I'd be lost without mine, and would never go somewhere they could not
accompany me if I moved.
Designed that way:-)
Nature's design gets into the minutest details.
But babies often eat theirs, and humans are not exactly 100% on
bathroom hygiene, we just do not see the little critters lurking.
Of major concern compared with Nature's design is the poor quality of
gut bacteria we have these days due to everything from antibiotics
and other drugs to food preservatives colorings etc.
These change the intestinal flora to bugs that are not what we are
designed for and can very well include nasty ones who under normal
conditions would be out-competed by the healthy flora.
After all, most of us eat plenty of bacteria in yogurt, kefir, and so
on at times. Gut bacteria are intended to be just such innocuous
organisms, and in cats and dogs, often are. That's a small part of
it. Cats and dogs ARE designed differently:
One example is their greater salmonella resistance. Dogs are
designed even more resistant to bacterial issues than cats and they
can eat meat that has been lying about for some time, growing
bacteria on the surface, with no problems. Cats on the other hand
have a much simpler liver design and no ability to undo toxins as
dogs have (and people have).
For cats, the raw meat's surface bacteria (and the products of those
bacteria) are toxic and destroy some of their internal vitamins when
eaten, compromising their health.
But Nature gave the cat a Jacobsen's organ (between tongue and nose
in function but super-sensitive, located in the upper palate area)
with which to detect minute amounts of bacterial action to make it
easier for them to avoid meat that is not frtesh-killed.
SO basically we all have such detailed and intricate design to suit
our function.
Cats NEED their liver to be very small and not fancy, as that in turn
goes with their design as solo predators. None of this design is
accidental - it is far too intricately interwoven. A predator hunting
alone can not lug along a hefty liver - unlike dogs who hunt in packs
and do not need to be able to catch prey solo Cats must travel super-
light to do a super-pounce. They need to refuel VERY often as a
result of their simple light-load design. ALL of the design features
of a specific species, hang together as a whole. Meat is easiest to
digest of the food categories, so cats are designed to exist almost
exclusively on meat (and fat) - it requires a minimum of digestive
apparatus. Dogs can afford somewhat fancier apparatus due to the pack
hunting system - so they can handle a few plants too, even though
that takes a LOT of extra equipment. (Compare with plant specialists
who have multiple stomachs and stand around chewing cud all day -
it's HARD to digest plants and needs lots of equipment.) Dogs are
quite limited, but they do some plants. Humans on the other hand can
do any number of plants, AND meat, and we have VERY sophisticated
equipment for it compared to dogs or cats, but less so compared with
cows as regards plants, and we are not great at digesting grass -
but we are relatively useless too at pouncing, or even pack hunting.
We need tools to do "hunting".
So each species has a design that fits their needs as a whole.
Individual comparisons of individual aspects (like eating stool) need
to be seen in the context of overall design. For example guinea pigs
eat their own stool regularly - and *they* do it in order to better
digest plant material (which is hard to digest) giving it all a
second time round, and so as to need less fancy equipment than is
needed to do it all in one pass.
I do not think so. I think it is just a mater of seeing it in the
context of overall design. Why design us to do that when it has no
functional or safety or nutritional reason for us.
Namaste,
Irene
--
Irene de Villiers, B.Sc AASCA MCSSA D.I.Hom/D.Vet.Hom.
P.O. Box 4703 Spokane WA 99220.
www.angelfire.com/fl/furryboots/clickhere.html (Veterinary Homeopath.)
"Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt one doing it."