A sick experiment
The phrase 鈥渨hat goes up must come down鈥� isn鈥檛 obviously relevant to the insides of a cat.
The countervailing 鈥渨hat goes down must come up鈥� is, when that cat has swallowed something of dubious nutritional worth.
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Christiana Fischer, Nolan Chalifoux and Erica Reineke have quantified the 鈥渕ust鈥� aspect of it, as they explain to anyone with the stomach to read their report 鈥溾��, published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.
In their documented experience, objects that have been ingested by cats can be encouraged back up the oesophagus in half of all cases.
The trio of veterinarians, all of whom are based at the University of Pennsylvania, say: 鈥淥f the 22 cats that had emesis attempted, 11 (50%) vomited some or all of the foreign object. The time from ingestion to presentation, time from the last meal, presence of food in the vomitus, type of the object, and length, width, and surface area of the object did not influence the likelihood of successful recovery with emesis induction.鈥�
The most common objects the cats ingested, they report, were rubber bands.
Food stuff
Spray-dried animal plasma has yet to hit it big in the food and fine dining industries.
Spray-dried animal plasma is pretty much what it says on the tin. Almost no one yet loudly mentions it as a foodstuff (or partial foodstuff) for humans. Livestock industries have been more welcoming, using spray-dried animal plasma as a food additive for piglets, calves and young chickens.
The substance, sometimes also made from pigs, cows and poultry, is attractive for more than just its possible yumminess. There is cost, in this age of rising food prices. There is efficiency, in the drive to minimise food waste by maximising recycling. And there is, maybe, good health for the elderly. A new study suggests that 鈥溾��.
The pet food industry has taken spray-dried animal plasma to its bosom. Reports indirectly show how the little-bits-of-everything substance could become tempting for chefs and food vendors.
In Spain, Javier Polo and Carmen Rodr铆guez have written a series of studies about not only its 鈥渇unctional properties鈥�, but also some of the simple pleasures that spray-dried animal plasma can bring to a meal. Yumminess rises high in their paper called 鈥溾��.
Spray-dried animal plasma 鈥� 鈥淪DP鈥� to those in the know 鈥� potentially offers much to many, even to the littlest among us. A says that, while 鈥淭he effects of SDP on shrimp health is not well understood鈥�, 鈥渋t could potentially be applied in shrimp farming as an alternative to antibiotics鈥�.
Just like us
Inspired by the old saying that 鈥減eople are the strangest animals鈥�, Feedback wants to compile a sturdy list of animal behaviour metaphors that also tellingly describe some of our fellow humans.
This could be an enlightening project. The colourful strangenesses characteristic of certain people strongly resemble the colourful strangenesses characteristic of certain species of other, non-human animals, after all.
Such a list might also be useful to professionals. People can be frustrating for psychologists and psychiatrists, who struggle to find simple, clear phrases that capture the essence of each person鈥檚 m茅lange of characteristic behaviours.
Eventually, when equipped with a catalogue of apposite metaphors, psychologists and psychiatrists would be able to calculate the percentages of the world鈥檚 human population who are metaphorically cat, dog, fox, sparrow, cockroach, earthworm, snake, shark, ear mite or whatever.
Here is an example, in the form of an 18-word of aardvark behaviour, which was published in the Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior: 鈥淎ardvarks capture their prey using a combination of their long prehensile tongue, their adhesive saliva, and large claws.鈥� Many of us have a human friend or colleague who behaves almost exactly this way.
You can help us gather a simple but broad-ranging catalogue of these metaphors, which we shall call Human Animal Behavioural Intrinsic Traits (HABITs). Send your entries to feedback@newscientist.com, and please remember to provide your sources.
Snot a superpower
Patrick Laughlin contributes to another of Feedback鈥檚 catalogue projects. Laughlin boasts a trivial superpower that can be cultivated and that can extend the joys of childhood into later life.
He says: 鈥淚n primary school, my best friend and I invented the 鈥榳ahmie鈥�. You occlude one nostril with a fingertip, and blast out snot from the other, directing it to either side. One can become quite accurate with practice. I still use the wahmie when walking in the woods to avoid having to carry tissue, especially in allergy season.鈥�
Got a story for Feedback?
You can send stories to Feedback by email at feedback@newscientist.com. Please include your home address. This week鈥檚 and past Feedbacks can be seen on our website.