Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Effects of cat ownership on the gut microbiota of owners

journals.plos.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 157 posts

Re: Effects of cat ownership on the gut microbiota of owners

#31

Post by hirundo »

eyelidlessness wrote: post #23
gcheong wrote: post #3

"Sixty percent of cat owners sleep with their cats, which may enhance their sense of security and improve their quality of sleep" Maybe, but now only between the hours of 10pm - 5:30am, for me anyway.

My most recent cat, who sadly died a couple years ago, was unusually snuggly. We slept in physical contact, often spooning some or all of the night, for most of the 12 years I had her. She was particularly well adapted to me, my habits and my schedule… I was very fortunate! I had a really rough bout of insomnia, along with a bad mental health stretch not long after she died. I didn’t make the connection until recentl…

My cat acted like she wanted to spoon, but her dastardly plan was to seize the exact center of the bed, and she was relentless at it. Like a chess player. Every night I'd wake up curled around the edges.

So I guess I must be the first person dominated by the iron whim of a cat.

Re: Effects of cat ownership on the gut microbiota of owners

#33

Post by trhway »

xaduha wrote: post #29

There's enough smoke there, that my vote is a 'no' on whether to get a cat or cats, especially if small children might be involved at some point.

Sure, if you aren't ready for the cat taking guardianship role - my nephew grew up with the cat taking position beside him in his crib from the very first days he was brought home from the hospital.

Re: Effects of cat ownership on the gut microbiota of owners

#34

Post by eyelidlessness »

tracyhenry wrote: post #21
knicholes wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my case, it demolishes any chance of restful sleep. She literally walks all over me. She'll meow at the door if I shut the door. So it's either meows or walking. It's a ... nightmare.

Instead of intimidation, simply ignoring it (i.e. absolutely not opening the door whatsoever) can work. It can take a while so be patient. My kitty stopped meowing at night after I do this for two weeks, and has never since meowed at night.

This is good advice but it’s going to vary by human more than pet. I have a lot better track record developing patience and a good discipline relationship with my pets by actively engaging, because I’m cognitively (ADHD, ASD) incapable of ignoring a lot of things and trying to force it brings out my worst, least intentional self.

Re: Effects of cat ownership on the gut microbiota of owners

#35

Post by lehi »

jv22222 wrote: post #27
gcheong wrote: post #3

"Sixty percent of cat owners sleep with their cats, which may enhance their sense of security and improve their quality of sleep" Maybe, but now only between the hours of 10pm - 5:30am, for me anyway.

> "Sixty percent of cat owners sleep with their cats, which may enhance their sense of security and improve their quality of sleep" I regularly open my eyes in the middle of the night and my cat's face is about 5 inches away from mine, just sitting there perfectly still, staring at me.

Count yourself lucky to wake up to that end.

Re: Effects of cat ownership on the gut microbiota of owners

#36

Post by eyelidlessness »

hirundo wrote: post #31
eyelidlessness wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My most recent cat, who sadly died a couple years ago, was unusually snuggly. We slept in physical contact, often spooning some or all of the night, for most of the 12 years I had her. She was particularly well adapted to me, my habits and my schedule… I was very fortunate! I had a really rough bout of insomnia, along with a bad mental health stretch not long after she died. I didn’t make the connection until recentl…

My cat acted like she wanted to spoon, but her dastardly plan was to seize the exact center of the bed, and she was relentless at it. Like a chess player. Every night I'd wake up curled around the edges. So I guess I must be the first person dominated by the iron whim of a cat.

Oh my cat did this too! I just happen to like sleeping that way.

Re: Effects of cat ownership on the gut microbiota of owners

#37

Post by yissp »

mLuby wrote: post #25
cunthorpe wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s hilarious. Goes to show how impossible some “debugging” is. No sane doctor would say “so your stomach hurts at night, do you own a fat cat?”

Sounds perfect for a Dr. House mystery.

IIRC there was an episode where someone's cat was the cause of their mysterious illness (toxoplasmosis I think).

Re: Effects of cat ownership on the gut microbiota of owners

#38

Post by tverbeure »

knicholes wrote: post #4
gcheong wrote: post #3

"Sixty percent of cat owners sleep with their cats, which may enhance their sense of security and improve their quality of sleep" Maybe, but now only between the hours of 10pm - 5:30am, for me anyway.

In my case, it demolishes any chance of restful sleep. She literally walks all over me. She'll meow at the door if I shut the door. So it's either meows or walking. It's a ... nightmare.

In the past year, the biggest quality of life improvements in our household were:

- changing the door handles to door knobs, because our lovable asshole had long ago figured out how to open a door, and used that special trick every morning at 4:30am when he wanted to go out.

- installing an RFID triggered electronic cat flap that we installed in the outside wall of my hobby room. It uses the RFID tag that was already in implanted in his neck. Ours is one from Sure Petcare, but there are multiple brands of course.

The cat flap is amazing: it took roughly 1 day to teach him how to open and close it, and now he can leave and enter the house as he wishes: he usually leaves around 4:30am and comes back an hour or two later. We're extraordinary lucky that he taught himself to do this potty business outside, so we don't have a litter box.

Once he learned how to use the flap, he stopped bothering us at night.

An additional benefit is that we can now go out for a weekend without locking him up, using an automated feeder to make sure he stays happy. We can also check leaving/entering activity on an app.

It's a life changer.

Re: Effects of cat ownership on the gut microbiota of owners

#39

Post by mgarfias »

castlecrasher2 wrote: post #5
knicholes wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my case, it demolishes any chance of restful sleep. She literally walks all over me. She'll meow at the door if I shut the door. So it's either meows or walking. It's a ... nightmare.

Cruel as it may sound, you could try establishing dominance. We have a male cat who would meow EVERY MORNING sometime between 2 and 4 am. We tried many kinds of discipline, but it didn't stop until one morning I chased him into hiding downstairs and it hasn't happened since. Every morning after for about a week I would go out of my way to thank him and give him attention. I know many out there would say that running…

I had a kitten that was relentless with her biting. One day she bit my hand, and without thinking I leaned down and not her ear. She never bit me after that.

Re: Effects of cat ownership on the gut microbiota of owners

#40

Post by 3np »

gilbetron wrote: post #7
gcheong wrote: post #3

"Sixty percent of cat owners sleep with their cats, which may enhance their sense of security and improve their quality of sleep" Maybe, but now only between the hours of 10pm - 5:30am, for me anyway.

We learned years ago that our cats get put in the lower part of our house with the door closed at night. We felt bad about it, but being able to sleep all night made up for it. Quick story: for several nights, I'd wake up in the middle of the night with horrendous stomach pains. I was thinking I needed to see the doctor it was so painful. Then on the fourth night when the pain hit I woke up fast enough to notice our…

...why not let them outdoors during night?
Post reply on HN