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Bodega cats of New York

bodegacatsofnewyork.com

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Re: Bodega cats of New York

#61

Post by Barbing »

bombcar wrote: post #5
nonethewiser wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah this is why I dont find it endearing. It's just pointing to unsanitary conditions. It's ubiquitous in NYC which may have dulled some senses but it's not ubiquitous everywhere. Cat's themselves are not very sanitary. Better than rats, sure, but they are a source of toxoplasmosis which is very dangerous to pregnant women for example. Limiting exposure is manageable when keeping as a pet, but its a terrible baselin…

The vast majority of NYCs problem can be tied to their trash debacle, which is so outlandish it's hard for anyone not from there to believe is a real thing in 2206. It appears they finally discovered dumpsters recently: https://www.amny.com/news/curbside-empire-trash-bins-coming-... (Another crazy trash city was (is?) Seattle with their weird judgement causing everyone to compact their trash.)

“Empire Bins, which can only be picked up by specially-designed side-loading garbage trucks, will be mandatory for the owners of buildings with 30 or more units in those areas to use. …

Anderson said expanding Empire Bins to more parts of the city is “not easy,” due to the expense of and time it takes to acquire the side-loading trucks, which are custom-built and have not been used in North America before. The trucks are assembled through a combination of American and Italian parts and designs.

“These bins and the trucks that service them did not exist two years ago,” Anderson said. “We are now building a new supply chain that stretches across the Atlantic Ocean to get those trucks here, built, and ready to use. That takes time.””

Had to go custom huh…

Re: Bodega cats of New York

#63

Post by KingMob »

kirubakaran wrote: post #48
colechristensen wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A third of the entire human population is infected with toxoplasmosis, in some places nearly every human. If you put humans in a sterile bubble you get a different set of diseases, to a considerably greater degree because your immune system evolved in an environment where you actually got infections.

By that logic, we shouldn't be fighting malaria in Africa either. Are there any benefits to toxoplasmosis besides some people finding the vector cute? The alternative isn't living in a sterile bubble.

That's not a great comparison. Malaria is dangerous to almost everyone it infects, while T. gondii is harmless to the vast majority of the human race.

Re: Bodega cats of New York

#64

Post by darick »

nkrisc wrote: post #55
sporadicism wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Additionally, I can't imagine being blase about gaining parasites just because you're not pregnant or immunocompromised.

You’ve likely already got many critters living in an on you.

Not all of those give you brain lesions.

Re: Bodega cats of New York

#65

Post by 3eb7988a1663 »

crooked-v wrote: post #35
jjtheblunt wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds profoundly irresponsible of the associated humans.

It would be irresponsible for a pet owner... but you have to understand the context is New York rats, which exist in immense numbers, massively beyond every other major US city, because of a century of just leaving trash piled up on the sidewalk ( https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2024-11-27/new-yo... ). Bodega cats aren't pets, they're a cheap and low-impact way to keep rats from moving into the bodega en m…

Chicago had a ten-year streak as rattiest city[0]. Recently lost the crown to Los Angeles.

[0] https://www.orkin.com/press-room/worst-cities-for-rats-los-a...

Re: Bodega cats of New York

#66

Post by strathmeyer »

kirubakaran wrote: post #26
jjtheblunt wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Cat's themselves are not very sanitary. Better than rats, sure, but they are a source of toxoplasmosis Hyperbole and toxoplasmosis go well together. In particular: it's a limited time window when an infected feline could transmit toxoplasmosis. It can be dangerous to pregnancies, or immuno-compromised individuals. Most humans (and other beings) aren't pregnant or immunocompromised, but the drama of the topic gets c…

> Most humans (and other beings) aren't pregnant or immunocompromised Just because pregnant and immuno-compromised people are in the minority, it's not a big deal?

[dead]

Re: Bodega cats of New York

#67

Post by imp0cat »

jjtheblunt wrote: post #57
kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you covered yourself in spit would that be sanitary?

you just made me wonder if the fact we sweat serves a similar purpose as your spit covering example. (i don't know, but you triggered a thought!)

Nope, it's evaporative cooling (like a swamp cooler) for your body.

Re: Bodega cats of New York

#68

Post by jayd16 »

3eb7988a1663 wrote: post #65
crooked-v wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be irresponsible for a pet owner... but you have to understand the context is New York rats, which exist in immense numbers, massively beyond every other major US city, because of a century of just leaving trash piled up on the sidewalk ( https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2024-11-27/new-yo... ). Bodega cats aren't pets, they're a cheap and low-impact way to keep rats from moving into the bodega en m…

Chicago had a ten-year streak as rattiest city[0]. Recently lost the crown to Los Angeles. [0] https://www.orkin.com/press-room/worst-cities-for-rats-los-a...

This is Orkin's view, correct? I wonder if its just a matter of controlling more of the market. I can't say I've seen a Western Exterminator guy-with-hammer vs rat adornment in quite some years.

Re: Bodega cats of New York

#69

Post by timschmidt »

crooked-v wrote: post #35
jjtheblunt wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds profoundly irresponsible of the associated humans.

It would be irresponsible for a pet owner... but you have to understand the context is New York rats, which exist in immense numbers, massively beyond every other major US city, because of a century of just leaving trash piled up on the sidewalk ( https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2024-11-27/new-yo... ). Bodega cats aren't pets, they're a cheap and low-impact way to keep rats from moving into the bodega en m…

> low-impact

As one of the 10% of humanity who has a severe allergy to cats which causes me to be unable to breathe, break out in hives, and weep incredible amounts from every exposed mucus membrane, I had to laugh at this. And cry a little.

Y'all have no idea how high impact cats are.

Fel D proteins seem to trigger immune responses across a broad range of mammals. They are homologs of slow loris venom which also causes intense immune responses. Hypothesis is that they evolved in part by inducing an intense allergic response when the cat is eaten. Which obviously helps the survival of the next cat that predator encounters. It seems to be sheer accident that 90% of humanity isn't bothered by it. Even so, cat allergies are the single most common allergy among humans. Cats shed Fel D 1 everywhere. Being in the same room with one is enough to wreck me for hours to a week. Some folks can control it with medication, but I can't take enough to be in the same room with one.

Rat traps are less expensive, more effective, less prone to killing things other than rats, sanitary, don't have to be fed, don't need a litter box, don't cause allergies, don't need shots, medications, or vet visits, and don't have kittens. Far lower impact and much less work than a cat.

Killing rats is just an excuse people use to keep an emotional support critter around. And is unfortunately inconsiderate of 1 in every 10 people in public spaces.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allergy_to_cats

Re: Bodega cats of New York

#70

Post by sandworm101 »

crooked-v wrote: post #35
jjtheblunt wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds profoundly irresponsible of the associated humans.

It would be irresponsible for a pet owner... but you have to understand the context is New York rats, which exist in immense numbers, massively beyond every other major US city, because of a century of just leaving trash piled up on the sidewalk ( https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2024-11-27/new-yo... ). Bodega cats aren't pets, they're a cheap and low-impact way to keep rats from moving into the bodega en m…

New york's rats arent just anout trash. NYC also has an oldschool combined sewer system, the type where stormwater and sewage share one pipe. Those big air-filled tunnels are the rat/ningaturtle transport infrastructure. Newer cities with separated sewer and stormwater systems dont have nearly as much a problem.

https://www.nyc.gov/site/dep/water/combined-sewer-overflows....

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