As if domesticated cats don’t have enough super-abilities, especially their skill in enslaving humans to do their bidding, new research has discovered that cats can actually repair their central nervous system, a finding that could lead to treatments for multiple sclerosis in humans.

From Science Daily:

In a study published March 30, 2009 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison reports that the restoration in cats of myelin — a fatty insulator of nerve fibers that degrades in a host of human central nervous system disorders, the most common of which is multiple sclerosis — can lead to functional recovery.

“The fundamental point of the study is that it proves unequivocally that extensive remyelination can lead to recovery from a severe neurological disorder,” says Ian Duncan, the UW-Madison neuroscientist who led the research. “It indicates the profound ability of the central nervous system to repair itself.”

Nine Lives: Cats Central Nervous System Can Repair Itself and Restore Function

People who have allergic reactions to cats have been giving a relatively new company, Allerca, large sums of money so they can take ownership of genetically altered cats that are supposedly hypoallergenic. Problem is, after coughing up $7,000, people are not receiving their mutant cats. Hence, lawsuits are starting to fly.

Long ago, I used to be allergic to cats. The I surrounded myself with cats, buried my face in their fur, suffered for a few days…and oila! My allergies went away after the prolonged exposure and never came back.

From MyCentralJersey:

Andrew Reale, of Warren, has filed suit in the Civil Division of state Superior Court, Somerville, against Allerca, also known as Lifestyle Pets.

In the suit, Reale states he signed a contract with the company on Sept. 11, 2007 to buy the kitten. Reale paid $5,950 for the kitten, plus $1,950 for “premium placement,” which included delivery of the feline in eight months.

According to Allerca’s Web site, the cats are specially bred to produce a genetically engineered protein that will not not cause an allergic reaction in humans.

Allerca told Reale the kitten would be delivered by Sept. 16, 2008, according to the lawsuit.

In response to an e-mail that Reale sent to the company on Nov. 18, 2008, Allerca said the kitten would be delivered on Dec. 6, 2008. Then Allerca said on Dec. 1, 2008 that the kitten would be delivered in January 2009, the lawsuit said.

2,000 British pet owners were polled in a recent survey about their ideal animal companion.

Results were:

49% Dog

35% Cat

9% Horse

7% Rabbit

From Metro:

Pete Markey, who helped conduct the research for insurance firm More Than, said: “This experiment has provided great insight into exactly what it is about their animals people love, both in terms of looks and personality, and it goes to show what a pet-obsessed nation we are.”

I can’t say as I’ve ever given the ‘handedness’ of cats much thought. I just assumed they were ambidextrous, but new research out of Queen’s University reveals a very different story: the overwhelming majority of female cats are dominant with the right paw, whereas male cats prefer you talk to the left paw.

From Discovery News:

The findings also add to a growing body of evidence that male animals tend to be left-handed, or in this case left-pawed, more often than females. While 90 percent of all humans are right-handed, of the remaining southpaws, more tend to be men.

The differences are even clearer among cats.

“Our results suggest that there are two distinct populations of paw preference in the cat that cluster very strongly around the animals’ sex,” Deborah Wells, who led the study, told Discovery News.