Thursday, December 08, 2005

Kitilin

Turns out that most kittens born in the United States have ADD. Or ADHD. It's true!

"Los Angeles, Calif. -- Veterinarians across the country are reacting to Monday’s release of a UCLA study claiming that as many as 90 percent of all felines currently being born in the United States will develop Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) during their first month as a kitten. "

I had suspected this before in the several times that I have had kittens in my home, but now it's a scientific fact. I've raised two kittens of my own and fostered seven to other homes. So I know whereof I speak. This new information is so overwhelming, we can't but accept it as fact.

“Our research shows that an overwhelming majority of kittens begin displaying classic symptoms of ADD and ADHD within their first two to three weeks of life, symptoms such as uncontrollable, aggressive hyperactivity, constant squirming and being easily distracted by irrelevant sights, sounds and extraneous stimuli – a ball of yarn or a toy mouse, for example,” said UCLA researcher David Berman, who led the study. “In the past these symptoms have simply been attributed to youth – passed off as cute or playful, instead of being acknowledged as symptoms of a disorder. But we now know that when a kitten is bouncing hastily and randomly between playing with a loose string, chasing a remote controlled car, trying to give the goldfish a heart attack and tonguing herself clean, it’s actually a physical sign of the kitten’s neurotic psychological condition.”

So there you have it. Kittens are officially neurotic as declared by a scientist. Lucky for me, my cats seem to have mostly grown out of this disorder. Every now and then though, it creeps back in. I'll still catch them showing this agressive hyperactivity and uncontrollable squirming. They may never be cured. It may be a life-long struggle.

Read the full article here . You won't believe it either. But it's obviously true.

6 comments:

Jean said...

you are a wealth of knowledge. My day has been complete as I have learned something brand new. Who knew that cats could be so complicated!!!

anne said...

i know! all along i thought they were just kitties! turns out they are much more complex beings...

Anonymous said...

Katie and I just got an 8yr old orange persian named Milo. He's older (and pretty fat!) so he spends most of the day loungin around- but even this old persian still shows signs of the disorder! In the evenings he gets wild for an hour or two- it's hilarious watchin the fat cat try to run around the apartment! Running is probably not an accurate term though. More like quickly waddling :)

anne said...

oh my gosh, i would love to see that! our cats have that hour too...bashing into walls, falling off of furniture. it's highly entertaining!

Krisco said...

Thta is amazing. Doesn't it seem to mean that there must be something in the environment that little things, like kittens and young kids, get higher doses of that's making everyone hyper? I mean, ADHDish? That is very interesting.

I'm still not completely convinced they're not just being kitties. Do they grow out of it?

anne said...

well, see...this isn't a real news item...the magazine that it came from "recoil" is all spoof news articles... ;)

just a bit of silliness for the day!