Free-ranging and Feral Cats

Domestic cats (Felis catus) are a common household pet in the United States, with an estimated 25.4% of households owning cats (American Veterinary Medical Association 2018). While an increasing number of cat owners keep their pet cats exclusively indoors, a portion of society maintains that domestic cats are entitled to a free-ranging lifestyle and may even consider unowned domestic cats to be wildlife. Although wildlife managers recognize the beliefs of many concerned stakeholders, including advocates who use strong emotional appeals on behalf of cats, it remains that free-ranging and feral domestic cats are an invasive species spread by humans (Lowe et al. 2000) (Figure 1). Free-ranging cats are associated with a number of sociological and ecological conflicts. They impact people directly through the spread of parasites and diseases, damage to gardens and property, and noise nuisances. Cats also cause conflict through their direct and indirect impacts on native wildlife through predation, competition, spread of disease, and impacts on species survival (e.g., nest failure, injury, behavioral changes). Removing free-ranging cats is the most effective strategy for addressing cat-caused damage. Such removals could include adoption, placement in a long-term holding facility (e.g., cat sanctuary), or euthanasia. Owned cats should be kept indoors or otherwise under their owner’s control. Up to 164 million cats reside in the United States, of which an estimated 30 to 80 million are unowned (Loss et al. 2013) (Figure 2). A large portion of owned cats are also free-ranging (Loss et al. 2013). The threat which free-ranging cats pose to native wildlife cannot be understated

The One Health Approach to Toxoplasmosis: Epidemiology, Control, and Prevention Strategies

One Health is a collaborative, interdisciplinary effort that seeks optimal health for people, animals, plants, and the environment. Toxoplasmosis, caused by Toxoplasma gondii, is an intracellular protozoan infection distributed worldwide, with a heteroxenous life cycle that practically affects all homeotherms and in which felines act as definitive reservoirs. Herein, we review the natural history of T. gondii, its transmission and impacts in humans, domestic animals, wildlife both terrestrial and aquatic, and ecosystems. The epidemiology, prevention, and control strategies are reviewed, with the objective of facilitating awareness of this disease and promoting transdisciplinary collaborations, integrative research, and capacity building among universities, government agencies, NGOs, policy makers, practicing physicians, veterinarians, and the general public

A Science-Based Policy for Managing Free-Roaming Cats

Free-roaming domestic cats (i.e., cats that are owned or unowned and are considered ‘at large’) are globally distributed non-native species that have marked impacts on biodiversity and human health. Despite clear scientific evidence of these impacts, free-roaming cats are either unmanaged or managed using scientifically unsupported and ineffective approaches (e.g., trap-neuter-release [TNR]) in many jurisdictions around the world. A critical first initiative for effective, science-driven management of cats must be broader political and legislative recognition of free-roaming cats as a non-native, invasive species. Designating cats as invasive is important for developing and implementing science-based management plans, which should include efforts to prevent cats from becoming free-roaming, policies focused on responsible pet ownership and banning outdoor cat feeding, and better enforcement of existing laws. Using a science-based approach is necessary for responding effectively to the politically charged and increasingly urgent issue of managing free-roaming cat populations

Domestic Cats: Management of a Charismatic Non-Native Species

The domestic cat is a charismatic and pervasive non-native predator whose population in the United States is an estimated 114-188 million. When permitted to roam outdoors, cats pose serious risks to the health and welfare of wildlife, people, and the cats themselves. Despite overwhelming evidence to support keeping cats indoors, many municipalities continue to endorse the maintenance of cats outdoors through Trap-Neuter-Release at the behest of feral cat advocacy programs and their vocal grassroots supporters. The American Bird Conservancy (ABC) Cats Indoors program strives to raise awareness about the negative impacts of outdoor cats, to educate policy makers and the public, and to promote responsible pet ownership. We review the scientific evidence that necessitates keeping cats from roaming outdoors and how ABC’s Cats Indoors program is working to protect wildlife, cats, and people

Conceptualizing rigor and its implications for education in the era of the Common Core

The adoption of Common Core State Standards in the USA by 46 states and the District of Columbia has provided several new foci for K-12 instruction, not the least of which is the reading and understanding of complex text, a higher order thinking process. Closely associated with this is the notion of rigor, the focus of the present study. As educators who work with administrators and teachers across the country, we have noticed that while there exists a general concern about rigor, there is not a coherent understanding of what it is. As such, there is a need to establish a common understanding of rigor that is useful for school-based personnel. Additionally, we propose that it’s important for educators to regularly measure and track rigor as one part of a larger dashboard of quality indicators which can inform school leaders on the educational health of their school

The One Health Approach to Toxoplasmosis: Epidemiology, Control, and Prevention Strategies

One Health is a collaborative, interdisciplinary effort that seeks optimal health for people, animals, plants, and the environment. Toxoplasmosis, caused by Toxoplasma gondii, is an intracellular protozoan infection distributed worldwide, with a heteroxenous life cycle that practically affects all homeotherms and in which felines act as definitive reservoirs. Herein, we review the natural history of T. gondii, its transmission and impacts in humans, domestic animals, wildlife both terrestrial and aquatic, and ecosystems. The epidemiology, prevention, and control strategies are reviewed, with the objective of facilitating awareness of this disease and promoting transdisciplinary collaborations, integrative research, and capacity building among universities, government agencies, NGOs, policy makers, practicing physicians, veterinarians, and the general public

Feral cat management

We applaud McCarthy et al for their research addressing a critical issue in feral cat management. We concur that feral and free-roaming cats pose myriad problems for people and the environment. However, we believe that the authors overlooked several important factors when concluding that trap-vasectomy- hysterectomy-release (IVHR) should be recommended as a humane and more effective method of decreasing population size. First, the population model used in the study does not represent a typical managed feral cat colony. Inclusion of self-imposed restraints on colony size attributable to a hypothetical carrying capacity restricts the population from reacting naturally to resources or control efforts. The model\u27s lack of immigration and emigration restricts its application solely to small island situations. Likewise, the model does not appear to account for recapture of animals already treated in the population

Unsignaled Delay Of Reinforcement, Relative Time, And Resistance To Change

Two experiments with pigeons examined the effects of unsignaled, nonresetting delays of reinforcement on responding maintained by different reinforcement rates. In Experiment 1, 3-s unsignaled delays were introduced into each component of a multiple variable-interval (VI) 15-s VI 90-s VI 540-s schedule. When considered as a proportion of the preceding immediate reinforcement baseline, responding was decreased similarly for the three multiple-schedule components in both the first six and last six sessions of exposure to the delay. In addition, the relation between response rates and reinforcement rates was altered such that both parameters of the single-response version of the matching law (i.e., k and R(e)) were decreased. Experiment 2 examined the effects of unsignaled delays ranging from 0.5 s to 8.0 s on responding maintained by a multiple VI 20-s VI 120-s schedule of reinforcement. Response rates in both components increased with brief unsignaled delays and decreased with longer delays. As in Experiment 1, response rates as a proportion of baseline were affected similarly for the two components in both the first six and last six sessions of exposure to the delay. Unlike delays imposed between two stimulus events, the effects of delays between responses and reinforcers do not appear to be attenuated when the average time between reinforcers is longer. In addition, the disruptions produced by unsignaled delays appear to be inconsistent with the general finding that responding maintained by higher rates of reinforcement is less resistant to change

Evaluation of the immunogenicity of the P97R1 adhesin of Mycoplasma hyopnemoniae as a mucosal vaccine in mice

The immunogenicity of P97 adhesin repeat region R1 (P97R1) of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, an important pathogenesis-associated region of P97, was evaluated in mice as a mucosal vaccine. Mice were immunized orally with attenuated Salmonella typhimurium aroA strain CS332 harbouring a eukaryotic or prokaryotic expression vector encoding P97R1. Local and systemic immune responses were analysed by ELISA on mouse sera, lung washes and splenocyte supernatants following splenocyte stimulation with specific antigens in vitro. Although no P97R1-specific antibody responses were detected in serum and lung washes, significant gamma interferon was produced by P97R1-stimulated splenocytes from mice immunized orally with S. typhimurium aroA harbouring either expression system, indicating induction of a cell-mediated immune response. These results suggested that live bacterial vectors carrying DNA vaccines or expressing heterologous antigens preferentially induce a Th1 response. Surprisingly, however, mice immunized with the vaccine carrier S. typhimurium aroA CS332 induced serum IgG, but not mucosal IgA, against P97R1 or S. typhimurium aroA CS332 whole-cell lysate, emphasizing the importance of assessing the suitability of attenuated S. typhimurium antigen-carrier delivery vectors in the mouse model prior to their evaluation as potential vaccines in the target species, which in this instance was pigs