(The Last American Vagabond) Documents revealed via a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit prove that the National Institutes of Health is investing more than $2 million into controversial experiments on cats and kittens at a breeding operation based at the University of Florida (UF). These experiments involve breeding more than 100 cats with Niemann-Pick type C1 (NPC1), a fatal neurodegenerative disease that causes loss of muscle control, difficulty swallowing, and dementia.

The treatment of the cats was uncovered through a FOIA lawsuit filed in August 2025 by White Coat Waste (WCW), a non-profit organization that describes itself as a "bipartisan government watchdog." WCW sought NIH records relating to $600 million in active grants and contracts paying for testing on dogs and cats in the United States and abroad. Some of these experiments involve implanting electrodes in beagles' brains, crippling cats, infesting pets with biting insects, and damaging dogs' hearts in the name of research.