Aussie cats immune to catnip?

zakur · 21st July 2004, 06:10 AM

Story

Quote:

Not every cat is responsive to catnip, however. And, in fact, according to Karen Overall, MA, VMD, PhD, cats in Australia are missing out entirely. "Cats in Australia don't respond to catnip because it's genetic," she says. "They've had a six-month quarantine forever to get animals into the country, so they've basically had a closed gene pool."

Huh?

Benguin · 21st July 2004, 06:14 AM

Learned genetics from the same website as KumarTroll, obviously

The Don · 21st July 2004, 06:19 AM

I don't think she's suggesting that quarantine cures cats of their catnip addiction just that the original gene pool for Australia's cats was very small and included more of their fair share of catnip haters and that no more cats have been brought into Australia.

This sounds ridiculous, surely someone brought their puddy tats in despite the quarantine restrictions ?

drkitten · 21st July 2004, 06:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by The Don
I don't think she's suggesting that quarantine cures cats of their catnip addiction just that the original gene pool for Australia's cats was very small and included more of their fair share of catnip haters and that no more cats have been brought into Australia.

This sounds ridiculous, surely someone brought their puddy tats in despite the quarantine restrictions ?

Very few people are willing to subject their cats to that.

richardm · 21st July 2004, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by The Don
This sounds ridiculous, surely someone brought their puddy tats in despite the quarantine restrictions ?

Even with the quarantine restrictions, your moggy's only banged up for 30 days. What effect that's supposed to have on the gene pool I can't imagine.

richardm · 21st July 2004, 06:56 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by drkitten
Very few people are willing to subject their cats to that.

It's hardly a punitive regime , most countries have just a 30 day quarantine period. Well worth putting up with, if the alternative is rehoming your cat (or worse).

richardm · 21st July 2004, 06:58 AM

Although, in fairness, I daresay it's only become so short since rabies vaccines have been available.

Rolfe · 21st July 2004, 07:04 AM

If it's only a month now, that's new. It was six months for ages, same as here. And I think the month only applies to cats with pet passports and rabies vaccination and so on.

But anyway, I must have seen ever so many export applications for cats emigrating with their owners to Australia and New Zealand, even back before Pet Passport days. I wouldn't know about total numbers, but there must have been a pretty sizeable addition to the gene pool over the decades. (Unless most of the emigrés were neutered, hmmm.... but some of them were breeding pedigrees....)

Rolfe.

21st July 2004, 06:10 AM	#1
zakur Illuminator Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Dayton, OH Posts: 3,265	Aussie cats immune to catnip? Story Quote: Not every cat is responsive to catnip, however. And, in fact, according to Karen Overall, MA, VMD, PhD, cats in Australia are missing out entirely. "Cats in Australia don't respond to catnip because it's genetic," she says. "They've had a six-month quarantine forever to get animals into the country, so they've basically had a closed gene pool." Huh?
	__________________ "I do not believe in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." -Thomas Carlyle "That's the problem these days: nobody thinks of the tumors." -steinhenge

21st July 2004, 06:14 AM	#2
Benguin Too Chilled For The Anti-Homeopathy Illuminati Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 1,902	Learned genetics from the same website as KumarTroll, obviously
	__________________ It has been said cats have nine lives which, if true, makes them great candidates for experimentation. 100,000 medical doctors say go read this before quoting their articles. Probably. Voltaire "Atheism - the vice of a few intelligent people"

21st July 2004, 06:53 AM	#5
richardm Philosopher Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 9,270	Quote: Originally posted by The Don This sounds ridiculous, surely someone brought their puddy tats in despite the quarantine restrictions ? Even with the quarantine restrictions, your moggy's only banged up for 30 days. What effect that's supposed to have on the gene pool I can't imagine.
richardm Philosopher Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 9,270	__________________ Rimmer: Look at her! Magnificent woman! Very prim, very proper, almost austere. Some people took her for cold, thought she was aloof. Not a bit of it. She just despised fools. Quite tragic, really, because otherwise I think we'd have got on famously.

21st July 2004, 06:56 AM	#6
richardm Philosopher Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 9,270	Quote: Originally posted by drkitten Very few people are willing to subject their cats to that. It's hardly a punitive regime , most countries have just a 30 day quarantine period. Well worth putting up with, if the alternative is rehoming your cat (or worse).
richardm Philosopher Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 9,270	__________________ Rimmer: Look at her! Magnificent woman! Very prim, very proper, almost austere. Some people took her for cold, thought she was aloof. Not a bit of it. She just despised fools. Quite tragic, really, because otherwise I think we'd have got on famously.

21st July 2004, 06:58 AM	#7
richardm Philosopher Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 9,270	Although, in fairness, I daresay it's only become so short since rabies vaccines have been available.
richardm Philosopher Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 9,270	__________________ Rimmer: Look at her! Magnificent woman! Very prim, very proper, almost austere. Some people took her for cold, thought she was aloof. Not a bit of it. She just despised fools. Quite tragic, really, because otherwise I think we'd have got on famously.

21st July 2004, 06:19 AM	#3
The Don Philosopher Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Cymru Posts: 8,265	I don't think she's suggesting that quarantine cures cats of their catnip addiction just that the original gene pool for Australia's cats was very small and included more of their fair share of catnip haters and that no more cats have been brought into Australia. This sounds ridiculous, surely someone brought their puddy tats in despite the quarantine restrictions ?

21st July 2004, 06:48 AM	#4
drkitten Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Wits' End Posts: 21,647	Quote: Originally posted by The Don I don't think she's suggesting that quarantine cures cats of their catnip addiction just that the original gene pool for Australia's cats was very small and included more of their fair share of catnip haters and that no more cats have been brought into Australia. This sounds ridiculous, surely someone brought their puddy tats in despite the quarantine restrictions ? Very few people are willing to subject their cats to that.

21st July 2004, 07:04 AM	#8
Rolfe Anti-homeopathy illuminati member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: NT 150 511 Posts: 34,340	If it's only a month now, that's new. It was six months for ages, same as here. And I think the month only applies to cats with pet passports and rabies vaccination and so on. But anyway, I must have seen ever so many export applications for cats emigrating with their owners to Australia and New Zealand, even back before Pet Passport days. I wouldn't know about total numbers, but there must have been a pretty sizeable addition to the gene pool over the decades. (Unless most of the emigrés were neutered, hmmm.... but some of them were breeding pedigrees....) Rolfe.
	__________________ "The way we vote will depend, ultimately, on whether we are persuaded to hope or to fear." - Aonghas MacNeacail, June 2012.