Numbers of European travelling to the US falls off a cliff under Trump.

Countries like Denmark and Germany have seen a 30% drop.

Well yeah. Don't want to end up in El Salvador.

El Salvador the country might be lovely. I presume their prisons are not, though.

I have 0 faith in the UK government getting any of us out of any such situation, if the US administration decides for some mistaken reason to detain or prosecute UK citizens.

I wanted to share one of my kitties I recently drew 🐾

I have no words.

I knew comments wouldn't let me down.

this happened to my friends Jonathan and Thomas actually

Happiness Will Come To You.

when tho

When You Least Expect It. Probably Late March

reblog for happiness to come for you in late march!

I am the only survivor on this post REBLOG FOR HAPPINESS IN LATE MARCH AND TO SURVIVE THE MARCH OF TIME!!!!

Ginzan onsen

stopping by to say -

Do you ever write out a multi-paragraph rebuttal to something and then think "actually I do not want to get involved in this" and close it

this is so healthy tho. you get to put your thoughts to words and then you light them on metaphorical fire. cleansing.

Feline Dystocia and Kitten Mortality Up to 12 Weeks in Pedigree Cats

Objectives

The aim of the present study was to establish the incidence of dystocia in pedigree cat breeds and investigate mortality rates in kittens up to the age of 12 weeks.

Methods

A retrospective study was conducted that utilised convenience sampling. Registered cat breeders from 29 countries whose cats had given birth within a single year (2019) were asked to complete an online questionnaire. This study is the third in a series over 30 years that have assessed changes in birth-related statistics in cat breeds.

Results

Data were collected from 448 breeders on 853 litters, with 3560 live-born kittens from 45 pedigree breeds (as per the queens’ breed). The incidence of dystocia that required veterinary intervention was 14.9% and varied by breed (range 0–22.2%). Caesarean section was required for 10.7% of litters, most commonly in Cornish Rex cats. Despite apparent breed variation, there was no statistically significant difference among breeds. Queens aged over 5 years and litters of more than six kittens were associated with a reduced risk of dystocia, whereas a longer gestation period increased the risk. Bengal cats had the highest cumulative kitten mortality up to the age of 12 weeks (23.4%). Significant breed differences (P <0.001) were noted, with Ragdoll and Norwegian Forest Cats having lower litter mortality compared with Bengal and British Shorthair/Longhair cats.

Conclusions and Relevance

The incidence of dystocia in pedigree cats was higher than the historical values for non-pedigree and pedigree cats. The age of the queen, gestation length and litter size affected the incidence of dystocia. Kitten mortality was affected by the requirement for caesarean section, presence of birth defects and breed.

[Read Full Study @ Source]

I wish we could teach each other how to love the way we can teach animals that aren’t supposed to be able to feel it.

@kaijutegu is this cute? I know you deal with tegus and not iguanas, but I didn't know who else to ask

This is precious.

So, first thing you need to know is that is a very visibly healthy adult green iguana. Every part of the iguana is sharp. The claws evolved to haul a ten pound lizard up a tree. The spines are like tiny icepicks. The tail is a bullwhip. The teeth evolved to shred leaves, but they'll just as easily shred your flesh. Good luck making a healthy adult iguana do anything they don't wanna. That puts us on our first thing to look at- is the animal capable of defense and getting away, physically? Yes, definitely.

Next thing to know is what does a threatened or scared iguana look like? When an iguana is threatened, it doesn't stand on its hind legs like that; it stands on all fours and puffs itself up to look bigger, aggressively bobs its head (note: head bobbing is a behavior used for a LOT of things, it does need context- for example, they also head bob as part of mating displays), there is hissing, there is tail whipping- iguanas are not subtle creatures. None of this is the behavior of an iguana that feels threatened or is being a threat!

So what does standing like that mean? That's just simple reaching. The iguana sees something they want and is attempting to reach it, and what they want appears to be uppies, because they settle into the human's grip immediately.

Then, we see some GREAT handling from the human. There's really great communication happening between the two of them! The person picks up the iguana very securely- pelvis and pectoral girdles are well supported, and he doesn't grab. (Iguanas typically do NOT like being grabbed around the sides; many of their predators are birds and coming at them from above or gripping the sides is scary!)

As he goes in for the pet, he lets the iguana support their back half on his knee. The hold is secure but not tight; at any point, if the iggy was distressed, they could leave. But they don't- instead, you see them leaning into the pets, actively participating in the behavior. They're not even closing their eyes to block stimulus. They want this to happen.

This is the kind of bond that's possible when you can prove to a big lizard that you're trustworthy, and easily the best iguana video I've seen in a long time. Thank you for tagging me in!

Some green iguana body language resources under the jump!

Knowing a fic author through AO3 is like attending someone’s thesis presentation and politely clapping at the end, knowing a fic author through this hellsite is like going over to their house at 3AM to watch them eat mayonnaise out of a jar

Sometimes I attend somebody’s thesis presentation and I’m so impressed that I follow them home to watch them eat mayonnaise out of a jar at 3am.

Sometimes I watch someone eat mayonnaise out of a jar at 3am with such fervour I am compelled to attend their thesis presentation

I cannot trust the artistic opinions of anybody who can't frankly admit that the vast majority of whatever's produced in their chosen medium (books, film, etc) is unsalvageable pigslop. But also that dogshit amateur art is critical for said medium. AND that pigslop and amateur dogshit is different

Publishing is largely a machine cranking out entire forests' worth of garbage not worth reading. AND your unedited, barely-coherent 500k word Super Smash Bros fanfiction is vital for the soul to flourish. There is no contradiction here