World without Cats (38 page)

I am also grateful to Dr. Randall Singer, veterinary epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota, for his help with the technical literature.

The Feral Cat Foundation and Feral Cat Coalition supplied information on feral cats and their habitats.

The following careful readers looked over all or portions of the manuscript and provided invaluable criticism: Jody Avery-Smith, Eugenie Cansler, Ruth Carlson, Liz Ellenberger, Margie Hanft, Pepper Heimowitz, Anita Hunter, Shlomo Kreitzer, Margaret Goodman (whom I also credit for turning me into a cat person), Bob McCampbell, Kathy Merry, Alice Rene, Ida Robbins, Ruth Sherman, Barbara Speiser, Mario Speiser, Jeanie Tufts, Doris Vernon, Jim Vernon, Barbara Wagner, Beverly Warren, Josette Wingo, and Lowdon Wingo.

Tasha Wisniewski furnished superb editorial assistance. Hugh Kramer also provided comments on the first six chapters.

Thanks to Ted Goodman for alerting me to Steinbeck’s use of intercalary chapters in
The Grapes of Wrath.

A huge thank-you to the many at iUniverse who contributed to the various phases of this book’s development.

Cover design by Andrew Healy.

Thank you, Joelle Steele of Feline Insights, for the feline image heading the intercalary chapters.

Finally, I affectionately acknowledge my two former feline friends, Lilith and Bastette, who, over the years, provided me not only companionship but a profound appreciation of the bond that can form between man and animal.

Selected Annotated References
 

Butler, Kiera. “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!”
Mother Jones,
June 2011, 72.

Anti-feral article demonstrating how feral cats devastate bird populations.

Driscoll, C. A., et al. “The Taming of the Cat”
Scientific American,
June 2009, 68.

Recent archeological findings regarding the history of feline domestication.

Garrett, Laurie.
The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance
. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1994.

A compendium of information about the history, and future, of emerging viruses.

Jones, Menna E. and H. McCallum. “The Devil’s Cancer.”
Scientific American,
June 2011, 72.

Discussion of Devil Facial Tumor Disease.

Lau, N. C. and D. P. Bartel. “Censors of the Genome.”
Scientific American,
August 2003, 34.

An introduction to RNA interference.

McKenna, Maryn.
Beating Back the Devil: On the Front Lines With the Disease Detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service
. Free Press, 2004.

Pendergrast, Mark.
Inside the Outbreak
s:
The Elite Medical Detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010.

A recent history of the EIS.

Rudacille, Deborah.
The Scalpel and the Butterfly
.
The War Between Animal Research and Animal Protection.
New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000.

A review of the animal rights movement and related topics.

Singer, Peter.
Animal Liberation
. New York: Avon Books, 1975.

A philosophical underpinning for those opposing the use of animals for research.

Glossary
 

Alpha globin:
A type of polypeptide chain found in hemoglobin.

Amino acid:
A nitrogen-containing organic acid essential for life. Polypeptide chains are made up of specific sequences of amino acids linked end to end.

Antibody:
(Immunoglobulin) A type of protein found in higher organisms, whose function is to bind to invading agents such as viruses and destroy them.

Autoclave:
A type of sterilizer that kills microbes using steam under pressure.

B-cells:
(Also called B-lymphocytes.) Lymphocytes which, when properly stimulated, manufacture antibodies that enter the blood.

BSL-1, 2, 3, & 4:
Biosafety levels. Each designation refers to specifications for laboratory design in which microorganisms of potential danger are to be investigated:

a) BSL-1 labs—Those where any microbes to be investigated are considered not dangerous. Access to the labs is not limited to trained personnel. A high-school science lab is an example.

b) BSL-2 labs—Those where potentially dangerous organisms might be investigated. Example: a clinical microbiology laboratory in a hospital. Access to the lab is limited to trained personnel. Protective clothing, such as laboratory coats, are worn by lab personnel. Many procedures are carried out in biological safety cabinets equipped with HEPA filters.

c) BSL-3 labs—Labs where dangerous pathogens, such as the tuberculosis bacterium, pose a danger to others if spread through the air or by objects. Access to the lab is limited to highly trained personnel. Protective clothing, such as smocks, scrub suits, or coveralls, is worn by the lab personnel. Almost all work is conducted in biological safety cabinets.

d) BSL-4 labs—Labs where the most dangerous pathogens (Ebola, anthrax, etc.) are investigated. All air leaving the lab is HEPA-filtered. Entry to the lab is by means of an airlock. The lab is maintained under negative air pressure so that when a portal is opened, air does not readily leave the lab. Access to the lab is limited to highly trained personnel. Street clothing is removed in a changing room. Personnel wear special protective clothing. They decontaminate the protective clothing on exiting the lab and shower before donning their street clothes. All work is done in biological safety cabinets. These labs are generally in separate buildings dedicated to their use.

Bacterium:
A type of microbe whose cells lack most of the membranous structures found in cells of higher organisms. Examples:
E. coli; Staphylococcus aureus
.

Buffer:
An aqueous solution that resists changes in acidity. Example: human plasma.

Calicivirus:
A type of virus responsible for upper respiratory infections and mouth ulcers in cats.

Capacitation:
Changes in spermatozoa by which they become capable of fertilizing ova.

cDNA:
Single-stranded DNA complementary to a sequence of RNA. cDNA is a normal intermediate in the replication of retroviruses. It is also commonly synthesized in the laboratory as a research tool.

Clone:
A group of cells descended from a single ancestral cell.

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid):
A polynucleotide having a specific sequence of nucleotides that, when decoded by cellular machinery, determines all the hereditary traits of an organism.

dsRNA (double-stranded RNA):
Most RNA in the cell is single-stranded. Most DNA is double-stranded. However, a small amount of dsRNA is found in cells, where it acts as a regulator of gene function. It is also produced by many, perhaps all, retroviruses. dsRNA plays an important role in RNA interference (RNAi).

Ebola:
A virus causing a severe, generally fatal, hemorrhagic disease (Ebola hemorrhagic fever—EHF) of primates, including humans.

Electrophoresis:
A lab technique by which dissimilar substances can be separated from one another by the different rates of movement of their molecules in an electric field.

Endemic:
Of a disease that is always found in a distinct geographical area. For example, malaria is endemic in Kenya.

ELISA (Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay):
A sensitive immunological test for identifying antigens or antibodies. Its many uses include identification of viruses (HIV, Ebola, etc.) in human or animal fluids.

Envelope:
Outer membranous capsule surrounding some viruses. The membrane is acquired during development of the virus when it exits the host cell and a portion of that cell is budded off, enclosing the viral particle.

Enzyme:
A protein capable of speeding up a specific biochemical reaction. There are thousands of different enzymes in living organisms.

Epidemic:
An outbreak of a disease in a human population characterized by a significant increase in the number of cases over the normal (endemic) level.

epithelium (plural: epithelia):
A type of tissue forming the lining of all body surfaces. examples: cells comprising the skin or lining the mouth and digestive tract.

Epizootic:
An outbreak of a disease in an animal population characterized by a significant increase in the number of cases over the normal level.

Escherichia coli (E. coli):
A common intestinal bacterium. Often used as a research tool because it’s genome has long been known. This microbe has occasionally achieved notoriety owing to the fact that some strains are pathogenic and can cause food poisoning.

Feline AIDS:
An AIDS-like disease of cats caused by the Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV)

Feline hemorrhagic fever (FHF):
A fictional infectious hemorrhagic disease of cats characterized by sudden onset, rapid progression and death within hours or days.

Feline leukemia
: A contagious viral disease of cats clinically similar to leukemia (a cancerous proliferation of leukocytes) in other animals and characterized by gradual loss of weight, malaise, and, eventually, death.

Feline Leukemia virus (FeLV):
The causative agent of feline leukemia.

Felis catus:
The scientific name of the domestic cat.

Fermentor:
A vat capable of providing optimal conditions for the growth of industrial microbes used for producing vitamins, antibiotics, and other biochemical compounds.

FIV:
See Feline AIDS.

Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH):
A pituitary hormone that stimulates egg maturation in females.

Gene:
A portion of DNA responsible for a single (or closely related group of) function(s).

Genome:
The entire complement of genes of an organism.

Globin:
Any of several polypeptide chains that make up hemoglobin. In the adult mammal, hemoglobin contains two alpha-globin and two beta-globin subunits.

Gonadotropin:
Name given to several hormones secreted by the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland. These hormones play a vital role in coordinating functions of the reproductive organs.

Granulocytes:
White blood cells containing intracellular granules.

Hemoglobin:
The protein found in red blood cells responsible for binding to oxygen and transporting it to all parts of the body. Adult hemoglobin is made up of four polypeptide chains, two of alpha-globin and two of beta-globin, as well as four iron-containing heme units.

HEPA filter
(High Efficiency Particulate Air filter):
An extremely efficient air filter capable of removing particles no smaller than 0.3 µm in diameter. This includes almost all bacteria, many viruses, as well as pollen, mold spores, and other particles found in dust.

Heterozygous:
The state of having two different alleles (forms) of a given gene, one of which came from the male, and the other from the female parent.

In vitro:
From Latin meaning
in glass
. Any process or experiment that is performed outside the living organism, such as DNA synthesis in a test tube.

Laparoscope:
A surgical instrument allowing the observation and manipulation of structures inside the abdomen. A small surgical incision is made in the abdominal wall and the laparoscope, and a thin fiber-optic viewing device, is inserted through the hole. Additional surgical probes and instruments can be inserted through the same opening. In this way, surgical procedures are carried out inside the body without the necessity of a large incision.

Leukocytes:
White blood cells.

Lymphocytes:
Small white blood cells that play a key role in immunity by reacting to foreign substances in the body. There are two broad classes:

B-lymphocytes—Cells that secrete antibodies into body fluids.

T-lymphocytes—Cells that attack other cells infected with a microbe, and which interact with B-lymphocytes, modulating their activity.

Macroerythrocytic feline anemia (MEFA):
A fictional hereditary disease of cats caused by a mutation in the alpha-globin gene and characterized by swollen red blood cells.

Messenger RNA (mRNA):
A class of specific RNA molecules, each of which is coded for by a specific gene. mRNA functions to carry genetic information from DNA to the sites where proteins are synthesized.