American scientists are convinced that the fears that sometimes overwhelm cat-lovers are quite justified: pets can eat their owners.
“When I die, the cats will eat me up” - there is such fear, believe me. And it is very widespread. Especially among the elderly and lonely people. Prejudice? Not at all. Recent studies by American biologists have clearly demonstrated that nightmarish fears are by no means unfounded.
The scientists did not plan to study the characteristics of the cat's diet. By chance, the experiments were organized by themselves on the territory of the so-called "body farm" - a test site created at the University of Colorado Mesa (Colorado Mesa University's Forensic Investigation Research Station) to study the processes of decomposition of corpses. Corpses - unclaimed or, conversely, bequeathed by the owners, are laid out here and there, observing what happens to him after one time or another. There are about a dozen such "farms" around the world. The results of their research are used by criminologists and forensic experts.
First, one cat made its way to the "Colorado farm" - "striped", as she was called. I made my way and began to gnaw the body of a 70-year-old man, laid out on the landfill 5 days ago. Scientists became interested - they began to follow the cat through surveillance cameras, recording the features of its behavior.
Then a black cat arrived. And he began to eat the corpse of a 79-year-old woman. He came at night.
The landfill staff covered the corpses with nets to prevent cats from reaching them. And they were very surprised that the cannibals did not switch to other bodies from among about 40 laid out on the landfill, access to which was not limited.
A few days later, the covered bodies were reopened. The cats surprised even more: they returned to those bodies that they had chewed before, showing some kind of nightmarish affection.
The animals ended up eating dead flesh for about six weeks. Each cat made at least 12 visits. They ate the tissues of the arms, legs, chest, abdomen from the bodies. Scavengers - one word. But cats, especially stray ones, are predators. They easily get food in the form of mice and birds.
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Illustration from a scientific publication: a black cat eats the hand of a dead old woman.
It is possible that the "striped" and the black cat who arrived at the "farm" had a perverse taste.
- Cats are very picky about food. If they find something attractive, then they will definitely return to this food. These words of Sara Garcia, who led the research, is quoted by The Washington Post, talking about the sickening experiments. The scientists themselves first reported their results at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (71st Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences), and then published them in the specialized journal Journal of Forensic Sciences.
It is believed that cats begin to eat corpses, becoming very hungry. But there is also a not so banal hypothesis. Allegedly, in cases where the owner or mistress dies, the cat may begin to gnaw them in order to attract attention. Or trying to bring them back to life. This is the opinion of Mikel Delgado, a feline behavior specialist at the University of California at Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
By the way, cannibalism is not alien to cats. Having eaten the owner, they can take on each other. This, for example, happened two years ago in the village of Amursky, Omsk region. Of the 40 orphaned cats, only one survived. The rest were gnawed at by their fellows locked in the room.
VLADIMIR LAGOVSKY