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Winged cat

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This article is about internet slang. For other uses, see Troll (disambiguation). In Internet slang, a troll ( /ˈtroʊl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is someone who posts inflammatory,[1] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as a forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into anemotional response[2] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.[3] The noun troll may refer to the provocative message itself, as in: "That was an excellent troll you posted." While the word troll and its associated verb trolling are associated with Internet discourse, media attention in recent years has made such labels subjective, with trolling describing intentionally provocative actions and harassmentoutside of an online context. For example, mass media has used troll to describe "a person who defaces Internet tribute sites with the aim of causing grief to families."[4][5]

It has been asserted that the verb to troll originates from Old French troller, a hunting term. A verb "trôler" is found in modern French-English dictionaries, where the main meaning given is "to lead, or drag, somebody about". In modern English usage, the verb to troll describes a fishing technique of slowly dragging a lure or baited hook from a moving boat.[6] A similar but distinct verb, "to trawl," describes the act of dragging a fishing net (not a line). Whereas trolling with a fishing line is recreational, trawling with a net is generally a commercial activity. The noun troll comes from the Old Norse word for a mythological monster.[7] The word evokes the trolls of Scandinavian folklore and children's tales, where they are often creatures bent on mischief and wickedness. The contemporary use of the term is alleged to have appeared on the Internet in the late 1980s,[8] but the earliest known example is from 1992.[9] Early non-Internet related use of trolling for actions deliberately performed to provoke a reaction can be found in the military; by 1972 the term trolling for MiGs was documented in use by US Navy pilots in Vietnam.[10]


Historical winged cats

The most likely derivation of the word troll can be found in the phrase "trolling for newbies", popularized in the early 1990s in the Usenet group, alt.folklore.urban (AFU).[11][12] Commonly, what is meant is a relatively gentle inside joke by veteran users, presenting questions or topics that had been so overdone that only a new user would respond to them earnestly. For example, a veteran of the group might make a post on the common misconception that glass flows over time. Long-time readers would both recognize the poster's name and know that the topic had been discussed a lot, but new subscribers to the group would not realize, and would thus respond. These types of trolls served as a practice to identify group insiders. This definition of trolling, considerably narrower than the modern understanding of the term, was considered a positive contribution.[11][13] One of the most notorious AFU trollers, David Mikkelson,[11] went on to create the urban folklore website Snopes.com. By the late 1990s, alt.folklore.urban had such heavy traffic and participation that trolling of this sort was frowned upon. Others expanded the term to include the practice of playing a seriously misinformed or deluded user, even innewsgroups where one was not a regular; these were often attempts at humor rather than provocation. In such contexts, the noun troll usually referred to an act of trolling, rather than to the author.


Feline cutaneous asthenia

Cutaneous asthenia ("weak skin") is a skin deformity characterised by abnormal elasticity and stretching of the skin. Pendulous wing-like folds of skin form on the cat's back, shoulders and haunches. Even stroking the cat can cause the skin to stretch and tear. The flaps may include muscle fibers allowing some movement, but the cat cannot flap them in a bird-like manner, though the wings may bounce up and down when the cat moves.

Cutaneous asthenia is caused by a collagen defect. Collagen is the protein that binds the cells of the dermis together. It is also called dermatoproxy, hereditary skin fragility or cutis elastica ("elastic skin") and is found in humans (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, or EDS), dogs, mink, horses, cattle and sheep. In cattle and sheep, it is called dermatosparaxis ("torn skin"). In horses, a similar condition is called collagen dysplasia. The skin is also abnormally fragile. The skin flaps peel or slough off very easily, often without causing bleeding. This explains why cats with the condition suddenly "molt" their wings.

A recessive autosomal (non-sex linked) form of feline cutaneous asthenia has been identified in Siamese cats and related breeds. In the homozygous state, it is apparently lethal.

Veterinary reports

  • In 1970, Peter Pitchie, a vet in Kent, England, attempted to spay a five-month-old female tabby cat. When he injected the anesthetic, the cat's skin immediately split. When he shaved the cat's flank for the spaying incision, the skin split again. Further splits occurred when he tried to sew up the first two. He eventually sutured all the splits using a round-bodied needle, and, despite their dramatic formation, they healed without complications.
  • In 1974, a four-year-old tomcat with fragile skin was taken to Cornell University's New York State Veterinary College Small Animal Clinic for investigation. Dr DV Scott noted that its skin was exceptionally thin and velvety in texture. It was hyperextensible (extremely stretchy) and had a criss-cross network of fine white scars from previously healed tears. When fur was clipped from a foreleg to gain a blood sample, the skin peeled away. Peeling was found to occur whenever the slightest pressure was applied anywhere to the cat's skin. Investigation showed that the collagen fibres in the cat's skin were abnormal.
  • In 1975, an adult female cat examined by W.F. Butler of Bristol University's Anatomy Department was found to have very fragile skin on its body. It had abnormally low levels of collagen in the skin of its lower back.
  • In 1977, Drs. Donald F. Patterson and Ronald R. Minor of the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine studied a young short-haired gray tomcat which had severely lacerated its skin through normal scratching. Its skin was found to be delicate and easily torn. It was also abnormally elastic, and the skin of the back could be extended to a distance above the backbone equal to about 22% of the cat's entire body length. They wrote a paper on the subject and included photos of the cat with its skin gently stretched into "wings". Because of the difficulties in caring for a cat with an incurable skin fragility problem, they donated it to the veterinary school. It was mated to four long-haired female cats, and several of the offspring inherited cutaneous asthenia.

An undated veterinary report describes a six-month-old non-pedigree tomcat which presented with two skin wounds on the right side of its body. The skin on the affected areas and on its back was hyperextensible, smooth and easily torn by just a small amount of pressure. Microscopic examination revealed abnormally low levels of connective tissue.

Cats with the condition cannot be grasped by the scruff, as this may tear away. The syndrome is also linked to slipping joints. Dietary supplements may be needed to promote skin healing and regrowth. Antibiotics may be needed to combat infection when skin has split or torn.

  • A Kircher engraving from 1667 depicted a demonic creature with a cat's head, bat's wings and human torso. Cats and bats were both associated with the devil (in Christianity), and demons were sometimes depicted as bat-winged cats.
  • In Thoreau's Walden, the narrator briefly describes a winged cat.
  • In the 1980s and 1990s, the Forgotten Realms role-play game and related fantasy novels depicted shy winged cat-owl hybrids as the pets of wizards. The Forgotten Realms winged cats are called tressym.
  • In Marvel Comics, a subspecies of the Light Elves called the Cat Elves have winged cats that serve as their steeds.
  • In video games, some creatures may resemble winged cats.
    • In Final Fantasy V, many random enemy encounters have such creatures.
    • In the Lunar series, two supporting characters, Nall and Ruby, resemble flying cats for most of the game and even have stereotypical feline tendencies, like fish being a favorite dish.
    • Myau of the first Phantasy Star game eats a nut that gives him wings.
  • In Beyblade, the Bit-Beast Venus is a winged cat.
  • Winged cat angel figurines are popular among cat owners in the USA.[citation needed]
  • Winged kittens, called flittens, were created by Laura H. Von Stetina. A book about flittens, Mewingham Manor, Observations on a Curious New Species, was published by the Greenwich Workshop Press, and a line of flitten figurines are also produced in the USA by the Greenwich Workshop. These show cute kittens with butterflies' wings. Bradford Editions produces "Almost Purr-fect Angels" winged cat figurines.
  • Catwings, a series of children's picture books by Ursula K. Le Guin, features several winged cats.
  • A winged cat also appears in the chapter "Brute Neighbors" in Walden by Henry David Thoreau.

References

General information:

  • "Extraordinary Capture at Winster: A Tomcat With Wings", High Peak News (26 June 1897).
  • "Can a Cat Fly?", Strand Magazine, vol. 18: 599 (November 1899).
  • Dance, S. Peter. Animal Fakes and Frauds (Sampson Low: Maidenhead, 1976).

Veterinary articles:

  • Butler WF. "Fragility of the skin in a cat". Res Vet Sci 19:213–216, 1975
  • Collier LL, Leathers CW, Counts DF. "A clinical description of dermatosparaxis in a Himalayan cat". Feline Practice 10:25–36, 1980
  • Cornelison L, Cook C. Feline Cutaneous Asthenia (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome), Seminar, Cornell University, College of Veterinary Medicine October 9, 2002
  • Counts DF, Byer PH, Holbrook KA, Hegreberg GA. "Dermatosparaxis in a Himalayan cat: I—biochemical studies of dermal collagen". Journal Investig Dermatology 74:96–99, 1980
  • Freeman LJ, Hegreberg GA, Robinette JD, et al. "Biochemical Properties of Skin and Wounds in Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome". Veterinary Surgery 18:97-102, 1989
  • Freeman LJ, Hegreberg GA, Robinette JD. "Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome in Dogs and Cats". Seminars in Veterinary Medicine and Surgery (Small Animal) 2: 221-227, 1987
  • Freeman LH, Hegreberg GA, Robinette JD. "Cutaneous Wound Healing in Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome". Veterinary Surgery 18: 88-96, 1989
  • Holbrook KA, Byers PH, Counts DF, Hegreberg GA. "Dermatosparaxis in a Himalayan cat: II—ultrastructural studies of dermal collagen". Journal Investig Dermatology 74:100–104, 1980
  • Patterson DF, Minor RR. "Hereditary fragility and hyperextensibility of the skin of cats". Lab Investig 37:170–179, 1977
  • Scott DW. "Cutaneous asthenia in a cat resembling Ehlers–Danlos syndrome in man". Veterinary Medicine Small Animal Clin 69:1256–1258, 1974
  • Sequeira JL, Rocha NS, Bandarra EP, Figueiredo LMA, Eugenio FR: "Collagen Dysplasia (Cutaneous Asthenia) in a Cat". Veterinary Pathology 36:6, 1999
  • Weber A. "Cutaneous asthenia in a young cat". Kleintierpraxis 28, 331-334, 1983

Historical information and winged cat case reviews:

  • Shuker, Karl P.N. "Cat flaps". Fortean Times, No. 78: 32-33 (December 1994-January 1995).
  • Shuker, Karl P.N. "On a wing and a purr". Cat World, No. 210: 14-15 (August 1995).
  • Shuker, Karl P.N. "High flyers". Wild About Animals, 7: 13 (October 1995).
  • Shuker, Karl P.N. "Wonderful things are cats with wings". Fate, 49: 80 (April 1996).
  • Shuker, Karl P.N. "Flights of fantasy?". All About Cats, 4: 44-45 (March–April 1997).
  • Shuker, Karl P.N. "If cats could fly". Fortean Times, No. 168: 48-49 (March 2003).
  • Shuker, Karl P.N. "Cats with wings - and other strange things". Beyond, No. 1: 36-42 (October 2006).
  • Shuker, Karl P.N. Dr Shuker's Casebook (CFZ Press: Bideford, 2008), pp. 13–29.
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