THE DOMESTIC CAT: Equanimity

Bred from the more social African wildcat, the domestic cat has been a part of people’s lives since before the time of the ancient Egyptians. Remains of the domestic cats were found, on the island of Cyprus, dating from 8000 B.C.E. Unlike her elusive cat cousins, African Wildcat liked living close to towns and villages. The domestic cat, like her ancestor, is tamer and less secretive than most wildcats. She socializes with people, however like a true cat, only on her terms.

Living in a social hierarchy, the domestic cat forms close friendships. In her family group (kindle), the domestic cat sits with and nose-bumps her friends. By rubbing her body against other cats, She reinforces the bonds of her Kindle. (A cat that is rubbed the most is the highest-ranking cat.)

Throughout the centuries, the domestic cat’s fortunes has risen and fallen. In Ancient Rome and Egypt, She was a Goddess. Because a domestic cat symbolized the Egyptian god Bast, any person who killed a domestic cat was put to death. As the Cat-Mother, Bast embodied the benevolent aspects of Cat: fertility, love, and life-giving heat. In Rome, She represented the Goddess of Liberty. Roman legions carried images of the domestic cat on their shields and standards.

In early Christian times, the domestic cat was regarded as a helper. Aboard Noah’s Ark, She kept out the Devil, who had taken on the form of a gnawing Mouse. The “M” on her forehead was placed there by the Virgin Mary, in gratitude for her aid in putting the Baby Jesus to sleep. Stories of the saints featured the domestic cat killing the Mice that tormented various Catholic saints.

However, as Christianity spread, the domestic cat became associated with evil. Thought to be a familiar of witches, the domestic cat was endowed with evil by the Christian Church. For example, medieval people believed that She would try to thwart an expecting mother from giving birth. “Having kittens” meant that a cat, inside of a pregnant woman, wanted to get out. Such beliefs were rooted in earlier times when cats were sacred to the Great Goddess and connected to childbirth. In the Medieval Christian mind, the domestic cat was closely tied to Paganism and hence to evil.

The nadir for the domestic cat’s fortunes occurred when Baudouin III, Count of Flanders threw his cats from his castle towers. His cat killing was a symbol that Baudouin embraced Christianity with all his heart. An annual cat festival was conducted in Flanders, complete with throwing cats out of windows to mark the occasion of his conversion.

A late arrival in Japan, The domestic cat did not appear in Japanese folklore until about the 1400s. Since the Japanese believed that She brought good fortune, they made statues of the domestic cat with her front left paw raised for good luck. (“The Lucky Cat.”) In addition, Japanese sailors believed that the domestic cat kept the evil spirits away that dwelled in the sea.

Throughout it all, the domestic cat has kept her equanimity. No matter what people thought about Her, She lived her life as a champion mouser. The domestic cat helps those who ask, and ignores everyone else. People speak of the domestic cat’s independence, but what She really possesses is inner peace. No matter what happens, She knows that She is still a Goddess. Remember the saying “A cat may look at a king.”

Inscription on the royal tombs at Thebes. “Thou art the Great Cat, the avenger of the gods, and the judge of words, and the president of the sovereign chiefs and the governor of the holy Circle; thou art indeed…the Great Cat.”

Conservation Note: Feral Cats are a problem wherever they are. Cat owners fail to spay and neuter their animals, and often abandon the offspring. These ‘throwaways’ die from starvation, disease, abuse, and predators. Those that survive are a menace to birds, and are carriers of various diseases. REMEMBER TO SPAY OR NEUTER YOUR CATS.

Mythic Animals: Cat Beasts: The Antlion

modern insect: antlion

The “Ant-lion” could be one of two beasts. According to Medieval Bestiaries, one beast called “ant-lion” was the result of the mating between an ant and a lion. This beast had the head of a lion and the body of an ant. Since the lion head ate only meat, and the ant body could only digest grain, this “ant-lion” would starve to death.

 

The other beast is known as the “lion of ants.” This large ant-beast hid in the sand and ambushed the ants as they came crawling by. These insects feared the “lion of ants,” since the beast was larger than any of them, and hunted them without mercy. However to the birds, this “ant-lion” was only a tasty insect to eat. In addition, various Bestiaries said that the beast would run away if its intended victim stood up to it.

 

Works Used

Armott, Michael, “The Aberdeen Bestiary,” Aberdeen University Library, 1995, http://www.abdn.ac.uk/bestiary/bestiary.hti, .

Badke, David, “Medieval Bestiary,” 15 Jan. 2011, http://bestiary.ca/index.html, .

Swanson, Mark, “The Antlion Pit: A Doodlebug Anthology,” 2012, http://www.antlionpit.com/index.html, .

Mythic Animals: Cat Beasts: Pard and Panther

Pard: Aberdeen Bestiary

Because language evolves over time, “Pard” and “Panther” has changed in meaning from the Medieval Ages to modern times. “Panther” today could indicate a jaguar, leopard, or puma. However in the Medieval Ages, it had a different meaning altogether. Meanwhile during this time, “leopard” had the specific meaning of “the offspring of the adultery between a lioness and a pard.” Today, the word “Pard” is out of use.

According to various Medieval Bestiaries, a Pard was a cat-beast, “who can kill its prey in a single leap.” Other information available about the Pard is that the beast was swift and would mate with a lion. According to Homer, a Pard had a spotted coat. From this seemingly lack of information, I surmised that the Pard was an ordinary animal, not worthy of note. However, this cat-beast did do one extraordinary thing – mate outside its species.

In contrast, the writers of various Bestiaries compared the Panther to Christ. The Bestiaries add that the

Panther: Medieval Bestiary

Panther was a gentle cat-beast, who had a spotted coat with either “white or black discs.” After feasting, this cat-beast would retire to a cave for three days. When it emerged, the Panther would roar giving off sweet perfumed breath. This sweet breath would draw animals to the Panther much like Christ’s words drew people to Him. The Panther was a magical beast who could conquer Dragons, which would hide when the Panther was about. From the wealth of information about the Panther, I concluded that this was an extraordinary and magical beast unlike the common Pard. Moreover, the Panther did not mate with another species, and could only bear one offspring in its lifetime.

Works Used

Armott, Michael, “The Aberdeen Bestiary,” Aberdeen University Library, 1995, http://www.abdn.ac.uk/bestiary/bestiary.hti, .

Badke, David, “Medieval Bestiary,” 15 Jan. 2011, http://bestiary.ca/index.html, .

Chou, Peter, “Panther Mythology,” the Wisdom Portal, 15 Feb. 2007, http://www.wisdomportal.com/Poems2007/Panther-Mythology.html, .

Ethics for Magical People: Feral and Stray Animals (2 of 2)

ACA suggest for the control of feral cats in a particular area to Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) them. Besides preventing further breeding, neutering also deters cat fights, territory marking, and yowling. Returning the cats prevents the vacuum effect from happening. In addition, ACA suggest that each colony have a “minder” to provide veterinarian care and to remove any new cats for further evaluation. The minder keeps the cats from getting sick and spreading their illnesses to humans.

One thing that the HSUS cautions against is to ban the feeding of feral cats by people. Feeding bans have been used by communities to either drive the cats out or starve them to death. However, the hungry cats will move even closer to human homes to raid their garbage cans. Often malnourished, these cats, infested with parasites, pass them onto unsuspecting people. Also, dead cats provide havens for disease transmittal.

I saw the success of ACA’s work with the feral colony living near the dumpster behind my doctor’s office. Their minder neutered the cats, fed, and housed them on site. She would check for new cats, which usually turned out to be strays. After five years, the colony died out naturally, and remains cat-free.

For feral dogs, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) urges that the dogs be sterilized and vaccinated. This will keep them healthy, less aggressive, and not prone to attacking people. The IFAW advises against a “shoot-and-kill” policy which does little to decrease the number of dogs. The object is to prevent the breeding of more animals, and the entry of new dogs. One solution to animal overpopulation is to spay and neuter feral animals, and keep them in their home territories.

Cesar Millan, the “Dog Whisperer,” and Randy Grimm of Stray Rescue of St. Louis (MO) agree that feral dogs should be rehabilitated. As pack animals, feral dogs can be encouraged to join the human pack. One of my neighbors works with abandoned dogs and trains them. Two of the feral dogs that she rehabilitated became therapy dogs for autistic children. My other neighbor has a pit bull, which was rehabilitated, as a pet. (This particular dog was used as a breeder for a dog fighting ring, and later abandoned as a bait dog.) In these three cases, once the dog became habituated to humans, the animal made an excellent pet.

Giant snakes and lizards can only be kept by herpetological societies since they are so dangerous. Kaplan believes that stricter licensing combined with higher pricing will deter people from buying reptiles that they will not care for. Since many of these reptiles are wild captures, they cannot be returned to the wild because of exposure to captive-bred animals. In response, many herpetological societies do extensive educational programs with these animals at schools to raise awareness and money for the care of abandoned reptiles.

“Shoot to kill,” removal, and euthanasia does not work to solve animal overpopulation. Measures that address both the vacuum effect and overbreeding at the source do better. Grimm stressed that it is a problem without an owner, which keeps it from being resolved. Millan noted only when packs of feral dogs start to roam in more upscale neighborhoods, will the problem be addressed.

To curb the numbers of unwanted animals, people must to be willing to pay taxes for better animal control. Andrei Poyarkov, a Russian specialist on feral dogs, also emphasizes that efficient garbage collection is needed, as well, to deter feeding places for feral animals. Through the media, people can be persuaded to get their pets from shelters, and to spay and neuter them. Through a network of increased animal control, education, spaying and neutering, and TNR will the numbers subside.  Until people address the problem, the nightmare that now happening in Russia will occur elsewhere.

Organizations Consulted.

Alley Cat Allies, 2012, http://www.alleycat.org/

American Humane Association, 2012, http://www.americanhumane.org/

Baltimore (MD) Humane Society, 2012, http://www.bmorehumane.org/

The Humane Society of the United States, 2012, http://www.humanesociety.org/

International Fund for Animal Welfare, 2012, http://www.ifaw.org/united-states/

National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy, 2009,

http://www.petpopulation.org/index.htm.

Stray Rescue of St. Louis (MO), 2012, http://strayrescue.org/, .

Works Used.

Alexandrova, Lyudmila, “Moscow’s Dog Owners Say No to Dog Hunters,” 29 October 2012, Itar-Tass News Agency, http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c39/558090.html.

Doig, Will, “The Secret Lives of Feral Dogs,” Salon.com, 14, January, 2012, http://www.salon.com/2012/01/14/the_secret_lives_of_feral_dogs/.

Eremenko, Alexey, “Russian Doghunters Have No Nightmares,” RIA Novosti, 28 August 2012, http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20120823/175391749.html.

Jouvenal, Justin, “Fight over Ferals Boils Down to One Question: Do Alley Cats Live a Good Life?,” “The Washington Post,” 24, May, 2011, http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/fight-over-ferals-boils-down-to-one-question-do-alley-cats-live-a-good-life/2011/05/19/AFejOYAH_story.html

Kaplan, Melissa, “Herp Care Collection,” 2012, http://www.anapsid.org/

“NYC Feral Cat Initiative,” Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals, 2012, http://www.nycferalcat.org/index.htm

Mott, Marilyn, “U.S. Facing Feral-Dog Crisis,” National Geographic News, 21 August, 2003, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/pf/34706631.html

“Helping Pets and People in Crisis,” Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals, 2012, http://www.animalalliancenyc.org/initiatives/crisis/index.htm

Wilkes, Joe, “Stray Dog Epidemic Hits U.S.”, Cesar’s Way, 22 February 2012, http://www.cesarsway.com/dogcare/health/Stray-Dog-Epidemic-Hits-US.