Japan cat lovers give $2m to kidney research

TOKYO: Cats may have nine lives, but their time on Earth is often cut short by kidney problems -- so people in Japan who want their feline friends to live longer have donated nearly $2 million to the search for a cure.

As the coronavirus pandemic hit the economy last year, scientists at the University of Tokyo lost their corporate funding for a study on preventing kidney disease in cats. But thousands of Japanese cat lovers mobilised online to donate to the researchers after an article about their plight by news agency Jiji Press went viral.

"I lost my beloved cat to kidney disease last December... I hope this research will progress and help many cats to live without this disease," one woman wrote in a message alongside her $20 donation.