Yippie Ki-Yay! It’s The Cowboy Cat Ranch!
This week Michelle Fern chats with Sebastiaan Bol, owner of the Cowboy Cat Ranch in Texas, where they do (cat-friendly) research on cat-attracting plants and just published a new paper with lots of interesting results, for both the general public and scientists.
BIO:
While working as a scientist and laboratory manager in the Bunnik lab at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, TX, I also do scientific research in my spare time. None of this work is funded.
Cowboy Cat Ranch was founded in 2016, shortly after we moved from California to Texas. Cowboy was the name of one of the cats who participated in the first study we did with domestic cats. No need to worry; we never do research that will stress or hurt any cat. This black, loving, friendly cat was often the first one to greet me at the Room 8 cat shelter where we did most of the research. Sadly, Cowboy died in 2016. When we bought a ranch-style house for the family (two humans and, at that time, 5 cats), we named our home Cowboy Cat Ranch, in memory of Cowboy. We had considered adopting him, but he was very old and sick and feared moving him would be too much for him. One of the goals of Cowboy Cat Ranch is to provide a home to old, sick cats, where they will experience love for the remainder of their life. That same year we adopted Pumpkin, a 7-year-old cat who was diagnosed with heart disease. All cats currently living with us were adopted.
"Cattitude" Theme Song Written & Produced by Mark Winter
© Copyright Such Fun Music (ASCAP)