Hey Pooochie! What Happened....

[Roy]

To your original photo? My vote, bring it on back!

I was always of the understanding that in general, Balinese women HATE cats. I know that is the case with my family, and at any time (three in all) when my wife was pregnant, she would freak out over the sight or presence of a wild cat in our house. No worries, I never killed one to "protect" her, but from what I understand, encounters with cats by pregnant Balinese women is "not a good thing." My mother and sisters in law all agree.

Do you have any input for us on this? I'd love to get Eri to let us have a cat, as they are so good, (and usually neater) with rat and mouse eradication, but I'm looking at a K-2 hurdle to climb.

[rien.gluvers]

When my wife was pregnant, she would freak out over the sight or presence of a wild cat in our house.

Roy, your wife was right. Cat droppings and -urine can bring diseases to pregnant women that will make deformed baby's. Even with housecats in Holland the advise is not to let pregnant women clean the litter box.

[pooochie]

Roy

The reason I have changed my picture is because I am trying to promote cats in the pet survey. So far the daft dogs :evil: are winning. I will be changing my picture back later on.

When I went to England, I was not a cat lover. When I got married my husband kept saying we should get a cat. I always refused. My cat ended up being adopted from being a stray and coming around my house to ask for food. I very quickly realised that cats are very enjoyable creatures. I am now 100% converted.

In my opinion, it is typically Balinese not to be a cat lover. Eri will no doubt be like I was. I am sure if she experienced some time with a clean and friendly domesticated cat, she would be quite easily converted, as I was.

Yes cats get rid of the mice, but do have a bad habit of bringing dead ones to the doorstep. Worse still is when they catch birds. However I think my cat will run when it sees the size of the Tikus in Bali.

In the UK we also are warned about pregnant women and cats. We are not planning for a baby as yet, but in the future will no doubt have my parents look after the cat for a while, I am not sure where my parents going to put their ikan mas, burung and ayam jago etc. My parents also were not into cats but are slowly becoming very fond of my cat.

If you are passed your mating part of life :( , then may be it's time for a kitten :D . The kids will love it and they will grow up together. Eri will be converted very quickly, especially seeing the enjoyment it brings to the household. It will be worth the pain barrier. Do remember to make sure it gets the chop, it will not be pleased but you will be.

Good luck and keep us posted

[Roy]

I grew up with cats, my mom adored them and my dad tolerated them. I never heard that there are sound medical reasons for pregnant women to avoid exposure to cats, in particular, their urine or feces. This brings up a point, or more accurately, a question to ponder.

Often I have wondered how many Balinese “superstitions” or customs are actually founded on sound medical or scientific reasoning. I also wonder to what extent the Chinese knowledge on these matters, which goes back for many centuries played a role in formulating this knowledge. I suspect that this influence is very significant, as the Chinese influence in Java, particularly during the Majapahit era was so extreme that Chinese coinage was adopted as the official currency during this period, 14th and 15th century AD.

Good fodder I think for some aspiring young anthropologist as I’ve never read any discourses or studies on this.

[Lee]

Toxoplasmosis is the reason pregnant women should be careful around cats, particularly their feces. The culprit is an intestinal parasite that infects cats or other mammals that eat small animals that carry the parasite.

The eggs are shed in the feces and develop from there, if a pregnant woman is infected, they can cause birth defects. Care should be taken with raw meat as well as it may have the parasite.

Lee