Tag: mink

COVID-19 also a risk for wildlife

Egyptian fruit bat

An international study has warned a wide range of mammals, including threatened species, are at risk of human-animal transmission of COVID-19, and have urged people to take sanitary precautions when in direct or indirect contact with wild or feral mammal species. Domestic cats, American mink, Egyptian fruit bats and North […]

Hypercarnivory and the brain: protein requirements of cats reconsidered

The domestic hypercarnivores cat and mink have a higher protein requirement than other domestic mammals. This has been attributed to adaptation to a hypercarnivorous diet and subsequent loss of the ability to down regulate amino acid catabolism. A quantitative analysis of brain glucose requirements reveals that in cats on their […]