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Old May 20th 10, 12:38 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes,rec.pets.cats.community,rec.pets.cats.health+behav,rec.pets.cats.misc,rec.pets.cats.rescue
Will in New Haven
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Default The Extinct Maltese Cat

On May 19, 5:03*pm, Shylock wrote:
On May 19, 2:39*pm, nik Simpson wrote:



On 5/19/2010 9:42 AM, MeOwy wrote:


On May 19, 8:29 am, *wrote:
On May 19, 7:01 am, Will in New Haven


*wrote:
On May 18, 9:47 pm, *wrote:


On May 18, 1:49 pm, Will in New Haven


*wrote:
I have read several posts in which someone of unreliable sanity keeps
referrng to this phenomenon. I have searched out source material but
found none. However, I did find the following on the Talk Page for
Maltese Cat. Someone, very likely the moron who posts this drivel
here, simply asserts the same sort of garbage. He posted it in 2007,
was asked for references before he could put it in the article itself
and, of course, never provided any. I will continue to search for
something about this other than naked claims.


During the Black Plague in Britain the Maltese cat literally saved
Europe from extinction. Regardless, this breed rarely appears on the
charts that hang in veterinarians' offices.


When the Plague first broke out, its cause was unknown; it was
eventually determined to be carried by fleas. Fleas, and presumably
the disease, had been around for a long time, so why should there
suddenly be an epidemic? The cause was the cats--not what the cats
did, but rather what they did not do. Over time, England had bred
their cats to magnificent sizes. Beautiful for show, they had become
useless at catching, killing and eating vermin.


The British feline was no longer able to get into the small spaces
where rats and mice hid. The rats proliferated, and their fleas
brought the Plague.


The small Maltese Cat has tiny ears, tiny paws, a short tail, short
legs, short fur, and the solid color and appearance of a gray rat.. It
has a somewhat flat face with round, green eyes, and a loving
expression. In (an unknown year--what was it, please?) the English
imported large numbers of these Maltese cats. They were not recognized
as a special breed, and for centuries remained just the Maltese cat.
In recent history (years???) the Maltese breed has been recognized in
America, but currently seems to have been forgotten and for most
purposes is extinct.


(End) Snezzy 03:15, 30 October 2007 (UTC)


Of course, I had to put my own two cents in. My rebuttal is not based
on the lack of sources, although I do mention it, but on the lack of
logic in the entire idea.


The previous "contribution," aside from being unsourced, is illogical
from start to finish. The plague came at a time long before anyone was
breeding cats for shows or, for that matter, practicing selective
breeding of cats at all. Certainly, the grainry cat, the barn cat and
the street cat, the cats that hunted the rodents, were not being
selectively bred. The plague hit many locations outside of the British
Isles and there is no record, or even any claim here, that the Maltese
Cat was imported to the many other places that saw the plague diminish
and eventually die out. Of course, the importation into the British
Isles isn't documented either but I'm just going after logical
inconsistancies, not the likelihood that the whole thing is a lie or
delusion. Perhaps the dumbest thing about the entire claim is the
assumption that small cats are better at hunting rodents. The rodents
that, for the most part, spread the plague were rats, not mice.
Getting into a small space with Norwegicus, or even Indicus, would be
inadvisable for the tiny cat described. The poor adorable thing would
be killed. Big cats are better ratters and terriers are better yet.