Cats eradicated as pets in New Zealand

In article ,
says...

Cats are basically the domain of homosexuals and crazy women who can't
find a man. The rest of the world will survive just fine without these
hideous creatures. Good riddance!

I might suggest that you be ground into cat food and fed to
a family of hungry strays, but cats possess a certain
dignity -- and surely they would choose to starve rather
than dine on the likes of you.

--
-----------
Brian E. Clark

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2013 12:04:17 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2013 10:58:21 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Mon, 4 Feb 2013 23:19:20 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Mon, 04 Feb 2013 02:51:57 -0500, Clara Semps
wrote:

In the middle Ages, the Black Plague was spread quickly...
There were several reasons for this. Primarily, the spread of
the big asian rats carrying the disease.

The Black Death was caused by fleas carried by rats that were
very common in towns and cities. The fleas bit into their
victims literally injecting them with the disease. Death could
be very quick for the weaker victims.

Yes. The Bubonic plague is one of the few diseases that crosses
the species barrier from rats to humans. Fortunately, most
diseases do not. In the 18th century, cats may have easily saved
millions of human lives.....

Just wondering out loud........the cats themselves could have
carried infected fleas; dogs too.

Yes.... And the cats (and dogs) could have also gotten the
plague.... I don't know. News stories seldon answer those kinds of
very intelligent questions. I think that if they did, all
newscsters woulde have become engineers.....

I believe rats infested with infected fleas carried the plague from
Asia to Europe aboard ships, but the flea could be present in any
host that would accommodate it, including humans.

Yes. But the question was, did the rats, cats and dogs get the
plague as well as the humans?

Yes.

http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/...c_ct_plague%20

In that case, rats were unnecessary. Common household pets could have
vectored the disease to humans without benefit of rats.....

On Wed, 6 Feb 2013 01:01:44 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2013 12:04:17 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2013 10:58:21 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Mon, 4 Feb 2013 23:19:20 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Mon, 04 Feb 2013 02:51:57 -0500, Clara Semps
wrote:

In the middle Ages, the Black Plague was spread quickly...
There were several reasons for this. Primarily, the spread of
the big asian rats carrying the disease.

The Black Death was caused by fleas carried by rats that were
very common in towns and cities. The fleas bit into their
victims literally injecting them with the disease. Death could
be very quick for the weaker victims.

Yes. The Bubonic plague is one of the few diseases that crosses
the species barrier from rats to humans. Fortunately, most
diseases do not. In the 18th century, cats may have easily saved
millions of human lives.....

Just wondering out loud........the cats themselves could have
carried infected fleas; dogs too.

Yes.... And the cats (and dogs) could have also gotten the
plague.... I don't know. News stories seldon answer those kinds of
very intelligent questions. I think that if they did, all
newscsters woulde have become engineers.....

I believe rats infested with infected fleas carried the plague from
Asia to Europe aboard ships, but the flea could be present in any
host that would accommodate it, including humans.

Yes. But the question was, did the rats, cats and dogs get the
plague as well as the humans?

Yes.

http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/...c_ct_plague%20

In that case, rats were unnecessary. Common household pets could have
vectored the disease to humans without benefit of rats.....

The details are not clear. It is generally accepted that the rat
carried the fleas who carried the disease from Asia to Europe. And it
was a certain specie of rat. You will read, "it was probably carried
by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats that were regular
passengers on merchant ships". People could spread the disease, too.
Bubonic plague can progress to lethal septicemic plague in some cases.
The plague is also known to spread to the lungs and become the disease
known as the pneumonic plague, This form of the disease is highly
communicable as the bacteria can be transmitted in droplets emitted
when coughing or sneezing.

I don't know if cats were susceptible to the bubonic plague. If you
read accounts of the Black Death, you won't read about cats; rather,
the emphasis is on rats and fleas. Regardless, whoever or whatever
caught the plague didn't live very long due to poor health, famine and
poor hygiene/sanitation.

Accounts are still sketchy, and their are several different theories
concerning the etiology of the plague. It's not even positively known
if the great pandemic of 1348 -1350 was, in fact, the bubonic plague,
but historical descriptions of the disease tend to support this view.

According to the website I posted, cats were susceptible to certain
forms of the plague, but they probably expired in a very short time. I
did a lot of research into the Black Death for a paper in college many
years ago, and I never came across any suggestion that cats (or dogs)
were involved; it was always rats and fleas.

--

On Wed, 06 Feb 2013 04:54:29 -0800, Mack A. Damia
wrote:

On Wed, 6 Feb 2013 01:01:44 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2013 12:04:17 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2013 10:58:21 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Mon, 4 Feb 2013 23:19:20 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Mon, 04 Feb 2013 02:51:57 -0500, Clara Semps
wrote:

In the middle Ages, the Black Plague was spread quickly...
There were several reasons for this. Primarily, the spread of
the big asian rats carrying the disease.

The Black Death was caused by fleas carried by rats that were
very common in towns and cities. The fleas bit into their
victims literally injecting them with the disease. Death could
be very quick for the weaker victims.

Yes. The Bubonic plague is one of the few diseases that crosses
the species barrier from rats to humans. Fortunately, most
diseases do not. In the 18th century, cats may have easily saved
millions of human lives.....

Just wondering out loud........the cats themselves could have
carried infected fleas; dogs too.

Yes.... And the cats (and dogs) could have also gotten the
plague.... I don't know. News stories seldon answer those kinds of
very intelligent questions. I think that if they did, all
newscsters woulde have become engineers.....

I believe rats infested with infected fleas carried the plague from
Asia to Europe aboard ships, but the flea could be present in any
host that would accommodate it, including humans.

Yes. But the question was, did the rats, cats and dogs get the
plague as well as the humans?

Yes.

http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/...c_ct_plague%20

In that case, rats were unnecessary. Common household pets could have
vectored the disease to humans without benefit of rats.....

The details are not clear. It is generally accepted that the rat
carried the fleas who carried the disease from Asia to Europe. And it
was a certain specie of rat. You will read, "it was probably carried
by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats that were regular
passengers on merchant ships". People could spread the disease, too.
Bubonic plague can progress to lethal septicemic plague in some cases.
The plague is also known to spread to the lungs and become the disease
known as the pneumonic plague, This form of the disease is highly
communicable as the bacteria can be transmitted in droplets emitted
when coughing or sneezing.

I don't know if cats were susceptible to the bubonic plague. If you
read accounts of the Black Death, you won't read about cats; rather,
the emphasis is on rats and fleas. Regardless, whoever or whatever
caught the plague didn't live very long due to poor health, famine and
poor hygiene/sanitation.

Accounts are still sketchy, and their are several different theories
concerning the etiology of the plague. It's not even positively known
if the great pandemic of 1348 -1350 was, in fact, the bubonic plague,
but historical descriptions of the disease tend to support this view.

According to the website I posted, cats were susceptible to certain
forms of the plague, but they probably expired in a very short time. I
did a lot of research into the Black Death for a paper in college many
years ago, and I never came across any suggestion that cats (or dogs)
were involved; it was always rats and fleas.

Interesting thread. But weren't cats considered associated with
witches and devils back then? I think there weren't a whole lot of
cats around. And, of course, not Advantage or Frontline.

"dgk" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 06 Feb 2013 04:54:29 -0800, Mack A. Damia
wrote:

On Wed, 6 Feb 2013 01:01:44 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2013 12:04:17 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2013 10:58:21 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Mon, 4 Feb 2013 23:19:20 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Mon, 04 Feb 2013 02:51:57 -0500, Clara Semps
wrote:

In the middle Ages, the Black Plague was spread quickly...
There were several reasons for this. Primarily, the spread of
the big asian rats carrying the disease.

The Black Death was caused by fleas carried by rats that were
very common in towns and cities. The fleas bit into their
victims literally injecting them with the disease. Death could
be very quick for the weaker victims.

Yes. The Bubonic plague is one of the few diseases that crosses
the species barrier from rats to humans. Fortunately, most
diseases do not. In the 18th century, cats may have easily saved
millions of human lives.....

Just wondering out loud........the cats themselves could have
carried infected fleas; dogs too.

Yes.... And the cats (and dogs) could have also gotten the
plague.... I don't know. News stories seldon answer those kinds of
very intelligent questions. I think that if they did, all
newscsters woulde have become engineers.....

I believe rats infested with infected fleas carried the plague from
Asia to Europe aboard ships, but the flea could be present in any
host that would accommodate it, including humans.

Yes. But the question was, did the rats, cats and dogs get the
plague as well as the humans?

Yes.

http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/...c_ct_plague%20

In that case, rats were unnecessary. Common household pets could have
vectored the disease to humans without benefit of rats.....

The details are not clear. It is generally accepted that the rat
carried the fleas who carried the disease from Asia to Europe. And it
was a certain specie of rat. You will read, "it was probably carried
by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats that were regular
passengers on merchant ships". People could spread the disease, too.
Bubonic plague can progress to lethal septicemic plague in some cases.
The plague is also known to spread to the lungs and become the disease
known as the pneumonic plague, This form of the disease is highly
communicable as the bacteria can be transmitted in droplets emitted
when coughing or sneezing.

I don't know if cats were susceptible to the bubonic plague. If you
read accounts of the Black Death, you won't read about cats; rather,
the emphasis is on rats and fleas. Regardless, whoever or whatever
caught the plague didn't live very long due to poor health, famine and
poor hygiene/sanitation.

Accounts are still sketchy, and their are several different theories
concerning the etiology of the plague. It's not even positively known
if the great pandemic of 1348 -1350 was, in fact, the bubonic plague,
but historical descriptions of the disease tend to support this view.

According to the website I posted, cats were susceptible to certain
forms of the plague, but they probably expired in a very short time. I
did a lot of research into the Black Death for a paper in college many
years ago, and I never came across any suggestion that cats (or dogs)
were involved; it was always rats and fleas.

Interesting thread. But weren't cats considered associated with
witches and devils back then? I think there weren't a whole lot of
cats around. And, of course, not Advantage or Frontline.

Not dogs but cats were associated with witchcraft by ignorant uneducated
peasants and zealous Christian religious leaders. Kill the cats left the
rat population ( the plague carriers ) uncontrolled according to some
studies. The rats ate the stocks and so on and so on. Fleas infested
everything back than but as we know if we have a flea infestation there are
more on animals than humans

Brian E. Clark wrote:
In article ,
says...

Cats are basically the domain of homosexuals and crazy women who
can't find a man. The rest of the world will survive just fine
without these hideous creatures. Good riddance!

I might suggest that you be ground into cat food and fed to
a family of hungry strays, but cats possess a certain
dignity -- and surely they would choose to starve rather
than dine on the likes of you.

Yes. My cats wouldn't touch it. They have a hard time eating even commercial
cat food, much less ground up human beings. And in this case, it is
questionable whether or not the ground meat was actually human.....

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Wed, 6 Feb 2013 01:01:44 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2013 12:04:17 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2013 10:58:21 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Mon, 4 Feb 2013 23:19:20 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Mon, 04 Feb 2013 02:51:57 -0500, Clara Semps
wrote:

In the middle Ages, the Black Plague was spread quickly...
There were several reasons for this. Primarily, the spread of
the big asian rats carrying the disease.

The Black Death was caused by fleas carried by rats that were
very common in towns and cities. The fleas bit into their
victims literally injecting them with the disease. Death could
be very quick for the weaker victims.

Yes. The Bubonic plague is one of the few diseases that crosses
the species barrier from rats to humans. Fortunately, most
diseases do not. In the 18th century, cats may have easily
saved millions of human lives.....

Just wondering out loud........the cats themselves could have
carried infected fleas; dogs too.

Yes.... And the cats (and dogs) could have also gotten the
plague.... I don't know. News stories seldon answer those kinds
of very intelligent questions. I think that if they did, all
newscsters woulde have become engineers.....

I believe rats infested with infected fleas carried the plague
from Asia to Europe aboard ships, but the flea could be present
in any host that would accommodate it, including humans.

Yes. But the question was, did the rats, cats and dogs get the
plague as well as the humans?

Yes.

http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/...c_ct_plague%20

In that case, rats were unnecessary. Common household pets could have
vectored the disease to humans without benefit of rats.....

The details are not clear. It is generally accepted that the rat
carried the fleas who carried the disease from Asia to Europe. And it
was a certain specie of rat. You will read, "it was probably carried
by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats that were regular
passengers on merchant ships". People could spread the disease, too.
Bubonic plague can progress to lethal septicemic plague in some cases.
The plague is also known to spread to the lungs and become the disease
known as the pneumonic plague, This form of the disease is highly
communicable as the bacteria can be transmitted in droplets emitted
when coughing or sneezing.

I don't know if cats were susceptible to the bubonic plague. If you
read accounts of the Black Death, you won't read about cats; rather,
the emphasis is on rats and fleas. Regardless, whoever or whatever
caught the plague didn't live very long due to poor health, famine and
poor hygiene/sanitation.

Accounts are still sketchy, and their are several different theories
concerning the etiology of the plague. It's not even positively known
if the great pandemic of 1348 -1350 was, in fact, the bubonic plague,
but historical descriptions of the disease tend to support this view.

According to the website I posted, cats were susceptible to certain
forms of the plague, but they probably expired in a very short time. I
did a lot of research into the Black Death for a paper in college many
years ago, and I never came across any suggestion that cats (or dogs)
were involved; it was always rats and fleas.

In any case, it is a very interesting subject.... In another life, I might
want to cecome involved in that kind of research. I even wonder whether or
not an infected flea lives a normal lifespan when carrying the disease....
We have a cat that is infected with FIV. We have had him for about 15 years
now. He must be around 17 years olke or older. Even our vet is amazed at how
well he does csrrying this disease. She says he must be a carrier, but is
unaffected himself. But he doesn't give the disease to any of our other cats
either, although they all get immunization shots against it. Smokey was
feral, so we don't know how long he has had the disease. (I tamed him with
roast chicken and much patience....:^)

dgk wrote:
On Wed, 06 Feb 2013 04:54:29 -0800, Mack A. Damia
wrote:

On Wed, 6 Feb 2013 01:01:44 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2013 12:04:17 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2013 10:58:21 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Mon, 4 Feb 2013 23:19:20 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Mon, 04 Feb 2013 02:51:57 -0500, Clara Semps
wrote:

In the middle Ages, the Black Plague was spread quickly...
There were several reasons for this. Primarily, the spread
of the big asian rats carrying the disease.

The Black Death was caused by fleas carried by rats that were
very common in towns and cities. The fleas bit into their
victims literally injecting them with the disease. Death
could be very quick for the weaker victims.

Yes. The Bubonic plague is one of the few diseases that
crosses the species barrier from rats to humans. Fortunately,
most diseases do not. In the 18th century, cats may have
easily saved millions of human lives.....

Just wondering out loud........the cats themselves could have
carried infected fleas; dogs too.

Yes.... And the cats (and dogs) could have also gotten the
plague.... I don't know. News stories seldon answer those kinds
of very intelligent questions. I think that if they did, all
newscsters woulde have become engineers.....

I believe rats infested with infected fleas carried the plague
from Asia to Europe aboard ships, but the flea could be present
in any host that would accommodate it, including humans.

Yes. But the question was, did the rats, cats and dogs get the
plague as well as the humans?

Yes.

http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/...c_ct_plague%20

In that case, rats were unnecessary. Common household pets could
have vectored the disease to humans without benefit of rats.....

The details are not clear. It is generally accepted that the rat
carried the fleas who carried the disease from Asia to Europe. And
it was a certain specie of rat. You will read, "it was probably
carried by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats that were
regular passengers on merchant ships". People could spread the
disease, too. Bubonic plague can progress to lethal septicemic
plague in some cases. The plague is also known to spread to the
lungs and become the disease known as the pneumonic plague, This
form of the disease is highly communicable as the bacteria can be
transmitted in droplets emitted when coughing or sneezing.

I don't know if cats were susceptible to the bubonic plague. If you
read accounts of the Black Death, you won't read about cats; rather,
the emphasis is on rats and fleas. Regardless, whoever or whatever
caught the plague didn't live very long due to poor health, famine
and poor hygiene/sanitation.

Accounts are still sketchy, and their are several different theories
concerning the etiology of the plague. It's not even positively
known if the great pandemic of 1348 -1350 was, in fact, the bubonic
plague, but historical descriptions of the disease tend to support
this view.

According to the website I posted, cats were susceptible to certain
forms of the plague, but they probably expired in a very short time.
I did a lot of research into the Black Death for a paper in college
many years ago, and I never came across any suggestion that cats (or
dogs) were involved; it was always rats and fleas.

Interesting thread. But weren't cats considered associated with
witches and devils back then? I think there weren't a whole lot of
cats around. And, of course, not Advantage or Frontline.

I am sure that cats are still associated with both witches and devils....
but I love them anyway.....:^)

On Feb 6, 7:54*am, Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Wed, 6 Feb 2013 01:01:44 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:









Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2013 12:04:17 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2013 10:58:21 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Mon, 4 Feb 2013 23:19:20 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Mon, 04 Feb 2013 02:51:57 -0500, Clara Semps
wrote:

In the middle Ages, the Black Plague was spread quickly...
There were several reasons for this. Primarily, the spread of
the big asian rats carrying the disease.

The Black Death was caused by fleas carried by rats that were
very common in towns and cities. The fleas bit into their
victims literally injecting them with the disease. Death could
be very quick for the weaker victims.

Yes. The Bubonic plague is one of the few diseases that crosses
the species barrier from rats to humans. Fortunately, most
diseases do not. In the 18th century, cats may have easily saved
millions of human lives.....

Just wondering out loud........the cats themselves could have
carried infected fleas; dogs too.

Yes.... And the cats (and dogs) could have also gotten the
plague.... I don't know. News stories seldon answer those kinds of
very intelligent questions. I think that if they did, all
newscsters woulde have become engineers.....

I believe rats infested with infected fleas carried the plague from
Asia to Europe aboard ships, but the flea could be present in any
host that would accommodate it, including humans.

Yes. But the question was, did the rats, cats and dogs get the
plague as well as the humans?

Yes.

http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/...c_ct_plague%20

In that case, rats were unnecessary. Common household pets could have
vectored the disease to humans without benefit of rats.....

The details are not clear. *It is generally accepted that the rat
carried the fleas who carried the disease from Asia to Europe. *And it
was a certain specie of rat. You will read, "it was probably carried
by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats that were regular
passengers on merchant ships". * People could spread the disease, too.
Bubonic plague can progress to lethal septicemic plague in some cases.
The plague is also known to spread to the lungs and become the disease
known as the pneumonic plague, This form of the disease is highly
communicable as the bacteria can be transmitted in droplets emitted
when coughing or sneezing.

I don't know if cats were susceptible to the bubonic plague. *If you
read accounts of the Black Death, you won't read about cats; rather,
the emphasis is on rats and fleas. *Regardless, whoever or whatever
caught the plague didn't live very long due to poor health, famine and
poor hygiene/sanitation.

Accounts are still sketchy, and their are several different theories
concerning the etiology of the plague. *It's not even positively known
if the great pandemic of 1348 -1350 was, in fact, the bubonic plague,
but historical descriptions of the disease tend to support this view.

According to the website I posted, cats were susceptible to certain
forms of the plague, but they probably expired in a very short time. I
did a lot of research into the Black Death for a paper in college many
years ago, and I never came across any suggestion that cats (or dogs)
were involved; it was always rats and fleas.

--

Didn't plague originate in Chinese marmots?

On Thu, 7 Feb 2013 10:18:30 -0800 (PST), Father Haskell
wrote:

On Feb 6, 7:54*am, Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Wed, 6 Feb 2013 01:01:44 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:









Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2013 12:04:17 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2013 10:58:21 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Mon, 4 Feb 2013 23:19:20 -0800, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Mon, 04 Feb 2013 02:51:57 -0500, Clara Semps
wrote:

In the middle Ages, the Black Plague was spread quickly...
There were several reasons for this. Primarily, the spread of
the big asian rats carrying the disease.

The Black Death was caused by fleas carried by rats that were
very common in towns and cities. The fleas bit into their
victims literally injecting them with the disease. Death could
be very quick for the weaker victims.

Yes. The Bubonic plague is one of the few diseases that crosses
the species barrier from rats to humans. Fortunately, most
diseases do not. In the 18th century, cats may have easily saved
millions of human lives.....

Just wondering out loud........the cats themselves could have
carried infected fleas; dogs too.

Yes.... And the cats (and dogs) could have also gotten the
plague.... I don't know. News stories seldon answer those kinds of
very intelligent questions. I think that if they did, all
newscsters woulde have become engineers.....

I believe rats infested with infected fleas carried the plague from
Asia to Europe aboard ships, but the flea could be present in any
host that would accommodate it, including humans.

Yes. But the question was, did the rats, cats and dogs get the
plague as well as the humans?

Yes.

http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/...c_ct_plague%20

In that case, rats were unnecessary. Common household pets could have
vectored the disease to humans without benefit of rats.....

The details are not clear. *It is generally accepted that the rat
carried the fleas who carried the disease from Asia to Europe. *And it
was a certain specie of rat. You will read, "it was probably carried
by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats that were regular
passengers on merchant ships". * People could spread the disease, too.
Bubonic plague can progress to lethal septicemic plague in some cases.
The plague is also known to spread to the lungs and become the disease
known as the pneumonic plague, This form of the disease is highly
communicable as the bacteria can be transmitted in droplets emitted
when coughing or sneezing.

I don't know if cats were susceptible to the bubonic plague. *If you
read accounts of the Black Death, you won't read about cats; rather,
the emphasis is on rats and fleas. *Regardless, whoever or whatever
caught the plague didn't live very long due to poor health, famine and
poor hygiene/sanitation.

Accounts are still sketchy, and their are several different theories
concerning the etiology of the plague. *It's not even positively known
if the great pandemic of 1348 -1350 was, in fact, the bubonic plague,
but historical descriptions of the disease tend to support this view.

According to the website I posted, cats were susceptible to certain
forms of the plague, but they probably expired in a very short time. I
did a lot of research into the Black Death for a paper in college many
years ago, and I never came across any suggestion that cats (or dogs)
were involved; it was always rats and fleas.

--

Didn't plague originate in Chinese marmots?

Recently. (2009 - 2010)

"According to provincial health authorities in China, a construction
worker has died from bubonic plague this past Tuesday."

"He was rushed to the hospital after developing a high fever and
swollen lymph glands under his left armpit."

"The health authority there says the man acquired the deadly bacterium
after hunting, cooking and eating an infected marmot."

"Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium, Yersinia
pestis. It is found in animals throughout the world, most commonly
rats but other rodents like ground squirrels, prairie dogs, chipmunks,
rabbits and voles. Fleas typically serve as the vector of plague.
Human cases have been linked to the domestic cats and dogs that
brought infected fleas into the house."

http://www.examiner.com/article/chin...bubonic-plague

(No references given for this. I imagine rare cases of the plague in
modern times may have involved dogs and cats. Not many homes have
rats running wild these days, but anything that carried and sustained
the infected flea could be suspect.)

--