The Wonder of Cats Page 6

  Dermatitis can become painful ulcerations and secondary infections.

  Projectile vomiting occurs mostly in Siamese cats with it usually happening 4-5 times a week, at night, and after some rest or sleep. Some causes of projectile vomiting are a bacterial infection in the digestive system and is treated by antibiotics, or a genetic feature of the Siamese, or stress. Treatment for such vomiting is removal of stress, small digestible meals, and private sleeping areas. In addition, meals can be given before the evening so the stomach is empty overnight when vomiting is likely.

  Trauma in cats, like a severe wound, can result in the feline withdrawing from and showing an unwillingness to respond to their owners and other pets, and they become easily frightened. Trauma can cause physiological shock and result in death. Treatment for trauma includes gentle handling and encouragement.

  A bizarre reaction to trauma is the attempt to paw or pounce at imaginary objects in the air or on the ground.

  Cats have had internal parasites, including round, hook, thread, whip, and tape worms. Also single-celled organisms, like Toxoplasma gondaii, can affect cats and be transferred to humans and even cause miscarriages.

  Outdoor cats are more likely to pick up parasites and diseases from eating prey. Roundworms and tapeworms are common. A mother can pass roundworm larvae through the placenta to her otherwise healthy kittens. Fleas carry tapeworms and their eggs can infect a cat or kitten if the flea is eaten.

  External parasites, like maggots, can infect cats. These parasites may transmit disease and lay eggs on cats.

  Common external parasites include:

  1. Ticks

  - Can lead to anemia

  2. Lice

  - Cause skin difficulties

  3. Mange mites

  - Cause mange (a highly contagious skin disorder)

  4. Fleas

  - The most common parasite that leads to dermatitis and can transfer tapeworms to the feline.

  Cats infested with the Deer Tick (that carries Lyme Disease) can transfer the tick to humans.

  Cats are more resistant to sickness than some other animals. Even though most areas of a cat’s body can be infected with disease.

  Large Litter Of Facts

  Cats shed lots when they’re nervous.

  Cats can get acne on their chins from having a dirty food dish.

  A cat can be trained to sit, heel, fetch, and other activities like a dog, but it usually takes more time than a dog.

  Cats are not used as food – except in some Asian populations – like cows and pigs.

  Cats have self-determining behavior patterns, which has been ensured by their freedom to come and go as they please.

  Cats knead because they would knead their mother for breast milk.

  Some cats drool and dribble at times of anticipation for mother’s milk.

  Cats & The Law

  A cat cannot trespass and the owner cannot be held responsible if the feline causes an accident.

  Cats are considered property and given legal protection, and someone who kills or maims a cat can be sued for damages.

  A stolen cat can be returned up to six years after the theft even if the present owner doesn’t know the cat is stolen. Sam sez, “It’s a good thing it’s legal to catch mice!”

  In the U.K., a “twitch” is a two-income two-cat household.

  Most cat food is derived from the meat and fish industries and is product that would normally be tossed away.

  The leading brand of cat food takes up more space than any other item on grocery store shelves for man or beast.

  Most cats go to the bathroom outdoors when they can.

  Cats fall into three body types:

  1. Cobby

  These cats have short legs, large round eyes, and a compact body with a deep chest.

  2. Muscular

  These cats have a round, full-cheeked head and a sturdy body.

  3. Foreign

  These cats have long legs and tail, a wedge-shaped head with tall ears and slanted eyes, and a slender body.

  Cats avoid potential conflict to ensure their survival and have a highly developed sense of danger and can quickly flee, if necessary.

  Those cats that underestimate the distance they need to escape because of age, illness or incompetence get eaten first.

  Neat Fact: Pernod, the cat, who was housed at a Scottish pub, was leery of quiet people who walked in a straight line but loved loud, staggering drunks.

  Most cats are mixed breeds with varying coat lengths and colors.

  Hybridization is the mating to create new breeds, such as the Bengal that was created by cross breeding small wild cats (the Asiatic leopard cat) with domestic cats.

  Domestic breeds show little variation in appearance for most are about the same size.

  Cats are agile climbers using their claws and legs to grip what they’re climbing on.

  Manx cats are featured on Isle of Man coins.

  Forty different species of cat live today with the domesticated cat being one of them.

  Chocolate is toxic to cats because it contains the alkaloid theobromine, which is poisonous to cats.

  Cats are successful mammals thriving in all kinds of conditions.

  “Psychical propensity-trailing” occurs when cats trail their owners over vast and sometimes treacherous terrain, with one Persian named “Sugar” making a 1,500 mile trip that took 14 months and involved traveling the Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains.

  Cats have a high tolerance for heat often not feeling pain caused by heat until it reaches 124 degrees F (51 degrees C).

  A kindle is a group of kittens.

  A clowder is a group of cats.

  The domesticated cat is also known as its species name of Felis sylvestris catus.

  Cats are found all over the world.

  The domesticated cat’s brain is approximately 25% smaller than its African Wild Cat ancestor’s brain.

  Cats do not sweat except through their paw pads.

  Cats are adaptable to heat and cold but are still prone to frostbite and heat exhaustion. Cats can also be affected by hypothermia if they are too cold and wet.

  Unlike other domesticated animals, cats can survive on their own.

  In homes with groups of cats, breeding females have the highest status then toms with fixed males and females at the bottom. An ill or injured feline has a lower status.

  The British Shorthair was the model for the Cheshire Cat in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

  When a human moves to a new location and her cat finds his way back to the old home, many wonder how it is done. It is believed cats follow the sun. Cats learn where the sun is in the sky at specific times of the day and with trial and error use the sun to find their old home. When the feline gets close enough, he smells his old territory and thinks he is home.

  An ailurophobe is a cat hater or has an irrational fear of cats.

  An ailurophile is a cat lover. Sam sez, “All hail the ailurophile.”

  Cats are highly adaptable.

  Cats live in a world with smells and noises that humans cannot detect, because cats have heightened senses.

  Cats like the heat. They have a high tolerance for it. When lying next to a fire, cats can take it until their body temperature reaches 52 degrees C (126 degrees F), whereas humans can only take it to 40 degrees C (104 degrees F).

  Cats can detect changes in temperature as little as 0.5 degrees C (3.3 degrees F) because of the heat detectors in the nose leather. This sensitivity to heat in the nose helps the feline determine their food intake. Cats prefer food at about 86 degrees F and sometimes won’t eat cold food straight out of the refrigerator.

  A cat’s whole body and especially the paw pads are believed to be sensitive to vibrations.

  Because cats have few sweat glands, they lick their coats when it is hot to allow saliva to evaporate thereby taking away heat and keeping the feline cool.

  Cats may pant like a dog to cool down blood vessels in the m
outh by saliva evaporation in very hot weather.

  In cold weather, cats have a knack for finding warm spots and remain there throughout the day.

  Walking on their toes lets a cat go from stillness to fast running quickly.

  At full speed, the back legs propel the feline in long half-bounds while the front legs provide balance and aid in moving the cat forward.

  Based upon brain size and bone measurements, the domesticated cat, whether he is Siamese, Persian, or another breed, is quite similar to the African Wild Cat and the Asiatic Wild Cat.

  Domesticated cats have 19 pairs of chromosomes. The same as the African Wild Cat, Pallas’ Cat, Leopard Cat, and the Asian Golden Cat, showing that one or more of these wild cats could have been involved in producing today’s domesticated cat.

  Domesticated cats with their willingness to bond to humans and their exceptional adaptability have made them successful.

  Cats can adapt to different diets and living conditions.

  Cats are the most wide-ranging carnivores on the earth. They range from the high north to the low south, including the Antarctic, tropical rainforests, and dry deserts. Cats mostly exist wherever people have traveled on earth. Sam sez, “There are no cats in space, yet.”

  The domesticated cat typically weighs about eight to ten pounds.

  In Sherbrooke, Australia, pet owners must have their cats indoors at sundown until dawn to keep them from hunting wildlife, like the rare lyrebird. If the feline is allowed outside overnight, the owners risk a $1,000.00 fine.

  In the strange laws department: In Ohio, all cats and other domesticated animals must wear taillights so they are visible and, thereby, preventing accidents.

  The cat’s adaptability was shown in Chicago in the early 1900s by pet cats that were placed in a cold storage warehouse to keep the rat population from eating the meat stored there. Most of the cats died, but those that survived bred and birthed kittens that resisted the cold with thicker fur and shorter tails and then became great rat catchers.

  Outdoor cats are more restless at night than indoor cats, which tend to rest when their people rest.

  Today there are over 300 cat shows each year, with the largest being the New York International Cat Show held at Madison Square Garden.

  Many Far East cats have kinky tails.

  Although once thought of as a myth, seismologists now believe cats can sense earth vibrations before an earthquake strikes, predicting the quake.

  Humans feel heat pain at 112 degrees F, but cats don’t feel the heat until 124 degrees F. Cats sometimes are oblivious to heat that they don’t notice when their fur is singed. However, a cat’s lips and nose are sensitive to temperature, allowing her to know when their food is too hot to eat.

  When a cat sees his reflection in a mirror, he may paw or hiss at it, perhaps believing it is another cat. As cats like things in motion, a moving reflection gets more attention.

  Some animal experts believe when a cat brings you objects, like a dead mouse or inanimate object, she is playing the mother role to her owner, just as the queen will bring dead or half-dead prey to her kittens to eat.

  Ash in dry cat food does not cause health problems, like stones that could block the urinary tract in tomcats. Males are more likely to have stones because of the length and narrowness of the urethra, which makes it hard to pass stones.

  A brain tumor or scar tissue from an infection can cause aggressive behavior in cats.

  Excessive attachment to people and their home base territory can cause problems for the cat causing an inability to function competently on their own.

  Cats with tail straight up, bowing, and rolling to one side are giving a friendly greeting.

  Some cats deprived of hunting will attack ankles instead.

  Typically, cats are loners but can manage in a group, especially when there’s enough food for all.

  Cats show that they trust their environment by rolling around or snoring.

  Cats don’t like their tummies touched for this reason: When a cat lies on his back with paws and stomach up, he is being submissive with the dominant cat or person. When the cat’s tummy is rubbed or touched, the cat gets angry and bites or claws because the dominance of the human has gone too far. Sam sez, “Yes, we’ll be submissive -- to a point.”

  Some believe cats were not domesticated by humans but found life easier with them. They were welcomed as rat and mouse killers and rewarded with food and decided this was the easy life. Cats have retained a “Look, I just stopped in, see you later” attitude when given attention, such as playing with or petting, and suddenly saying, “That’s enough of that.” Thereby revealing their “wild side” even though they’ve been with people for thousands of years.

  Cats are not generally prone to obesity.

  Of all our domesticated animals, cats are the only ones who do not live in groups in the wild.

  Cats are not pack animals when it comes to hunting or social relations.

  Cats that have social interactions with other cats do it for the friendship.

  Some experts say through human breeding of cats that cats lost many of their wild instincts.

  Despite being thought of as aloof, cats can be highly social animals.

  Cats also have preferences of water with some drinking dirty pond water but putting their noses up to clean water from their owners.

  Contrary to myth, cats do not intentionally try to smother newborn babies, but they are curious to this new human in their home and may try to sleep with the infant because the child is warm and soft. So, they may end up suffocating the baby.

  Cat myth: Cats cannot see colors. Recently, it has been proven that cats can distinguish between certain colors.

  Cats have a higher heartbeat (110 – 140 beats/minute) and higher metabolic rate than humans.

  The Ancient Egyptians first domesticated cats around 2000 BC. The Nubian Felis sylvestris lybica, a short-tailed cat, is noted in the Book of the Dead as cutting off the head of the evil snake Apepi. This domesticated cat replaced lioness goddesses as deities as is shown with Bast (Bastet) who was depicted as a lioness in earlier years but became a woman with a cat’s head.

  Please Do Litter

  Cats bury their urine and feces to avoid offense and to keep themselves from lying close to their waste or in its dampness.

  Cats cover their waste by instinct; however, using the litter box is learned by watching their mother.

  Sometimes cats will pause when burying their feces to smell other cats’ waste.

  Some cats will cover not only their waste, but that of other cats, too.

  Burying continues until the cat is happy with the remaining smell that can notify other cats of his presence.

  The cat that uses the neighbor’s garden to leave her waste is keeping her mess away from the center of her world.

  Soft soil is a favorite bathroom for cats.

  Cats do not like to use dirty, soiled litter boxes.

  Cats bond to one type of litter and may not use their litter box if a new kind of litter is introduced.

  Certain scented litter may deter the puss from using the box.

  Cats can show displeasure or depression by relieving themselves somewhere besides the litter box, like the carpet.

  With the older cat, the urinary sphincter may loosen or weaken causing the cat to go more often and sometimes not make it to the litter box.

  An illness or arthritis, especially in older cats, is a common cause of not going in the litter box.

  Wash, Wash, Wash

  Cats like to groom themselves and spend over 1/3 of their waking time grooming with their rough tongues.

  Self-grooming does many things for the cat:

  1. It keeps the fur clean and soft and glossy.

  2. It removes debris, parasites, and loose and dead fur; removing dead, loose hair helps in reducing wind resistance when hunting.

  3. It stimulates circulation, muscle tone, and the growth of new fur.

  4. It uni
formly spreads waterproofing oils from the skin.

  5. It keeps the skin in good condition.

  6. The saliva left behind in grooming lowers body temperature where evaporation takes heat away from the body, like sweating. This is why cats tend to groom after strenuous activity, such as playing or hunting, and in warmer weather.

  7. It keeps her coat layered to be an effective thermo-regulator. The outer layer of each hair is scaly to keep the fur interlocked. The hairs are aligned when grooming to help temperature regulation.