.
"Our geneticists haven't gotten back with that information," Kraemer said.
Also see : If you're ready to create your own cat disaster preparedness plan use these resources to create a plan custom-fitted for you. Your local Emergency Response Team can assist you in locating animal-friendly shelters in case of evacuation. They will also be able to provide you with any and all requirements necessary to house animals in such a shelter. (In most cases pets will need to be crated and will need to bring copies of their immunization records).
Cats Training on Extreme Meowing: Has you cat been trained to do excess meowing? When we hear a cat meowing, what is the first thing that comes in one's mind? Your cat is hungry!
Fancy a Cat Clone Sure, you can clone your favorite cat. But the copy will not necessarily act or even look like the original.
The Scottish Fold Cat The first Scottish Fold cat came from a farm in Pearthshire, Scotland, England in, 1961. The cat was discovered by a local shepherd who noticed the strange folded ears
Cats Help Shield Owners From Heart Attack Whether it's a frisky kitten or a tubby tabby, a cat at home could cut your heart attack risk by almost a third, a new study suggests
It is estimated that a cat can kill up to one hundred birds each year. Millions of birds are killed by pets and feral cats as are tens of millions of rodents and other small animals. Cats are not a natural part of the ecosystem. They were introduced to North America in large numbers in the 1800's. Unlike other predators, cats are fed and inoculated against disease, and are not reliant on their hunting skills for survival. In addition to killing birds through hunting, cats can transmit diseases, which kill wildlife.
Feral, or wild cats are descended from domesticated pets When cats are lost or abandoned, they return to a more primitive wild state, know as feral. Although feral cats may live alone, often they join large groups or colonies of other wild cats. Their lives are hard, and their life expectancies are much lower than their domesticated kin
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Taking Care of an Older Cat: Cats are not turtles. Okay, I know what you're thinking, people aren't turtles, either. However, when you really think about it,
people are a lot closer to turtles than cats in the sense that
turtles, as well as people, can live to be 100 years
Dental Disease in Dogs and Cats: periodontal disease (problems in the area around the teeth) is one of the most common health problems in companion animals. It is estimated that 80 per cent of dogs and 70 per cent of cats
older than 3 years of age suffer from some level of periodontal disease
Flea Control For Cats And Dogs: As a pet owner I'm sure you'd be frustrated at the sight of your pet scratching and suffering from fleas. If you look into the veterinary arsenal you will see that there are a number of products that help you fight the war against fleas
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THERE ARE OVER 50 CAT BREEDS. WHAT BREED MAKES THE BEST PET?
How to choose the perfect cat breed for you is easy if you do your research first. Cats are the world's most popular pets. They are independent but at the same time make for great company.
Training Your Cat for Aggression
The ears flatten backwards, cat is snarling with the sharp teeth
exposed as he has his mouth wide open, and the eyes dilated.
This is prime example of aggression in a cat.
Holiday Training Your Cat: With all the holiday's coming up soon, there is still time to get your cat trained for the holidays. You will want to search
out tips on saving the tree and table for the holidays, with
your cat around
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Mammary Cancer In Cats: Any adult female cat can develop mammary cancer, but the average age is usually 10-14 years of age. Siamese cats appear to have a genetic predisposition for developing mammary cancer and are twice as likely to develop it as other breeds. Unspayed females are at a much greater risk of developing mammary cancer. Female cats that were spayed after having one to several heat cycles, with or without having kittens, are also at a greater risk than a cat that was spayed before her first heat cycle.
Important nutritional information on cat food
Protein is crucial for your cat's health, and generally comes
from fish, meat or poultry. Advertisers will often say their
brand is beef, turkey or mackerel flavoured, but it may not
actually contain those products
Mac Daddy Cat Challenge- Can your cat hack it? Think you have a Mac Daddy Cat? Upload your cats photos and let the world decide. Monthly winners posted on CatNews.org. - Can your cat hack it?.
Save money and time by applying proven solutions to get rid of cat urine odor in your home Read more
Learn The Cat Training Secrets The Experts Don't Want You To Know! Read more
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Meow Mix House - Cat Reality Television
My friends at Meow Mix have done it again, they have produced a reality TV show staring 10 homeless cats.
All ten cats were chosen from animal shelters from around the country.
The cats are spending their time in a storefront window in New York City. The players are brought to life with the use of voice over and the public votes one of the cats out of the house each week. Sound like something you've watched before?
The best part is when the cats gets voted out of the Meow Mix House they go to an adopted new home and the winner will be the new Meow Mix spokes-cat.
Thanks to Meow Mix for providing great entertainment for us cat lovers.
If you have a cat - or more than one cat - then you're in the market for some quick and easy training tips. The following tips . . . tricks . . . and techniques cover a variety of situations that most cat owners encounter.
The key to effective training is consistency. Whatever you choose, be sure to do it on regularly, otherwise, you'll be sending your cat mixed signals. And that will only make it that much harder to train her. Forget about cat training in 10 minutes!
Below are ten "must have" tips that will get you through your initial phase cat ownership.
1. Cats really don't care that you punish them. It's true. If you've owned a dog, you know that punishing him will help change his behavior. It doesn't with cats. Bottom line. Don't waste your time. They'll sit there purring at you and just perform that same behavior again.
2. Corporal punishment is out of the question. Because a cat's body is so delicate, you can't "spank" a cat the way you do a dog to get its attention. That means when you're training your cat, you have to match wits with it. Don't worry. I'm confident you'll win. There are things out there like cat clicker training, but I don't recommend it.
3. Use a form of positive reinforcement. As you become a seasoned cat owner, you'll discover that it's difficult to catch your cat in the actual "crime". It's far easier, then, to reward your cat when you see her performing a right behavior. Keep some cat "treats" on hand. Feed one to your cat whenever she is doing something positive - like using the litter box or using her scratching post.
4. Keep plenty of toys - either store bought or make shift - around the house. Much of the "bad" behavior of cats is simply because they're board. The feline is by nature a predatory animal. Remember the scene in the Disney movie, The Lion King, where little Simba gets "pouncing lessons." When you think your cat is literally bouncing off the walls and tearing down the curtains, he's only practicing his predatory skills. Provide him with alternatives and he'll tame down - at least some.
5. When you're away, keep him busy. If your cat is used to company, he may get bored and inadvertently destruction while you're at work or are gone for any length of time. Here's a quick hint. Buy a timer for your television set, make sure the TV is tuned to an animal-friendly channel (an outdoor channel or Animal Planet for instance) and then have the television automatically turn on at different times of the day. Cats can see images on the screen. He'll come to investigate the noise and stay to watch the picture - at least for a while.
6. The value of a spray bottle of water. In some instances, spraying a cat with a harmless water bottle is enough to get their attention and stop the bad behavior. You only need a simple spray bottle that you use for misting plants. Squirt the cat if it misbehaves. Soon, he'll know that he can't do that.
7. Blow a harmless puff of air in your cat's face. Yes, this sounds crazy, but it really works. If your cat is literally in your face and you need to teach him to keep a certain distance and give you some space, try it. Blow a puff of air into his face. It'll startle and puzzle him. Soon, he'll associate the two and you won't be bothered by the unpleasant attention he gives you.
8. Make sure you cat has "a room with a view". You know what they say, "curiosity killed the cat." More appropriately, an irate owner went berserk over something a bored cat got into. Much of the bad behavior of your cat is simply due to his innate curiosity. Make sure he has a ledge or window sill that he can sit in comfortably to check out the birds and squirrels in your yard. If your window sill isn't large enough for him to sit for extended periods, you can by an extension at the pet store. Or, if someone you know is handy, you can make your own.
9. Spend quality time with your cat. As a training technique, this may sound a bit unorthodox. But, it's really a savvy move on your part. The more time you spend with your kitty, the better you'll be able to communicate with her. Cats definitely have a form of communication skills that involves more than just "talking." The better you know your cat - and just as importantly, the better your cat knows you - you'll be able "to read her mind". You'll just "know" when she's considering an improper move. And she'll know when you disapprove just by reading your body language and the look on your face.
10. Confine the aggressive cat. Reward the victim. Got more than one cat? Then you probably have that occasional "cat fight." Felines are territorial animals. They will get into a fight now and then over their "catdom." If you view the fight, your first step is to disengage the action. Using a water sprayer is the best method. Squirt the aggressor. Try to avoid squirting the victim. After that, confine the "bully" in a less attractive space. In the meantime, reward the cat who didn't attack - even when she was being attacked. Give her a treat and let her free roam the house. When you do put this pair of felines together again, try to keep them as supervised as possible.
These ideas are only the tip of the iceberg when you're training your cat. As you and your pet begin to know each better, you'll discover a language of your own. It may be through speech - you talk and she meows. But more than likely, the two of you will eventually be able to read each other's body language. You'll soon learn the subtle nuances of this very effective form of communication . . . and teaching your cat what she needs to know will be easier than you can ever imagine.
About The Author Jim Moore Jim has come to appreciate throughout his life how you should take care and give loving attention to your cat.
7 Secrets to Successful Cat Toilet Training My family never thought of cat toilet training, but like to rear cats at home. I do not really mind them around, but the problem of dealing with their wastes poses some challenges to me.
Red fluorescent cats
Red fluorescent cats: This picture, taken through a special filter in a dark room, shows a cat, left, possessing a red fluorescent protein that makes the animal glow in the dark when exposed to ultraviolet rays, appearing next to a normal cloned cat.
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Cat Training Aides: The market is flooded with all different types of aids for training a cat. From simple little things to very large expense items, there are sprays to keep cats off furniture to large housing for cats, to a simple leash to help with training
Solar-Induced Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Cats
Squamous cell carcinoma is a cancerous disease that most
commonly involves skin. Fair-skinned people tend to be
predisposed to this type of cancer after chronic, excessive
exposure to sunlight. Likewise, white or light-colored cats
Train a Cat to Listen
Cats cannot be discipline as you would a dog. With a dog they
are social dominant that can be trained to have you as the
dominant one. The reason that cats will not react as a dog is
that cats have social groups only by respect and social... read more
Training a Cat to Hunt
How to train your cat to hunt with out eating the prey
Does you cat seem to be hunting all the time, pouncing on the
toys as they were going in for the kill, raking their claws over
your feet as if they are a piece of meat ?
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Caring For Your Cats Teeth: Many people do not brush their cats teeth often enough, some have never done it. If your cat’s teeth are not brushed, bacteria will build up and could result in loss of teeth. You should brush your cat’s teeth every week. If you have a kitten you should start brushing when all of its 36 teeth have grown which is around 6 months of age. If you have an adult cat, introduce slowly and keep the sessions short
Cat Toilet Training: One of the first things as an owner that wants to toilet train your cat is to know about your cat
How To Do Cat Litter Box Retraining: Cats stop using the cat litter box for a number of reasons. Once you discover the reason why and correct it, you may need to re-train your cat to use her box again. Despite what you think,
you can train a cat! For most cats, it's not hard
openDemocracy continues its Ulysses series with Erik Orsenna's travels along the 21st century cotton trail. From Mali to China, via the US, Brazil, Egypt, and Uzbekistan, he explores the mechanisms of globalisation, trade and livelihood. 26 - 09 ...
With apologies to those of you with Tony Orlando songs still stuck in your head - here's the afternoon wild card... At DFO's request, I'm taking another run at blog-sitting while he's on vacation. And so, I'm making a plea to all of you to help me ...
Proof That Osama Bin Laden is Dead
Dateline: Jan. 2008
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Yemengzhu - The 3 Billion Dollar Rock What weighs 6.2 tons and is worth more then 3.1 billion dollars? Are your guessing a new high tech battleship or maybe a new stealth fighter? Well it's a big ball of glow in the dark fluorite. Thats right a rock! read more --- Yemengzhus, 亦稱傳奇光亮珍珠在中國, 是罕見的煥發的球在黑暗的熒石。
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