another reason to have indoor only cats

[BlaqueKatt]

common parasite has jumped hosts

It's a relative of the guneia worm, foot long parasitic worm that bursts out of an animal's limb-slowly. comes from drinking untreated water or frogs.

[anakhouri]

Ooooh guinea worms are horrifying. I wouldn't wish that on any person OR any animal.

We also have coyotes in the woods behind our house, which look upon cats as yummy snacks. My neighbor lets her three cats roam outside all day (where they poop in my garden...grrrr) but takes them in at night. I'm a little sorry she does, honestly.

[HYHYBT]

The page won't open; I'm not sure whether to be sorry (because I wanted more information) or glad (because news sites just can't resist putting in photos of things like this where you can't help seeing them even if you don't want to rather than just letting you read text.)

[Andara Bledin]

Well, I don't recall it having anything other that pics of a regular housecat.

That said, it's not a new parasite, just one that hadn't been seen in cats before, keeping itself to small mammals of other types, mostly rodents, but also including dogs, so it's not just cats that need to be taken care of, though they aren't usually allowed to roam beyond their yards.

[Sleepwalker]

comes from drinking...frogs.

The mental image here is stunning.

[Aethian]

The mental image here is stunning.

Frog Slurry anyone?

[Sleepwalker]

Mmmm, slurry.

I was thinking of the joke, 'what is red and green and goes 100 miles per hour?'

'Frog in a blender.'