News Briefs for the Week of May 12, 2002
By Marcella Durand for Cat Facts
- Neutered Males Stay Healthier
A recent study a recent study of the prevalence of feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) in 1,876 free-roaming cats in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Gainesville, Florida confirmed the importance of neutering male cats. The study found the rates of FIV infection were significantly higher in male cats than female-four times as high, to be exact. "Biting and territorial aggression are highly efficient modes of transmission for FIV," states the study, published in the March 1, 2002 issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. "The natural territorial fighting behaviors of free-roaming sexually intact male cats can therefore predispose them to a higher rate of FIV infection."
Studies of disease transmission in stray and feral cats are few and far between. "To the authors' knowledge," states the study, "no studies of a large number of un-owned free-roaming cats have been reported in the United States," even though it's been estimated that there are 25 to 60 million such cats in the United States today.
- Washington Legalizes Kitty Massage
It's hard to imagine spending time in jail giving a cat a therapeutic massage. However, until recently, animal massage was illegal in Washington State. For years, says Martha Jordan, an animal massage therapist based in Everett, Washington, animal massage therapists worked "kind of behind the scenes."
"Technically, we were illegal because of the way the law was structured," says Jordan, "but that didn't stop us from continuing to work."
Thanks to a unique coalition of Washington state veterinarians, pet and horse owners, and massage therapists, animal massage was made legal last year. "At a national level, there has been interest in doing animal massage [but] nothing really formal had ever coalesced-[it] has been addressed in different states in different ways, but never in the way that Washington did it," according to Jordan. Utah has a bill in its legislature modeled after Washington's law, which allows massage therapists to add an endorsement to an existing human massage therapy license with 100 hours of additional training.
Jordan, who says classes are full at the Northwest School of Animal Massage, is particularly enthusiastic about feline massage, which she feels has many uses. "Cat massage works wonderfully, especially when you have feral cats or cats with problems. I've worked on cats [who were] seriously injured in car accidents and helped rehab them." Jordan, who has also worked on the big cats, including lions and tigers, says massage "is just as good for the owner as it is for the cat-we get so much benefit out of massage." And, thanks to the Washington legislature, not only does it feel good, but it's legal, too.
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