The fattest cat in the world, Crumbs, lost his life weeks after joining a feline fat camp as vets said that his cancerous tumours got hidden in his extensive layers of flab.&nbsp;

The cat – named Kroshik (Russian for “Crumbs”) – had gone viral after authorities rescued him from the basement of a Russian hospital.&nbsp;

The diet of scraps, biscuits and soup in the basement had caused the cat to gain an enormous weight of 38 pounds.

However, after joining a special veterinary weight loss centre in Perm, Russia, Crumbs was able to lose seven pounds before he suddenly started to develop breathing problems and died on Saturday (Oct 26).

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The vets working at the diet centre said that layers of flab on the cat were so deep that the scans were not able to show the cancerous tumours which had grown on his spleen and internal organs.

<h2>What caused Crumbs’ death?</h2>

Galiana More, who is the owner of Matroskin cat shelter where Crumbs was treated, said that most probably the tumours caused the collapse of multiple organs.

The official cause of death of Crumbs is still not known as his full post-mortem exam is pending.&nbsp;

More said even after the post-mortem exam, it will be “very difficult” to understand what caused the demise of the fat cat's death – tumours or excess weight.&nbsp;

“When this is a large set of such multi-organ failure, the body simply can not cope, despite the fact that Kroshik was really a fighter,” More said.

“We are looking ahead to starting an examination, to understand why the Crumbs died but we will have to wait for five days for that conclusion," she added.

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More emphasised that often cats hide symptoms when they fall ill and reveal the issue only after their death.

“Cats always hold on to the last, they do not show this disease. Kroshik had no shortness of breath, no digestive problems. We could not do ultrasound, but we constantly monitored his health, because we understood that excess weight does not just happen," she explained.

The tests of Crumbs were all normal in the weeks which led to his death, More confirmed.

“It hurts that we didn’t know about it before, couldn’t help. This is a great loss for us, because Kroshik was a symbol of hope for everyone, and we really wanted to publish only good news. It’s really painful to talk about it," she said.&nbsp;

Crumbs was so heavy that he could not walk and had to follow a strict diet and exercise regimen which included walking on an underwater treadmill to lose weight.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

The fattest cat in the world, Crumbs, lost his life weeks after joining a feline fat camp as vets said that his cancerous tumours got hidden in his extensive layers of flab.

The fattest cat in the world, Crumbs, lost his life weeks after joining a feline fat camp as vets said that his cancerous tumours got hidden in his extensive layers of flab. The cat – named Kroshik (Russian for “Crumbs”) – had gone viral after authorities rescued him from the basement of a Russian hospital. The diet of scraps, biscuits and soup in the basement had caused the cat to gain an enormous weight of 38 pounds. However, after joining a special veterinary weight loss centre in Perm, Russia, Crumbs was able to lose seven pounds before he suddenly started to develop breathing problems and died on Saturday (Oct 26). Also Read: Indian Army's dog Phantom sacrifices his life while fighting terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir The vets working at the diet centre said that layers of flab on the cat were so deep that the scans were not able to show the cancerous tumours which had grown on his spleen and internal organs. What caused Crumbs’ death? Galiana More, who is the owner of Matroskin cat shelter where Crumbs was treated, said that most probably the tumours caused the collapse of multiple organs. The official cause of death of Crumbs is still not known as his full post-mortem exam is pending. More said even after the post-mortem exam, it will be “very difficult” to understand what caused the demise of the fat cat's death – tumours or excess weight. “When this is a large set of such multi-organ failure, the body simply can not cope, despite the fact that Kroshik was really a fighter,” More said. “We are looking ahead to starting an examination, to understand why the Crumbs died but we will have to wait for five days for that conclusion," she added. Watch: Ratan Tata's Pet Dog Tito Included in 10,000 Crore Will More emphasised that often cats hide symptoms when they fall ill and reveal the issue only after their death. “Cats always hold on to the last, they do not show this disease. Kroshik had no shortness of breath, no digestive problems. We could not do ultrasound, but we constantly monitored his health, because we understood that excess weight does not just happen," she explained. The tests of Crumbs were all normal in the weeks which led to his death, More confirmed. “It hurts that we didn’t know about it before, couldn’t help. This is a great loss for us, because Kroshik was a symbol of hope for everyone, and we really wanted to publish only good news. It’s really painful to talk about it," she said. Crumbs was so heavy that he could not walk and had to follow a strict diet and exercise regimen which included walking on an underwater treadmill to lose weight. (With inputs from agencies)

World’s fattest cat Crumbs loses his life after joining feline fat camp

Maneki-neko ('beckoning cat') is quite a common Japanese figurine, popularly believed to bring good luck to the owner. Not just in Japan, they are popular across the world and seen in shops and homes.&nbsp;

Cat owners in Japan spend big bucks on their care and would go to a substantial extent for their well being, but it is also important for them to know how felines are feeling, whether or not they are down.&nbsp;

Now, they can receive the necessary assistance&nbsp;as a Tokyo-based tech firm and university have collaborated to create an app trained on hundreds of cat images that can inform them when their pet is in agony.&nbsp;

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A report published by the news agency AFP mentioned that since its release last month, "Cat Pain Detector" has racked up 43,000 users. Go Sakioka, head of developer Carelogy, said that most of the users are in Japan, but some are also in Europe and South America.&nbsp;

The report has mentioned that the software is part of a growing array of technology for pet owners, who are worried about the well-being of their pets. Some similar apps are mood and pain trackers produced in Canada and Israel.&nbsp;

Carelogy and Nihon University's College of Bioresource Sciences jointly collected 6,000 cat pictures and closely examined the postures of the ears, noses, whiskers, and eyelids of cats.&nbsp;

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After that, they used a grading system developed by the University of Montreal to distinguish between healthy cats and those in pain owing to difficult-to-diagnose disorders.&nbsp;

Sakioka said that the app developers then fed the information into an AI detection system. They were helped when around 600,000 photos were uploaded by users. &nbsp;

He told AFP that the app "has an accuracy level of more than 90 per cent".&nbsp;

According to the Japan Pet Food Association, 60 per cent of owners take their cat to a veterinarian at most once a year.

"We want to help cat owners judge more easily at home whether to see a vet or not," Sakioka said.

"Cat Pain Detector" is already being used by some vets in Japan, the land of Hello Kitty, where tourists flock to cat cafes and some small islands are overrun by stray felines.

But "the AI system still needs to be more precise before it's used as a standardised tool", he said.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

 
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Maneki-neko ('beckoning cat') is quite a common Japanese figurine, popularly believed to bring good luck to the owner. Not just in Japan, they are popular across the world and seen in shops and homes.

Maneki-neko ('beckoning cat') is quite a common Japanese figurine, popularly believed to bring good luck to the owner. Not just in Japan, they are popular across the world and seen in shops and homes. Cat owners in Japan spend big bucks on their care and would go to a substantial extent for their well being, but it is also important for them to know how felines are feeling, whether or not they are down. Now, they can receive the necessary assistance as a Tokyo-based tech firm and university have collaborated to create an app trained on hundreds of cat images that can inform them when their pet is in agony. Also read: Dolphins pamper their little ones with ‘baby talk’, a study tells how A report published by the news agency AFP mentioned that since its release last month, "Cat Pain Detector" has racked up 43,000 users. Go Sakioka, head of developer Carelogy, said that most of the users are in Japan, but some are also in Europe and South America. The report has mentioned that the software is part of a growing array of technology for pet owners, who are worried about the well-being of their pets. Some similar apps are mood and pain trackers produced in Canada and Israel. Carelogy and Nihon University's College of Bioresource Sciences jointly collected 6,000 cat pictures and closely examined the postures of the ears, noses, whiskers, and eyelids of cats. Also read: Scientists are concerned by skin disease in endangered killer whales After that, they used a grading system developed by the University of Montreal to distinguish between healthy cats and those in pain owing to difficult-to-diagnose disorders. Sakioka said that the app developers then fed the information into an AI detection system. They were helped when around 600,000 photos were uploaded by users. He told AFP that the app "has an accuracy level of more than 90 per cent". According to the Japan Pet Food Association, 60 per cent of owners take their cat to a veterinarian at most once a year. "We want to help cat owners judge more easily at home whether to see a vet or not," Sakioka said. "Cat Pain Detector" is already being used by some vets in Japan, the land of Hello Kitty, where tourists flock to cat cafes and some small islands are overrun by stray felines. But "the AI system still needs to be more precise before it's used as a standardised tool", he said. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

'Cat Pain Detector': This app helps owners know if their pet is in agony, needs vet visit

A striped feline leaps from a rock under the shade of a tree on a late October morning.&nbsp;

As its front paws touch the ground, the whiskered creature looks up, eyes darting left. A wildlife camera clicks and captures the scene.

It's a cat — and the location isn't a remote rainforest, but the capital of the United States.

The photo is part of the DC Cat Count, a first of its kind, three-year effort by animal welfare advocates, conservationists and scientists to enumerate every Felis catus in Washington.

The team behind the study says it provides an accurate estimate of the size of the city's indoor, outdoor and shelter population.

It found there are about 200,000 cats in the District of Columbia, with about half of them living indoors only, said Tyler Flockhart, a conservation biologist and science lead on the DC Cat Count.

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The other half is a group that includes owned cats with limited or unlimited access outdoors, stray cats, and roughly 3,000 to 4,000 feral cats who avoid interactions with humans, Flockhart said.

"I don't think that you can find another wild mammal — another wild carnivore — that occurs at that density anywhere in the world," he said, of cats and urban environments.&nbsp;

"I think that this is really sort of an interesting idea that we can have so many cats in such a small location."

Consensus for a cat census&nbsp;

The study brought together groups that are often at odds over the impact that outdoor cats have on wildlife and landscape.

While conservationists worry that outdoor cats can decimate bird populations, animal advocates seek to ensure the welfare and safety of cats seeking to survive outside.

"What was really groundbreaking with the DC Cat Count was these organizations coming together," said Stephanie Shain, the chief operating officer of the Humane Rescue Alliance (HRA), which took part in the study.

They were driven by a common purpose "to really focus not on who is right or who has been right, but really focus on getting it right — &nbsp;finding out the information, analyzing the data," she added.&nbsp;

Shain said HRA recommends that cat owners keep their feline friends indoors only in order to keep them safe and avoid damaging wildlife.

"I was pleased to see how many people actually follow that advice," she said.

To count all the cats who call the seat of American power home, researchers surveyed more than 2,600 residents, analyzed animal shelter records, walked along specific routes in search of cats and set up wildlife cameras in more than 1,500 spots.

"This is probably the most thorough analysis of cats of any city in the world," Flockhart said.

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He and other researchers continue to analyse the data collected since 2018 and the research has already led to several peer-reviewed scientific papers.

The DC Cat Count team also made an extensive toolkit available online with protocols and guidelines for organisations wishing to carry out their own cat census. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Besides cats, the camera traps also snapped pictures of numerous animals including squirrels, raccoons, foxes, deer — and even a bobcat.

"There's a huge diversity of wildlife in our cities," Flockhart said.

"We tend to think of it as humans-only, and it could be anything but the case. There are all types of wildlife, from rodents all the way up to large predators."

A striped feline leaps from a rock under the shade of a tree on a late October morning. As its front paws touch the ground, the whiskered creature looks up, eyes darting left.

A striped feline leaps from a rock under the shade of a tree on a late October morning. As its front paws touch the ground, the whiskered creature looks up, eyes darting left. A wildlife camera clicks and captures the scene. It's a cat — and the location isn't a remote rainforest, but the capital of the United States. The photo is part of the DC Cat Count, a first of its kind, three-year effort by animal welfare advocates, conservationists and scientists to enumerate every Felis catus in Washington. The team behind the study says it provides an accurate estimate of the size of the city's indoor, outdoor and shelter population. It found there are about 200,000 cats in the District of Columbia, with about half of them living indoors only, said Tyler Flockhart, a conservation biologist and science lead on the DC Cat Count. Also Read | US warns climate poses ‘emerging threat’ to financial system The other half is a group that includes owned cats with limited or unlimited access outdoors, stray cats, and roughly 3,000 to 4,000 feral cats who avoid interactions with humans, Flockhart said. "I don't think that you can find another wild mammal — another wild carnivore — that occurs at that density anywhere in the world," he said, of cats and urban environments. "I think that this is really sort of an interesting idea that we can have so many cats in such a small location." Consensus for a cat census The study brought together groups that are often at odds over the impact that outdoor cats have on wildlife and landscape. While conservationists worry that outdoor cats can decimate bird populations, animal advocates seek to ensure the welfare and safety of cats seeking to survive outside. "What was really groundbreaking with the DC Cat Count was these organizations coming together," said Stephanie Shain, the chief operating officer of the Humane Rescue Alliance (HRA), which took part in the study. They were driven by a common purpose "to really focus not on who is right or who has been right, but really focus on getting it right — finding out the information, analyzing the data," she added. Shain said HRA recommends that cat owners keep their feline friends indoors only in order to keep them safe and avoid damaging wildlife. "I was pleased to see how many people actually follow that advice," she said. To count all the cats who call the seat of American power home, researchers surveyed more than 2,600 residents, analyzed animal shelter records, walked along specific routes in search of cats and set up wildlife cameras in more than 1,500 spots. "This is probably the most thorough analysis of cats of any city in the world," Flockhart said. Also Read | Coronavirus: NIH admits to US funding of gain-of-function research in Wuhan lab He and other researchers continue to analyse the data collected since 2018 and the research has already led to several peer-reviewed scientific papers. The DC Cat Count team also made an extensive toolkit available online with protocols and guidelines for organisations wishing to carry out their own cat census. Besides cats, the camera traps also snapped pictures of numerous animals including squirrels, raccoons, foxes, deer — and even a bobcat. "There's a huge diversity of wildlife in our cities," Flockhart said. "We tend to think of it as humans-only, and it could be anything but the case. There are all types of wildlife, from rodents all the way up to large predators."

Washington, District of Cats: US capital first city to count its felines

Cats are notorious for parking themselves in boxes of varying shapes and sizes. But their favourite remains anything that resembles a square.&nbsp;Social media is flooded with videos of cats spending hours in cardboard boxes lying stray in their homes and the odd satisfaction it brings to the felines.

Most caretakers also find it difficult to remove cats from these boxes, sometimes subjected to their claw treatment. #CatSquare trended heavily on social media in 2017 when multiple cats parked themselves in squares which were drawn on floors using tape.

Now, a new study may help us understand why cats love sitting in all things square! Published in “Applied Animal Behaviour Science”, the study claims that cats love to sit in 2-D shapes that resemble the shapes of a square, reported first by Gizmodo. The study is titled “If I fits I sits: A citizen science investigation into illusory contour susceptibility in domestic cats”.

The study’s co-author Gabriella Smith told Gizmodo that they were looking to understand whether felines would sit in a box that would essentially be an illusion and not an actual square to understand the phenomena better.

Cats caught in the act

To achieve this, an experiment was created urging pet owners to create the illusion of square-like shapes by using basic materials like paper and tape. They then created corners without sides, referred to as “Kanizsa Square Illusion” in the science community. This provides the watcher with the illusion of edges in the absence of any shape to create fake squares.

It can be best compared to what the famous game Pac-Man looks like, with illusory corners of a square being fed to the cat’s eyes. Owners were then asked to place these fake squares along with real squares across the house. A third category of a misshaped fake Kanizsa was also deployed. To prevent any influence, even in the form of eye contact, owners were urged to wear sunglasses if they were directly observing the cats, ScienceAlert reported.

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The researchers wanted to see whether cats were spending at least three seconds in any of these objects and tested 400 cats for the same. Over six days, only 30 cat owners were to complete their experiment.

Out of these 30 cats, nine cats consistently sat in one of the shapes. They sat on the regular square eight times, the Kanizsa “fake square” seven times, and its misshapen derivative&nbsp;only once.

Essentially, what this reveals is that cats chose the illusory square as much as the real square, meaning they’re susceptible to the same thing experienced by humans when it comes to 2-D objects. Just like us, they chose 2-D shapes not for the space it inhabits&nbsp;but for its sides, and perhaps the sense of comfort it brings to us... or the illusion of it at the very least!

Cats are notorious for parking themselves in boxes of varying shapes and sizes. But their favourite remains anything that resembles a square. Social media is flooded with videos of cats spending hours in cardboard boxes lying stray in their homes and the odd satisfaction it brings to the felines.

Cats are notorious for parking themselves in boxes of varying shapes and sizes. But their favourite remains anything that resembles a square. Social media is flooded with videos of cats spending hours in cardboard boxes lying stray in their homes and the odd satisfaction it brings to the felines. Most caretakers also find it difficult to remove cats from these boxes, sometimes subjected to their claw treatment. #CatSquare trended heavily on social media in 2017 when multiple cats parked themselves in squares which were drawn on floors using tape. Now, a new study may help us understand why cats love sitting in all things square! Published in “Applied Animal Behaviour Science”, the study claims that cats love to sit in 2-D shapes that resemble the shapes of a square, reported first by Gizmodo. The study is titled “If I fits I sits: A citizen science investigation into illusory contour susceptibility in domestic cats”. The study’s co-author Gabriella Smith told Gizmodo that they were looking to understand whether felines would sit in a box that would essentially be an illusion and not an actual square to understand the phenomena better. Cats caught in the act To achieve this, an experiment was created urging pet owners to create the illusion of square-like shapes by using basic materials like paper and tape. They then created corners without sides, referred to as “Kanizsa Square Illusion” in the science community. This provides the watcher with the illusion of edges in the absence of any shape to create fake squares. It can be best compared to what the famous game Pac-Man looks like, with illusory corners of a square being fed to the cat’s eyes. Owners were then asked to place these fake squares along with real squares across the house. A third category of a misshaped fake Kanizsa was also deployed. To prevent any influence, even in the form of eye contact, owners were urged to wear sunglasses if they were directly observing the cats, ScienceAlert reported. Also read: Soon cats in UK likely to be microchipped as theft increases The researchers wanted to see whether cats were spending at least three seconds in any of these objects and tested 400 cats for the same. Over six days, only 30 cat owners were to complete their experiment. Out of these 30 cats, nine cats consistently sat in one of the shapes. They sat on the regular square eight times, the Kanizsa “fake square” seven times, and its misshapen derivative only once. Essentially, what this reveals is that cats chose the illusory square as much as the real square, meaning they’re susceptible to the same thing experienced by humans when it comes to 2-D objects. Just like us, they chose 2-D shapes not for the space it inhabits but for its sides, and perhaps the sense of comfort it brings to us... or the illusion of it at the very least!

We finally know why cats love to sit in square-like boxes!

CatCon, a two-day festival where promoters estimate a record number of humans will gather to celebrate their favorite things – felines. The event, held this weekend (29-30 June 2019) just outside Los Angeles in nearby Pasadena, is the brainchild of Susan Michals.

World's largest cat-centric event taking place in Pasadena

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