Off Topic More Proof that Cats are Evil

Cats 'control mice' with chemicals in their urine
By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC News

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Potent cocktail: Has this cat been manipulating mice with its urine?
Cat v mouse: it is probably the most famous predator-prey pairing, enshrined in idioms and a well-known cartoon.

And cats, it turns out, even have chemical warfare in their anti-mouse arsenal - contained in their urine.

Researchers found that when very young mice were exposed to a chemical in cat urine, they were less likely to avoid the scent of cats later in life.

The findings were presented at the Society for Experimental Biology's annual meeting in Prague.

The researchers, from the AN Severtov Institute of Ecology and Evolution in Moscow, had previously found that the compound - aptly named felinine - causes pregnant mice to abort.

Dr Vera Voznessenskaya explained that mice have a physiological response to this cat-specific compound.

Chemical-sensing mouse neurons in the mouse's brain pick up the scent, triggering a reaction which includes an increase in the levels of stress hormones.

"It's something that has existed in cats and mice for thousands of years," said Dr Voznessenskaya.

This new study revealed that baby mice exposed to the compound during a "critical period" in their development would, as adults, react quite differently to their arch enemy's smell.

The team exposed one-month-old mice to the chemical over two weeks. When they were tested later for their reaction, they were much less likely to flee the same scent.

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The interaction between cats and mice has a long history
"Their physical sensitivity [to the chemical] was actually actually much higher," Dr Voznessenskaya explained. "More of their receptors detect the compound and they produce higher levels of stress hormone."

Despite this though, mice raised around the unmistakable scent of cat pee are less inclined to show signs of fear, or to flee when they sniff it out.

"You get a higher response, but less behaviour," said Dr Voznessenskaya, "and habituating like this is probably useful for the mice; they can't run away, because they need to live around humans and food. And cats [also] live around humans."

As for the cats: "They seem to be able to keep the number of mice around that they need," she added.

 

Sympathy post.

 

Could have done without that second picture

 

Not a fan of mice? Or do black and white pictures freak you out?

 

DR will love this... LOL

 

Haven't seen @The DR says in ages - I feel unloved at night...

I hope he's ok

 

Youll feel even more unloved when he sees this thread...

 

I heard he had possibly hurt his leg?

 

Nah that can't be right. I'm sure he would have mentioned it if he had.

 

He'd probably make out it was a lot worse than it actually was anyway

 

I'm sure @Red Hadron Collider would have had sympathy though.

 

Not justt @Red Hadron Collider bur the whole board

 

True, but I find that @Red Hadron Collider is always able to succinctly put his thoughts and feelings into words that mean so much to all of us.

 

True @Red Hadron Collider does

 

One of those two things, yeh ...

 

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@Red Hadron Collider is a ****

#subtle

 

@Red Hadron Collider is a @moreinjuredthanowen ?

 

@moreinjuredthanowen is a **** but @Red Hadron Collider is THE ****.

 

But is @Red Hadron Collider a nozzle