comprei dois livros engraçados

Zoographies: The Question of the Animal from Heidegger to Derrida
Matthew Calarco

 

 

 

 

 

When Species Meet
Donna J. Haraway

a female cat that at the end is a male

The reason why I am writing in English is because I intend this post to be found at an international level for research purposes if it may be of anyone’s interest.

I have 5 cats, 3 males and 2 females. My first is about 10 years old and lived without any other cat until he was about 6 years old. He was never neutered because never marked his territory in any way. Some people may find it hard to believe, but it is absolutely true. He was neutered only when we brought home a baby female cat, our second cat. She was also spayed at a proper age.

For over two or three years this pair of cats lived alone, until we bring home two homeless cats from a cat-colony located in an urban area. This colony was isolated from other cats. No cats in, no cats out. Consanguinity breeding, as obviously expected. The place was highly fenced and had no direct access to humans.

These two cats were believed to come from a common litter. They were almost of the same size and a very similar appearance. They were both very sick and debilitated and stood for almost a month under medical assistance.

We also believed that one was a female and the other a male.

He has a congenital lacking finger in one of the back paws and I always believe he is somehow a little bit retired. At the same time he is the sweetest cat I have and trusts only in me. 

“She” has never grown up. It’s a nano-cat as I use to say. A year ago she has gone under a surgery to remove a tumor in her internal ear. It was benign. She has never been vaccinated due to her weak condition and also because she had a chronic “coriza” (don’t know how to say it in English but it is a kind of cat flue that affects all respiratory system and also the eyes). As consequence of this she almost lost her vision in one of her eyes and had something similar to bronchitis for almost a year. Also, she has never been spayed because she never had the heats and every male cat at home was neutered, including her brother. Without no intact cats at home and no heats there was no need to spay, unless we would like to avoid the development of uterine tumors. 

Last year we brought home another homeless cat. When he begun to smell like testosterone she suddenly started acting like a female cat with the heats. She lifted her back end and putted her tail aside just as female cats do when they are receptive to males. We then consider to spay her, not only because our most recent male cat could find that very interesting, but above all because now she was risking to develop cervical or mammary cancer. We also should neuter the younger cat in the house to avoid him from starting to mark territory (… and also because I want to maintain my elder cat with the status of “king of the house” at least while he is in shape).

Today “she” was being spayed. When the surgeon was in the middle of the procedure, already with an open belly and under anesthesia, no female reproductive system was found. No ovaries, no uterus. Confronted with this evidence the vet started looking for an explanation and analyses her genitalia closely. What seemed to be a vulva is at the end a “pseudo” penis. “She” never had any kind of exterior testicular tissue, obviously!

And that is pretty much it. My supposed nano-female-cat is at the end a nano-male-cat that has never developed his genitalia properly.

A final remark just to say that she is still my “little and sweet” female cat and this won’t change for me. And it won’t change for her also.

animal!

Até a mim me parece estranho, mas nunca falei aqui dos meus animais de estimação. Como é possível?

animais e ancestrais

Comprei Animals and Ancestors: an ethnography de Brian Morris.
Tem uma capa lindíssima, é da Berg e foi publicado em 2000.
Não sei se é bom se é mau, mas é um início.