Russian Blue Research Articles

Firstborn

Firstborn Melissa Yancy (bio) The trip had been postponed for seventeen years. That was how Laurie always thought of it—as merely a postponement, never a cancellation. Matters of life kept springing up like nasty carnival moles demanding to be whacked: there were protracted deaths, seasonal colds, trips to the veterinarian for the Russian Blues. The trip to Paris was meant as an eighth-grade graduation gift for her niece, Paulette, who at the time had been a slight girl in braces with feathered hair and high-waist jeans. Now Paulette was thirty, although she lived at home and had never traveled, so the trip would still be an orientation of sorts. Laurie had imagined it differently with a young girl, of course: she would dress her, selecting scarves and showing her how to tie them in European styles. She would teach her basic French, and introduce her to her first tastes of Burgundy. The thirty-year-old Paulette was scheduled to arrive at Laurie's apartment in San Francisco within the hour and Laurie had not quite put things in order. There had been other priorities preparing for the trip. This was Paris, after all. She had needed at least two new silk blouses and had decided to invest in a fresh pair of black pants, as she'd suddenly noticed her favorite pair were threadbare in the rear. Normally, Laurie preferred polyester blouses to silk for the ease of maintenance, but this occasion called for something finer. Silk proved to be considerably more expensive than she recalled, but she managed to find a couple suitable options at the resale shop down the street. They were not exactly the Kenzo prints she had envisioned, but they would do. Her niece was spending only one night in the apartment before they departed the next morning for Paris. Laurie had never been much of a cleaning lady—mistresses didn't generally need to be— but she had managed to straighten up. Now, she was rushing through the apartment, from bathroom to kitchen to living room, wiping every surface she could find with a rag that had been [End Page 32] soaked in Pine Sol and water. If nothing else, the place would smell clean. She had recovered her large suitcase from the back of the closet the night before, and had found it smoke stained, the lining brittle and ripped. She had spritzed the interior with Shalimar before putting her clothes inside. The carry-on was in decent shape, but the cats—Lola and Neko—were nesting nose-to-tail inside. They had come running when they heard the enticing sound of a zipper. If only she could pack them and bring them aboard. If only they were the kind of cats who would tolerate a leash. Of course, she probably wouldn't have liked them very much if they were that sort, but it would have been charming to walk through the streets of the 18th arrondissement flanked on each side by a royal silver-blue feline. That would make a fetching book cover for her autobiography, she thought. She would be wearing a polka-dot blouse and white slacks, and perhaps a little hat with just an inch of hair peeking out under the brim. She had not yet titled the autobiography. The final name would reveal itself to her, she thought, when she had finally written it. Most recently she had been considering The Paris of the Perfect Feeling, a line from the aids memoir Borrowed Time. The author had been a Francophile, like Laurie, and had nursed a dying lover. Of course, with aids it had been considerably more dreadful than what she'd had to endure. Yet she'd always believed she would have made an excellent gay man. She was envious of her brother in that way. They'd been mixed up at birth. Oh she, she would have had fun: the parties, the men, the forbidden loves. She was the one who had settled in San Francisco, after all, the most European of American cities. Her brother, on the other hand, was meant to be the cat lady. She didn't know Paulette well...

Cutaneous malignant melanoma in an 11-month-old Russian blue cat

CASE HISTORY: A grey mass developed on the tail base of an 11-month-old Russian blue cat. The mass grew slowly for 2 months and then became ulcerated. CLINICAL FINDINGS: The mass was excised, and histology revealed it to be a malignant melanoma. Skin adjacent to the melanoma and underlying tissue contained large aggregates of melanin and numerous melanophages. Seven months later, an additional malignant melanoma was excised from the skin on the left thorax. Three months after the second melanoma was excised, the left axillary lymph nodes were enlarged; four were excised, and found to contain metastases. The cat became lethargic and anorexic, and was subject to euthanasia at 26 months of age. Post-mortem examination revealed numerous small well-circumscribed melanomas scattered within the S/C tissue overlying the left thorax and within the left axilla. These were interpreted to be in-transit metastases. Metastatic foci were also visible within the spleen, liver, lungs, lymph nodes and a rib; numerous small melanomas were also present throughout the mesentery. DIAGNOSIS: Cutaneous malignant melanoma with numerous distant and in-transit metastases. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Although cutaneous malignant melanomas appear to be rare in young cats, they can display a similar clinical behaviour to malignant melanomas in humans, and a guarded prognosis should be suggested for neoplasms of this type. In humans, in-transit metastases are a well-recognised consequence of removing lymph nodes that drain areas containing neoplastic disease. This manifestation of metastatic disease has not previously been reported in the veterinary literature.

Polycythaemia rubra vera in a cat

Blue, a 12-year-old, male neutered Russian Blue cat, weighing 5.24kg, was presented to the emergency clinic after having a seizure. The cat was fully vaccinated, and had previously been in perfect health, although the owner reported that it had been “off colour” for the past week. There was no known exposure to poisonous substances, although as the cat had free access to the outdoors, this could not be ruled out entirely.

Hyperprogesteronismus infolge bilateraler Nebennierenrindenkarzinome bei einer Katze mit Diabetes mellitus

An 8 year old male castrated Russian Blue cat with polyuria, polydipsia, polyphagia, abdominal enlargement, unkempt and easily epilated hair coat and abdominal alopecia is described. As a first step diabetes mellitus was diagnosed. Further work-up by ultrasonography revealed severe bilateral enlargement of the adrenal glands. Hypercortisolism was suspected and therefore ACTH stimulation test and dexamethasone suppression test were performed. In all samples cortisol concentrations were below the detection limit of the assay used. Various precursor hormones were measured and high progesterone concentrations were found. Histologically, the adrenal masses were characterised as bilateral adrenal carcinomas of the adrenal cortex. The case report demonstrates that adrenal gland tumors are also capable to secrete sex hormones instead of cortisol. Clinical signs of hyperprogesteronism are identical to those of hypercortisolism.

Russian blues reveal effects of language on color discrimination

English and Russian color terms divide the color spectrum differently. Unlike English, Russian makes an obligatory distinction between lighter blues ("goluboy") and darker blues ("siniy"). We investigated whether this linguistic difference leads to differences in color discrimination. We tested English and Russian speakers in a speeded color discrimination task using blue stimuli that spanned the siniy/goluboy border. We found that Russian speakers were faster to discriminate two colors when they fell into different linguistic categories in Russian (one siniy and the other goluboy) than when they were from the same linguistic category (both siniy or both goluboy). Moreover, this category advantage was eliminated by a verbal, but not a spatial, dual task. These effects were stronger for difficult discriminations (i.e., when the colors were perceptually close) than for easy discriminations (i.e., when the colors were further apart). English speakers tested on the identical stimuli did not show a category advantage in any of the conditions. These results demonstrate that (i) categories in language affect performance on simple perceptual color tasks and (ii) the effect of language is online (and can be disrupted by verbal interference).

Seroprevalence study of feline coronavirus in owned and feral cats in Sydney, Australia.

Objectives To establish the seroprevalence of Feline Coronavirus (FCoV) infection in two defined groups of cats in Sydney: owned and feral cats; ii) to identify factors associated with an increased risk of infection with FCoV; and iii) to establish the seroprevalence and FCoV antibody titres of owned cats with immunohistochemically confirmed feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). Design Prospective multi‐institutional cross sectional study. Procedure Serum samples from owned cats presented to three inner city veterinary clinics in Sydney and feral cats from a colony in South Western Sydney over an 11‐month period were tested for FCoV antibodies using the Immunocomb test kit. The relationship between serological score and six major factors (breed, age, gender, number of cats per household, living environment and health status) in the owned cat sample population was analysed and compared to cats with FIP. Results The seroprevalence of FCoV infection in the sample population of owned and feral cats was 34% and 0%, respectively. The median Immunocomb scores of DSH, Persian, Siamese and Devon Rex cats were significantly lower than that of Burmese, BSH, Abyssinian, Birman, Ragdoll and Russian Blue. The median Immunocomb score of pedigree cats less than 2 years‐of‐age was significantly higher than for pedigree cats greater than 2 years‐of‐age. This distinction was not evident in DSH cats in these age groups. The number of cats per household at the time of blood collection had a strong positive association with Immunocomb score. The median Immunocomb score of cats with immunohistochemically confirmed FIP was significantly higher than cats in the sample population of owned cats but there was sufficient overlap between these two groups to make definitive diagnosis of FIP by serology impossible. Conclusion This represents the first seroprevalence study of FCoV in Australia. The major determinants of antibody score of owned cats identified in this study were breed, age and the number of cats per household. The significant relationship between the breed of the cat and the FCoV antibody titre further supports the notion, proposed previously by the authors, that breed related differences exist in the immunological response to FCoV infection.

Prevalence of feline infectious peritonitis in specific cat breeds

Although known that purebreed cats are more likely to develop feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), previous studies have not examined the prevalence of disease in individual breeds. All cats diagnosed with FIP at a veterinary teaching hospital over a 16-year period were identified. Breed, sex and reproductive status of affected cats were compared to the general cat population and to mixed breed cats evaluated during the same period. As with previous studies sexually intact cats and purebreed cats were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with FIP; males and young cats also had a higher prevalence of disease. Abyssinians, Bengals, Birmans, Himalayans, Ragdolls and Rexes had a significantly higher risk, whereas Burmese, Exotic Shorthairs, Manxes, Persians, Russian Blues and Siamese cats were not at increased risk for development of FIP. Although additional factors doubtlessly influence the relative prevalence of FIP, this study provides additional guidance when prioritizing differentials in ill purebreed cats.

Singing the Russian Blues: An Argument for Culturally Basic Color Terms

The universal inventory of basic color terms (BCTs) consists of 11 terms, including a single blue term. Russian has two terms for blue, sinij (dark blue) and goluboj (light blue). The proposed status of goluboj as the 12th basic term challenges theory stating the upper limit of BCTs. This article reviews a body of research on the Russian blues and draws on arguments from lexical-semantic analysis and linguistic and psycholinguistic studies. It is argued that goluboj, being symbolically charged, emerged in Russian as culturally basic. Counterparts of the Russian blues in other languages are considered. Within a context beyond Russian, the potential refinement of the blue area is suggested to follow perceptual-cognitive universals. This is reinforced by language and culturally specific semiotics. By drawing attention to a distinction between denotative and designative meaning, the issue of the Russian blues calls into question the proper definition of a basic color term.

Epidemiologic study of risk factors for lower urinary tract diseases in cats.

To determine proportional morbidity rates (PMR) and risk factors for lower urinary tract diseases (LUTD) in cats. Case-control study. Records of 22,908 cats with LUTD and 263,168 cats without LUTD. Data were retrieved from the Purdue Veterinary Medical Data Base. Descriptive statistics and univariate logistic regression analyses were performed to assess whether breed, age, sex, and neutering status were associated with different causes of LUTD. Mean PMR for LUTD irrespective of cause was 8/100 cats (range, 2 to 13/100 cats). Increased risk for urocystolithiasis (Russian Blue, Himalayan, and Persian cats), bacterial urinary tract infections (UTI; Abyssinian cats), congenital urinary tract defects (Manx and Persian cats), and urinary incontinence (Manx cats) was detected. Cats between 2 and < 7 years of age had increased risk for urethral plugs, neurogenic disorders, congenital defects, and iatrogenic injuries. Cats between 4 and < 10 years of age had increased risk for urocystolithiasis, urethral obstructions, and idiopathic LUTD. Cats > or = 10 years of age had increased risk for UTI and neoplasia. Castrated males had increased risk for each cause of LUTD except UTI and incontinence. Spayed females had increased risk for urocystolithiasis, UTI, and neoplasia. Sexually intact females had decreased risk for each cause of LUTD except neurogenic disorders and iatrogenic injuries. Specific breed, age, sex, and neutering status may be associated with specific types of feline LUTD. Knowledge of patient risk factors for LUTD may facilitate development of surveillance strategies that enhance earlier detection.

Linguistic structure and non-linguistic cognition: English and Russian blues compared

Abstract The influence of linguistic structure on non-linguistic cognition was investigated by comparing Russian and English behaviour on tasks involving the blue region of colour space. Russians differentiate this region into sinji (“dark blue”) and goluboj (“light blue”); a number of behavioural differences were predicted if these are two basic categories. First, in choosing the most different colour from a triad of colours across the sinij-goluboj boundary, Russians were predicted to “stretch” distances between pairs of colours from different lexical categories and to “shrink” distances between pairs from the same category. Second, in judging the similarity between pairs of colours, Russians were predicted to maximise perceived similarity between pairs from the same category while minimising perceived similarity of pairs from contrasting categories. Third, asked to sort an array of blue colours into groups, Russians were expected to separate light and dark blues more often than English subjects for who...

Russian Blues: Faceted and Fancy Beads from the West African Trade

Russian Blues: Faceted and Fancy Beads from the West African Trade