Woofs, whiskers and whinnies

Raven and cats

April 10, 2025

For 13 years we had a cat. He was black. He wandered into our barn one July day. He was scrawny thin, skittish, full of worms, and wouldn’t be touched. But in the barn he found rodent groceries just to his liking. 

We had no idea where he came from or how old he was. But we’d had black cats before and we suspected ‘Raven’ was a descendant of one of them. He was an undisputed knock-off of our first Raven that we had found as a kitten almost two decades before. 

We became Raven’s humans. He came to trust us. He followed us to the house one day, walked in one door and out the other, and decided that the human barn was better than the horse one. He took up residence on his cat mat and stayed. He got wormed. He got neutered. That controlled his urge to wander, breed, and get into fights. But it caused him to take a raincheck on humans for a while. He stayed, but with conditions. Meals were to be served at set times, on time. Petting was allowed. Laps were required. A kitty litter tray was not an option since he had already mastered the art of digging in the vegetable patch. And he would be free to come and go to hunt mice and birds at will.

Raven’s story has relevance because in 2024 the conservation organization Nature Canada stated on its website that, over the past five decades, predation by cats and dogs, bird collisions with windows of buildings, collisions with vehicles and power lines, habitat loss, agricultural mowing, forestry, and pesticides have all taken a massive toll on birds. In the past 50 years a quarter of the wild bird population in Canada and the U.S has disappeared. That’s almost three billion birds. 

Now, Nature Canada’s aim is to see cities, towns and villages become bird friendly through their Bird Friendly City certification program. That includes projects to restore habitats, protect the biodiversity of natural areas, create safe spaces for birds, and encourage residents to create bird friendly gardens (think food (berries and pollen), shelter and water). And keep cats indoors. 

Environment Canada estimates that every year some 100 million birds are killed by pet and feral cats. There are about 8.5 million domestic cats in Canada and up to four million wild or stray cats, but that number is up for grabs. 

The fact is that hunting is in a cat’s DNA, and they are brutally efficient. They don’t have to be hungry to kill. They are triggered by movement – flapping wings or a bird hopping or flying close to the ground. Their stalking as they move in and their athletics for the final lethal leap is choreographed perfection. 

The notion of keeping cats indoors was part of Nature Canada’s campaign 'Keep Cats Safe and Save Birds’ Lives' several years ago. Nothing wrong with that in principle. Cats face two high mortalities when free outside to hunt. Whether in the city or the country, they are victim to being run over by vehicles or becoming prey to coyotes and other predators. 

But on a global scale cats have contributed to the extinction of 34 bird species. Birds worldwide are in trouble. One in eight of the world’s bird species is considered threatened and 233 critically endangered species are at risk of extinction. Songbirds are in serious decline across North America. Grassland birds have declined by 67 per cent since 1970. Aerial insectivores like barn swallows, swifts and flycatchers have declined by 43 per cent but so have the populations of insects they depend on. Climate change isn’t helping at all as migration times and seasonally emerging foods (seeds, pollinating flowers, or insects) are no longer dovetailing at critical times.

Really, though, how realistic is the no-roaming idea for cats? Some people have trained their cats to walk on a leash. Other people have constructed a catio, a fully contained enclosure where cats can sit outside safely. But for many cats the urge to hunt is so overwhelming that no amount of containment or control will quell their yowling to be let out, perhaps at their peril.

As Raven aged, his wanderings became less and he seldom ventured further than the garden where, I hate to admit, he remained the renowned Darth Vader of the vegetable patch.

Grey horses and genetics

April 14, 2025

When Socks, our Thoroughbred, was born in April 2002, he was a lovely chestnut with two white stockings and two white socks. So he got to be called Socks. He was the sweetest, most gentle of our horses but even in his first few months he was growing white hair in his chestnut coat. He was clearly becoming a lovely strawberry roan.  He remained that colour for his first year, keeping his trademark white socks. But it was clear that more white hair was coming in and he was most definitely turning grey with a pink muzzle and a rich dark mane and tail. 

Why horses turn grey isn't so much about age as much as it's about the number of copies of a small DNA sequence. According to some scientists at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences along with Uppsala University, Sweden, horses that turn grey slowly have two copies of the gene variant whereas horses that turn grey quickly, like Socks, have three copies. Slow-greying horses may not show signs of turning grey until they are anywhere from five to seven years of age.

"There are horses that are born white because they carry a gene variant that is causing white coat color, but the great majority of white horses don't have this gene variant," said Dr. Leif Andersson, a professor in the VMBS' Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences and at Uppsala University in a press release. "Instead, gray horses are born with normal coat pigment -- like black or brown -- that gradually lightens as they age and eventually becomes gray or white."

Having a white coat does not affect the horse's overall health or athletic ability in any way. In fact, Socks' natural gait and speed in the field matched or bettered those of the other horses. He would have been a perfect dressage horse had we chosen that option. But horses that do have a fully white coat are more prone to developing melanoma, a skin cancer well established with the grey gene in horses.

"Horses that are 'fast-greying' are more likely to develop melanomas  whereas we don't see an elevated risk in horses that are 'slow-greying'," said Andersson. 

The hope is that with the new understanding of a horse's grey coat colour and the genetics that influence it will lead to more research to prevent, diagnose and treat melanomas in these horses. Proactive monitoring will allow detection of black bumps or lumps in the anus, rectum or sheath. An exam may lead to the need for an ultrasound by a vet to detect if there is an internal mass. But the earlier anything is detected and treatment applied will give the horse its best chance of a quality of life.

For all his lovely colouring, watching Socks develop with his naturally quiet disposition, the influence of his herd including his dam, brother, sister, nephew, and uncle, and the natural world they lived in that saw visitors such as coyotes, black bears and bobcats, was an immense joy.