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| Kitty Cat Meow |
| Cat Lover Zone - Cat Type - wealth of practical advice and information on cat grooming, cat breeding, cat showing, cat care including cat pictures |
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| Feline Useful Addresses |
| 2008-04-02 01:00:00 |
Feline Advisory Bureau,350 Upper Richmond Road,Putney, London SW15 6TI.Telephone: 01-789-9553The Cat’s Protection League,17 Kings Road, Horsham,West Sussex RH13 5PP.Telephone: 0403 65566The Cat Association of Britain,Cat Association Central Office,Hunting Grove, Lowfield Health,Crawley, West Sussex RH11 0PY.Telephone: 0293 23470The Governing Council of the Cat Fancy4-6 Penel Orlieu, Bridgewater,Somerset TA6 3PGTelephone: 0278 427575The Cat Action TrustP.O. Box 1639London W8 4RYCats,5 James Leigh Street,Manchester M1 6EXTelephone: 061 2360577Cat World,Scan house, Southwick Street,Southwick, Brighton BN4 4TETelephone: 0273 595944Kennel and Cattery ManagementPO BOX 45, Dorking,Surrey RH5 51ZTelephone: 0306 712712
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| The Cat and the Law - Cat Show |
| 2008-04-02 00:50:00 |
It is great privilege to be owned by a cat. Although many non-pedigree cats are unwanted, and considered by the uninitiated to be of little value, each and every one is worthy of the esteem due to all sentient living creatures. Although they have less protection under the law than dogs, they nevertheless do have certain inalienable rights, and we owners take on legal responsibilities when cats come to share their lives with us.Neglect, or inflicting suffering on a cat, can result in legal prosecution in the UK (under the Cruelty to Animals Act). Included in the interpretation of “neglect” and “suffering” are failing to provide medical treatment when a cat is ill or injured, not making provision for it when going away on vacation, and keeping it in unsuitable conditions.Buying and s...
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| The Show Cat - British and American Shows |
| 2008-04-01 08:31:00 |
BRITISH SHOWSThe first thing that happens at the show is vetting-in. The vet will give each cat a thorough health check, and if for some reason, such as runny eyes, fleas, or sore gums, the cat fails the examination, you will have to take it home and forfeit your entry fee. You may have to show your vaccination certificate to the vet, so have it ready.Judging British Cat ShowPutting your cat in its penAfter vetting-in, you take your cat to its pen – a metal cage displaying the same number as that on the cat’s tally. Although the show organizers will have checked that the cages are clean, it is best to play safe by wiping down the bars with some non-toxic disinfectant. Arrange the blanket, litter tray, and filled water ...
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| The Show Cat - Cat Show |
| 2008-04-01 07:50:00 |
Harrison Weir (1824 - 1906) The Father of the Cat FancyThe first cat show on record was held as part of an English fair in the year 1598, but serious showing really only began in 1871, with a large show at London’s Crystal Palace for British Shorthair and Persian types. Harrison Weir (1824 - 1906) The Father of the Cat Fancy, was an English gentleman and artist. He organized the first cat show in England, in the Crystal Palace, London, in 1871. He and his brother, John Jenner Weir, both served as a judges in the show.At about the same time, the first American cat show was held in New England for the Maine Coon breed. British cat shows are still run on the same lines as the early ones, with judges visiting each cat in its pen. Later, some shows had a ring class with cats on leads being pa...
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| CAT SHOW |
| 2008-03-14 23:51:00 |
The showing of pedigree cats has played the central role over the past century in creating the rich spectrum of breeds that delight cat lovers today. Through the shows, breeders have produced many new kinds of cats and had them recognized.It must be said of course that the artificial selection carried out by breeders has been confined to the human ideal of a good-looking cat. Nobody bothered to ask a cat what it thought! In fashioning cats to charm the human eye, scant attention has been paid to the possible physical disadvantages. However, it is certainly true that genetic engineering has produced fewer harmful effects with pedigree cats than has been the case in some areas of dog breeding.Should you decide to make a serious foray into cat shows, you must be prepared to spend a lot of tim...
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| Heredity and Breeding - Cat Show |
| 2008-03-14 22:55:00 |
Basic mechanisms of heredityBreeding for showing depends on the workings, be they calculated or accidental or plant contains structures called chromosomes. These look like microscopic string carries details of the design of some particular part of the body. Some genes are concerned with eye colour and so on. The genes are arranged in a fixed order along the length of the chromosome, so the chromosome contains a “blueprint” of the total make-up of an individual.Domestic cats carry thirty-eight chromosomes arranged in pairs of nineteen. Eighteen if these pairs are virtually identical, but one pair differs slightly This is the pair that decides the kitten’s sex. Females carry a pair of so-called “XX” chromosomes, while males carry an “XY” pair...
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| REPRODUCTION |
| 2008-02-18 07:08:00 |
Everyone, well nearly everyone, loves babies, and few babies are more attractive than the cubs, or kittens, of cats, big or small. The successful breeding of, say, snow leopards or ocelots, is a notable and ever-welcome event – the more the merrier for such endangered species. With domestic cats however, the owner has a special responsibility. Pedigree kittens are usually in demand, and they sometimes sell for remarkably high prices; but crossbred animals are often regrettably a burden on the market.Queens reproduce easily and fruitfully during most of their adult lives. With a relatively short gestation (pregnancy) period and an average litter size of almost four, cats can multiply almost as prodigiously as rabbits. It is gross irresponsibility to allow your cant, male or female, t...
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| Raising and Fostering – Reproduction |
| 2008-02-18 06:54:00 |
There are occasions, such as the death of a queen or where she simply cannot produce or where she simply cannot produce a sufficient supply of milk, when you may be faced with the problem of rearing kittens in some other way. (If you decide to “destroy†the kittens, do not even consider drowning the, Animal euthanasia must always be carried out by a vet or clinic).You have two options – fostering and artificial rearing.If available, a foster mother is preferable to bottle rearing.FosteringA veterinarian, pet shop, breeder or cat club may be able to put you in touch with somebody who has a newly kittened queen with spare teat capacity. Ideally any such adoption should be carried out as soon as possible after birth and before the queen has bonded too strongly to her own of...
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| Kitten Development – Reproduction |
| 2008-02-18 04:37:00 |
The transformation of the kitten from its blind and helpless newborn state to full independence takes about six months. During that time physical and mental abilities mature steadily. The kitten’s instinctive, inbuilt knowledge is progressively enhanced by a process of learning by observation, imitation, and practice through play. Play is the vehicle of the feline learning process – the life of the specialized and perfected in the theatre of the game.War games might as well begin with a toy hird.A lone, artificially reared kitten with no role models around to copy and emulate will never learn much of the repertoire of feline hunting skills. What is not learned during the formative first few weeks of life, cannot be acquired later. Kittens that watch, and are in a real sense t...
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| Maternal Behaviour – Reproduction |
| 2008-02-18 04:20:00 |
The newborn kitten is eleven to fifteen centimeters (four to six inches) long and weighs between seventy and one-hundred-and-thirty-five grams (two and five ounches). It is a fairly helpless creature at this stage, unable to see because of closed eyelids, unable to hear with ears that are folded back, and capable of wiggling and squirming but not walking.Brothers and sisters instinctively bunch tighter to conserve warmth.Over the next two to three months the mother cat gradually teaches her kittens all they need to know in order to look after themselves.BondingIn the first few days of life, the queen is absolutely vital to the kittens’ survival, not least in protecting them while they are physically so vulnerable. Instinctively, the queen knows what to do, even if it is her first li...
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| The Birth – Reproduction |
| 2008-02-18 04:11:00 |
Pregnancy ends when special hormones, sent out from the pituitary gland, set birth into motion.Up to one-third of all kittens are born tail-end first. This is perfectly normal and these are not breech births. The term “breech birth†signifies a birth position where the kitten’s bottom passes first through the vagina with its hind feet pointing towards its head. So pliable are kitten’s bodies that even the occasional true breech birth usually occurs without causing difficulties.The first stage of labour may last up to six hours. It begins when the cervix of the uterus opens up and a “wedge†of placental membranes enters it. As this happens, the involuntary contractions of the uterine muscles begin to push the kitten towa...
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| Pregnancy – Reproduction |
| 2008-02-18 04:02:00 |
The length of pregnancy in the cat is between fifty-six and seventy-one days, but the average length is sixty-five days. The mean litter size of the domestic cat in the United States is 3.88 kittens (only statisticians have ever seen 0.88 of a kitten!). Larger cats tend to have more kittens in a litter.It is known that more eggs are ovulated and probably fertilized than kittens are born. The reason for this is that death and resorption of the early foetus is common in the cat. It occurs without producing any noticeable symptoms in the queen.Kittens born earlier than fifty-eight days tend to be delivered dead or very weak and those born later than seventy-one days are generally bigger than normal and may also be dead. Such late, big kittens can cause bir...
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| Mating – Reproduction |
| 2008-02-18 03:37:00 |
The cat, if you but singe her tabby skin, The chimney keeps, and sits content within; But once grown sleek, will from her corner run, Sport with her tail and wanton in the sun; She licks her fair round face, and frisks abroad To show her fur, and to be catterwaw’d Pope, The Wife of Bath (Prologue)Initial contact between tom and queen.Choosing a studIf you plan to breed from your pedigree queen, you will, unless you also have a similarly blue-blooded tom, have to find a reputable breeder. Make enquiries at a cat club, cat show or your veterinarian’s office. A first-class breeder of the kind you must seek, will have spacious, secure, hygienic and warm accommodation for the tom and queen. All the animals at the stud should be free of Feline Leukemia virus. You should ask to see ...
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| Sexual Behaviour - Reproduction |
| 2008-02-18 03:12:00 |
Queens reach sexual maturity between seven and twelve months of age. Do not breed a queen until she is at least one year old, at which age cats breed most easily. Toms mature sexually between ten and fourteen months of age.The oestrus cycleQueens come into heat (oestrus) according to a seasonal rhythm. The heat period lasts for two to four days and occurs at approximately two-week intervals. The cycle is usually repeated two or three times in spring (mainly March and April) and again in summer (mainly June and July), with sometimes a third period of activity in September. Not being machines some queens do their own thing and have heat cycles somewhat outside these main peaks. When a queen is in heat she will adopt a characteristic posture: front end flat on the ground, rear end stuck in th...
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| NURSING CARE (Health Care) - Keeping A Cat |
| 2008-02-15 09:46:00 |
Whether your pet’s aliment is mild or serious, you will normally have to be prepared to do some nursing. There are some essential nursing techniques to be learned.It can be useful to restrain a cat by wrapping it in a blanket or towel.Handling a cat for examination1 Cradle it in your arms if the animal is quiet and not in pain.2 Place the cat prone on the table, holding all four legs so that it can’t use its claws.3 Hold by the scruff and press down firmly onto a flat surface to restrict the scrathing ability of the paws.4 The perspex cylinder method.5 For a head examination, wrap in a large, strong cloth or blanket.Administering medicineAlthough the vet will try to select drug preparations as attractive as possible to cats, liquids and crus...
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| FIRST AID (Health Care) - Keeping A Cat |
| 2008-02-15 08:36:00 |
Cats do occasionally appear to have nine lives. Their bodies are so elastic and wiry that they often survive being run over by a cars, airgun pellets, stones, falling masonry, or drunkards’ boots, trapped in doors, falling from great heights, or savaged by dogs, Puss sometimes seems to need every life it can lay claim to. These serious crises produce skeletal and soft-tissue damage, which the vet will have to treat in the operating room. It is important to know how to give useful first-aid emergency treatment until the animal can be taken to the vet.Collapse and accidentIf the cat is injured or unconscious, do not move it unless it is in danger. If you have to move an injured cat, slip a sheet under it and carry it as in a hammock, or with one hand grasping the scruff of the neck. ...
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| OLD AGE (Health Care) - Keeping A Cat |
| 2008-02-15 08:09:00 |
Inevitably, time catches up with cats. Should your pet survive beyond seventeen years, it is doing very well indeed. Very few reach one score, although the longest record at present stands at thirty-four years achieved by a tabby queen from Devon. Certainly cats tend to live longer than dogs – the oldest recorded dog reached twenty-seven years and the majority do not pass sixteen years.Named Lucy passed at the fine old age of 20 years.Old cats need special attention and understanding. After years of faithful companionship, it would be a churlish owner who did not give a thought to coping with feline geriatrics.Venerable cats change physically and frequently become rather thin. This may be accompanied by a change in appetite, with an increased or decreased demand for food. They may b...
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| COMMON AILMENTS (page 2) - Health Care |
| 2008-02-15 06:56:00 |
The urinary systemProblems in this system are marked by difficulty passing urine, blood in the urine, loss of weight, and thirst.When a cat strains to pass urine, the owner may thing it is suffering from constipation, but it may have “gravel†in the urine. Cats on mainly dry-food diets, cats taking insufficient water, and tom cats castrated very early are more prone to “gravelâ€. Which is a deposit of salt crystals in the bladder that can eventually block up the water pipe (urethra) of male animals. When the bladder is over-full and tight as a drum, the cat is on considerable pain, will resent being handled, and may actually turn to look at its hind quarters and spit angrily. Take your cat to the vet for treatment, and don’t try squeezing the cat’s swol...
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| COMMON AILMENTS (page 1) - Health Care |
| 2008-02-15 02:02:00 |
Cats may have nine lives but they are, like humans and other creatures, occasionally out of sorts and sometimes downright ill. The study of feline diseases and their treatment by medicine and surgery are important areas of veterinary science, and much research is currently being done – recently a virus (FIV) has been identified as producing a feline immune deficiency syndrome, which is similar in some respects to the Aids virus affecting humans but not transmittable to humans. No matter how skilled your veterinarian may be, it is the cat owner’s responsibility to have some working knowledge of the common feline ailments. The owner is normally the first to spot that all is not well with an animal, and must know then to seek professional atte...
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| Health Care - Keeping A Cat |
| 2008-02-14 23:35:00 |
CHOOSING A VETBefore your cat ill, you should find a veterinarian in your locality who will give your newly arrived feline a thorough check, provide all the necessary vaccinations, and tell you about any preventive medicine or special care that your cat may require. He should also provide a twenty-four hour service that can deal with genuine emergencies.Some veterinarians specialize in cat diseases or in problems of a particular part of the bodyObviously it is best to find a veterinary practice that works extensively with small animals. Other owners of cats, breeders, and humane society clinics in your vicinity will point you in the right direction. It is almost always possible to visit your cat doctor’s surgery by prior arrangement in order to see all the facilities available.A vet...
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| Grooming (page 3) - Keeping A Cat |
| 2008-02-12 01:24:00 |
WASHINGIf your cat’s coat gets very dirty you should give it a wet or a dry bath.If your cat violently objects to water, give it a dry bran bath. Use this method only on shorthaired cats which are not too dirty. First heat half to one kilogram (one to two pounds) of bran in an oven at 150C (302F) for twenty minutes. The stand your cat on a newspaper and massage the warm bran into its coat. When you have covered all the fur with the bran, comb it out.Washing by the wet method is shown in these photographs. You will be lucky if your cat behaves as calmly as this one!Picture 1: Cat being poured on water at blood heat1 Use a bowl, sink or bath. Close all windows and doors. Put a rubber mat in the bath to stop the cat slipping. Pour on water at blood heat (test the temperature with your ...
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| Grooming (page 2) - Keeping A Cat |
| 2008-02-12 00:30:00 |
GROOMING A SHORTHAIRGrooming Equipment: soft cloth, cotton buds, soft bristle brush, fine-toothed comb and rubber brushShorthaired cats posses less exuberant upholstery than Longhairs, and are better at self-cleaning, so they need grooming only twice a week.Picture 1: Cat having its fur combed with a metal tooth comb1. With a fine-toothed metal comb, work down the cat from its head to its tail. As you comb, look for black, shiny specks – a sign of fleas.Picture 2: Cat being brushed with a red brush2. Use a rubber brush to brush along the lie of the hair. If your cat is Rex-coated, this brush is essential as it won’t scratch the skin.Picture 3: cat having conditioner rubbed into its fur3. After brushing and combing, rub in some bay run conditioner. This removes grease from the...
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| Grooming (page 1) - Keeping A Cat |
| 2008-02-11 23:55:00 |
More fastidious than dogs in keeping up appearances, cats will groom themselves regularly and often. Rows of hooked, horny and backward-pointing scales (papillae) on the tongue form an efficient comb for raking the skin and fur.As well as keeping the coat clean, neat and glossy, grooming serves to remove dead hair and skin cells and to tone up the superficial blood circulation and underlying muscles.Domestic cats, and particularly Longhairs, do need extra grooming beyond the cleaning which they give themselves or one another, and it has to be provided by the owner. Longhaired cats moult all the year round and need daily grooming. In good weather, groom outdoors. If you have to groom indoors, choose the bathroom or porch, and stand the cat on a sheet of plastic or newspaper. These three pic...
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| The Traveling Cat - Keeping A Cat |
| 2008-02-11 23:32:00 |
Moving HouseMoving house does not normally trouble the family cat. It retains its well-loved human companions and usually many items of furniture that it knows well. After arriving at the new dwelling, the cat quickly sets about establishing its territory and leaves its calling cards with the feline patriarchs of the area. Occasionally, loving for some old flame left behind, or preferring the surroundings in which it grew up, a cat may decide to trek back to its old haunts. The longest recorded journey is nine hundred and fifty miles from Boston to Chicago! Cats cannot find people if they up and move leaving the animal behind, but they do have the ability to locate places. It seems that, during the months or years that a cat lives in its old home, its brains automatically register the posi...
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| A Cat in the House - Keeping A Cat |
| 2008-02-11 21:17:00 |
Handling your catWhile it is a good thing to handle your pet, remember always to support the full body. Don’t just let it dangle from its “armpits†as the cat will resent this, and may possible struggle or even bite.The beginning of a beautiful life-long friendship. It is important that children learn the proper handling of family pets as early as possible.Pick and adult cat up by putting one hand under the chest just behind the “bottomâ€, tucking the tail in. Once up, let it sit in the crook of your arm with its forepaws on your shoulder or held in your other hand.Kittens should be handled especially carefully, as their rib cages are very soft and they can easily bruise internally if roughly treated.Although queens pick up and carry kittens by the scruff of t...
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| MYTHS AND FALLACIES (Cat - Diet) |
| 2008-02-10 01:51:00 |
Contrary to popular myth, eating grass is a normal occurrenceEating grassHaving laboured like Escoffier over your moggy, do not be alarmed if he or she still insists on chewing grass and weeds at the first opportunity. Grass is good for cats. It contains certain vitamins and also acts as an efficient emetic, helping the animal regurgitate unwanted matter such as fur balls. If you and your cat share a high-rise apartment without ready access to a garden, grow him some grass from seed in a window box. Chewing grass is not a sign that the cat feels ill.MousingCats hunt mice, birds, insects, and so on for sport, not as a food source. True, they may on occasion eat part or all of their prey, but basically they are in it for the fun of the game. So you need not think that by underfeeding, or ind...
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| The Major Foods (Cat - Diet) |
| 2008-02-10 01:14:00 |
A well-thought-out diet is welcomedSo many different foods are available that the suitable combinations are numberless. I shall therefore deal only with the main kinds.Canned foodThese products consist of meat and/or fish, salts, jellying agents, vitamins, colouring chemicals, preservatives, sugar, water, and sometimes cereals. The advantages of canned food is that it is very nutritious. Its disadvantages is that it is relatively expensive.Canned food is popular and nourishing. It is also practical, stores well and is sterile. The brands available today cater to finicky cats – and their owners.To all cats, water is both an essential and fascinating element.You are buying a fair quantity of water, particularly where the “jelly†is much in e...
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| Diet - Keeping A Cat |
| 2008-02-10 00:17:00 |
Accustom your kitten to a varied dietThe cat is a creature built to eat meat. This is not to day that cats to not like or need some vegetable matter in their diet. Among wild species, the flat-headed cat of Malaysia and Indonesia has a particular love of fruit and sweet potatoes.Although proteins play important roles in a cat’s diet, particularly at certain times of life, a purely protein diet for a cat would be unnecessarily expensive and wasteful. There are also health aspects. Proteins produce many waste products after digestion, and these have to be eliminated by the kidneys, organs which may be under great pressure in older animals. A luxurious menu consisting of nothing but raw filet de boeuf, contains far too little calcium and vitamins for hea...
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| Basic Equipment - Keeping A Cat |
| 2008-02-09 23:36:00 |
Basic EquipmentCats are not expensive to house, but they must be provided with certain items of basic equipment, such as somewhere to sleep, a litter tray, feeding and drinking bowls, a collar, a carrying box and basic grooming equipment. Useful, but not essential, extras are items such as a scratching pad or post, a cat flap (is your cat is able to go outside), a playpen and some toys.Cat flap and playfulA cat flap should be fitted no higher than 6cm (two or three inches) from the base of the door or windowsill. All flaps should be lockable. Some have magnetic strips along the sides which help avoid draughts, by creating a tight seal.A playpen is useful for kittens until they are acclimatized to their new home.Picture: Scratching pad or post and a litt...
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| Things You Should Alert When Choosing A Cat or Kitten |
| 2008-02-09 22:23:00 |
Pic 1: Tabby kitten having the fur on its side spread to inspect its condition1. When choosing a kitten you must check it thoroughly to ensure it is in good condition. Part the hair to look for signs of parasites, particularly the fine “coat dust†that indicates the presence of fleas.Pic 2: Tabby kitten having its ears inspected2. You should also inspect the ears carefully. Ensure that there are no discharges and that the ears do not contain dirt that may indicate infection or parasites.Pic 3: Tabby kitten having its eyes inspected3. The eyes should be bright, cleat and free from discharges.Pic 4: Tabby kitten having its mouth inspected4. It is important to look at the mouth for evidence of plaque build-up, teeth. Hold the kitten’s head from behind as shown here and gent...
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| Your New Cat - Keeping A Cat |
| 2008-02-09 21:46:00 |
Picture: Happiness to two kittens is a paper basketThere’s more to deciding to share your home with a cat than simply looking up the local breeders in the telephone book. Are you fit to be a cat companion?Questions to ask include: what other animals live in the house and how might they interact with a new arrival? Will the cat have to be permanently confined indoors because you live in a one-room high-rise apartment? If the cat is to be allowed outdoors, can arrangements be made to have a gat-flap fitted to a door or window? Have you the time and patience to give certain kinds of cat the grooming they regularly require? What arrangements can you make for the pet’s welfare during your vacations? Can you afford the basic equipment needed, daily supplies of high-quality cat food...
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| KEEPING A CAT |
| 2008-02-06 02:05:00 |
It may happen that a cat chooses to come and live with you. That is how it has been for me on a number of occasions. It begins with trial visits in the style of a Good Food Guide inspector; your establishment, the cat’s possible future home, is given the once-over – more than once usually!And, in the manner of a food inspector, close attention is paid by Master or Miss Felix (without, of course, announcing its identity) to the quality and ready availability of meals, but also, and very importantly, to the warmth of the reception given and the comfort of the place. If you are “picked†in this way by a cat, and are no tone of that bizarre minority of folk who inexplicably count themselves to be ailurophobes, without a scrap of feeling for felines in their souls, you...
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| Non-pedigree Shorthairs |
| 2008-02-04 01:39:00 |
All cats, pedigree or crossbred, are aristocrats, with blood lines that run back to the sacred cats of the Pharaohs – the humble “moggie†no les than the most dignified of Grand Champions. All have their own individuality, but share the same charm, elegance, and feline mystique.HistoryShorthaired cats have graced human society for thousands of years, and were differentiated from pedigree types only in the late nineteenth century, when the best examples of British street cats were selectively bred for showing.TemperamentMoggies are the original fireside companions, chosen not for their venerable parentage, but because they are appealing and lovable in their own right. In a receptive household, all make firm and lasting friendships.Vari...
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| New Shorthairs - Shorthaired Cats |
| 2008-02-04 01:03:00 |
Even more so than for longhaired cats, new Shorthairs are remarkable for what breeders have been able to achieve. They include the American Curl, which has ears that curve away from the face, the American Bobtail, which has a tail rather like a powder-puff, the California Spangled, which is spotted, and the cats featured here – the Bengal, Ocicat, and Scottish Fold.HistoryCat fanciers have always tried to push back the genetic frontiers of feline breeds, but they have probably never been so ingenious as in recent years – a trend that will no doubt continue, with the creation of ever more new cats.TemperamentThe temperaments of new Shorthairs are as diverse as their origins.VarietiesWith each new breed that comes into being, the challenge to dev...
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| Sphynx - Shorthaired Cats |
| 2008-02-04 00:30:00 |
A birthday suit cat! The virtually hairless Sphynx , a cat without its traditional covering of fur, is not to everyone’s taste, but is an undoubted attention-grabber.HistoryHairless cats are said to have been bred by the Aztecs, and there are references to the “Mexican Hairless†in books from the turn of the century, but the modern cat was developed only after 1966 from a mutant kitten born in Ontario, Canada. It is rare outside North America.TemperamentContrary to popular belief, the Sphynx is an affectionate cat that enjoys being cuddles.VarietiesThe Sphynx can have any recognized coat color or pattern. Eye color should harmonize with the coat.Black-and-White SphynxThe modern Sphynx originated from a spontaneous mutation in the late 196...
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| Egyptian Mau - Shorthaired Cats |
| 2008-02-04 00:09:00 |
Mau or Miw was the Ancient Egyptian name for the divine household cat, and of all domestic felines the Egyptian Mau is probably the most august.HistoryCats similar to the Egyptian Mau go far back into history, particularly in the Middle East, and it is believed that the Mau is a natural breed originating in the area of Cairo. The Mau first appeared in Europe at a cat show held in Rome in the mid-1950s, and from there was exported to the US in 1953, with initial recognition coming fifteen years later. It is not recognized in Great Britain, where Siamese-derived spotted cats formally called Maus are now known as Oriental Spotted Shorthairs.TemperamentThe Egyptian Mau is loving and playful, and is said to be good at learning tricks. It is one of the few breeds ...
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| Rex - Shorthaired Cats |
| 2008-02-03 22:33:00 |
Looking as if it has just turned from the hairdressing salon with a rather old-fashioned permanent wave, the Rex cat is named after the Rex rabbit, which also has a curly coat.HistoryAlthough crinkly-coated kittens are recorded to have appeared in both Europe and the US after World War II, the breed was not taken seriously until 1950, when a litter of farm kittens in Cornwall, England, included a lively cream male with wavy fur that was mated back to its mother and found to breed true. In 1966 another, similar, kitten appeared in Devon, which, when crossed with the Cornish type produced cats with straight fur – proving that the Cornish and Devon coats were caused by different genes and that the two cats should be developed separately. Rex cats were re...
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| Burmilla - Shorthaired Cats |
| 2008-02-03 22:13:00 |
As the name suggests, the Burmilla is the product of crossing a Burmese with a Chinchilla. It possesses the body conformation of a Burmese, but with a softer, tipped, or shaded coat. The development of the Burmilla can be said to have filled a need in the cat world: that of a tipped, solver Shorthair of Foreign type.HistoryDuring 1981 in Great Britain an accidental mating between a Lilac Burmese queen and a Chinchilla stud, both owned by Baroness Miranda von Kirchberg, produced four kittens that were to become the Burmilla’s founder-members. The possibility of establishing a new, true breed was quickly realized, and with that aim the Burmilla Cat Club came into being in 1984. The Burmilla has still to achieve recognition in Britain, and is only just about to be introduced in the US,...
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| Foreign Shorthairs - Shorthaired Cats |
| 2008-02-03 21:34:00 |
Chic cats that have the build of a Siamese and which are bred in a myriad of color and patterns, Foreign and Oriental Shorthairs are among the most distinguished-looking in the feline repertoire.HistoryIn both the US and Britain Siamese were bred to other Shorthairs to produce an elegant Foreign0type cat without point markings. Recognition was granted towards the late 1970s.TemperamentThese cats have the same energetic and inquisitive nature as the Siamese. They make loving companions.VarietiesVarieties include Black, White, Blue, Lilac, Red, Cream, Silver, Cameo, Chestnut, Cinnamon, Caramel, Black Smoke, Chestnut Smoke, Cameo Smoke, Tabby, and Tortoiseshell. Eye color is green in most cases, but can be blue or orange in th...
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| British Bicolour Shorthair - Shorthaired Cats |
| 2008-01-26 03:47:00 |
Bicolored Cats, white cats patched with another color, are plentiful in every neighborhood, but the uppercrust, pedigree, version is much more rarely seen because of the difficulty of meeting the breed standard. The white should cover no more than half the coat, and the second color no less than half and no more than two-thirds. Ideally, the patching should be symmetrical, but in practice this is rarely possible to achieve.HistoryPerhaps surprisingly, in view of the large numbers of non-pedigree bicolored cats that have existed for as long as the domestic cat itself, the British Bicolor has only recently been recognized for sowing.TemperamentThis is an eminently even-tempered, friendly, and intelligent cat.VarietyThere are ...
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