Almost daily we read about some form of domestic cat abuse carried out secretively by cat haters. The typical method to abuse a domestic cat is to feed them poison such as antifreeze. You can do that secretively very easily. Poison is probably a favourite of cat haters. Another is to simply kill them and mutilate cats. Once again this is done at night, out of sight, when their owners are asleep. Domestic cats are predisposed to abuse at night because indoor/outdoor cats are active at that time. RELATED:  One family lost six cats to antifreeze poisoning . Spray painted cat Australia. And sometimes we see domestic cat spray-painted. This is currently happening in Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia (see picture above). Cat owners are disgusted by it and they are up in arms. A secretive, cowardly cat hater is spray-painting domestic cats. Animal advocates are saying that not enough is being done by the local government to get to the bottom of it and enforce animal welfare laws. Some cat ow

The cat above is a "grizzled" Chausie in cat fancy language or a cat with melanism in more scientific language. She is a silver tipped black Chausie. The cat's name is "Shekinah" and she was raised on Tammy Isaac's Willowind Cattery in South Texas. The photo is copyright protected. The photographer is Helmi Flick. This post is about melanism in cats. The same principles apply for any form of melanism. Melanism refers to the black pigmentation of melanin.  This pigmentation colors hair, iris of the eye and skin. The pigmentation in the hair, however, is more a very dark, inky, rich bluish/brownish grey as the black coat pattern is still visible as a ghost pattern. Cats that carry the gene mutation that causes melanism are called "melanistic cats". Melanism is caused by a dominant autosomal allele 2 . The same source says that it is caused by an "autosomal recessive gene" 6 . This is conflicting information and shows that science

There comes a time when a mother of kittens decides to start weaning them.  This typically occurs in the fourth or fifth week of a kitten's life but it might be earlier in a large litter or if the mother is unwell or stressed.  The mother instigates the process of weaning as kittens rarely if ever decide to wean themselves. Original photo by Addy Cameron-Huff . Cat is Finnigan. He looks like a Turkish Van. The mother starts to spend time away from her kittens and/or blocks access to her milk.  She does this by lying or crouching with her abdomen against the ground. The kittens get hungry and hunger drives them to search for food.  In the wild the mother brings back prey and tears it up to make it easier for the kittens to eat. Prey is meat, the flesh of (usually) small mammals.  This forces kittens to develop their ability to eat and digest meat. These developments include a change to their digestive tract.  The flesh of animals takes longer to digest than milk so ki

If you do a Google search for the word “clingy", Google throws up a list of possibilities for what you are searching for.  Google extends the search term and finds searches for information on "clingy babies", "clingy girlfriends", "clingy toddlers" etc..  When Google adds to your search term it bases its information upon what people search for. Obviously, people are searching for information about clingy toddlers etc.. The word "clingy" proceeds a human but not a cat. Clingy? Insecure cat needing reassurance or a loving cat who likes to be with her human? You decide. This reinforces my beliefs about articles on clingy cats .  I don't believe there is such a cat as a clingy cat or if there are clingy cats, they are rarer than people believe. I believe that cats who want to be with you a lot and who wish to interact with you when you're at home simply want to do that. They want to be with you, close to you and interact with you

Classic Siamese. Seal point. Not extreme. Photo: in public domain Siamese Cat Behavior does have a certain reputation but this may be slightly exaggerated. There are 7 areas to cover when discussing Siamese cat behavior if you want to do a thorough job 😉. What the experts say about the Siamese family of cats. General cat behavior. Differences in behavior from cat to cat (individual personality). This is probably greater than any differences from breed to breed. Siamese cat behavior. Whether there are any differences in the behavior between the types of Siamese cats of which there is an endless spectrum. There are though essentially 3 types, the Modern and Traditional , with the Classic in between. Is the classic body conformation the Thai cat ? Spaying and neutering - the effect on behavior. Illness - modern Siamese cats have the most inherited diseases of all the cat breeds. As this is a very long page in which I discuss domestic cat behaviour generally as I must when di

Aggressive behavior in a cat is almost always going to be because of something we (as humans) have done, on the basis that the cat is healthy. If she is sick or injured, she may be aggressive for that reason. Note : this article was initially published on Jan 19, 2008 😊. It remains useful particularly for the section about a cat being psychologically damaged which results in what humans would regard as untoward behavior. It comes from first-hand experience. I believe that she had experienced mistreatment by her previous owner which came out in mild aggression under certain circumstances. I loved her and rescued her from a neighbour who had abandoned her. Photo: MikeB. She was about aged 15 at this time and it was about 2008. I have a quick fact check page on feline aggression which covers all the causes and treatments for cat aggression which you can read by clicking on the link below: RELATED :  11 types of domestic cat aggression and how to resolve them . A lot of people have mis

Note that I am referring to a specific tail movement, that of wagging, which is back-and-forth on the same plane. Cats will move their tail for other reasons and in other ways but the movement is not true "wagging" 😎. Often, you will read articles on the Internet which state that a cat wags their tail because they are angry. This is only partially true. It's more about indecision perhaps leading to frustration. Cat stalking and tail wagging. The open ground does not provide cover for the cat which leads to indecision as to whether they should advance or not. This can result in tail wagging.  Photo: in public domain with arrows added. A domestic cat may be more irritated than angry when they are wagging their tail because they are in a state of mental conflict . The cat wants to do two things at the same time and is unsure which is the best choice.  I remember seeing my late, now deceased, female cat sitting on a lawn where there was no cover for her to hide while sh

This is a comprehensive discussion about cat overpopulation in the United States. Core information comes from The Welfare of Cats (ISBN 978-1-4020-6143-1). If on occasion I sound like someone who fervently believes that we can do better and that the current situation is untenable then it is true, I am. I think people have to become more passionate about this subject because we can't ignore it. A well-known picture signifying cat overpopulation! Image in the public domain. I will minimise stating my opinion but will refer to the opinion and work of Americans in studies. I can't quote what they say because that would be a violation of their copyright. What I write will be a précis (a summary in my words). That way no one can criticise an outsider for commenting on something he knows nothing about. I actually know quite a lot about it through reading. It is a grizzly subject but one that has been around so long and become so entrenched that is has been normalized. All the proble

A nice bit of photo-editing from Matt McCarthy in North Carolina, USA. I should imagine that it was quite time consuming to do this photo-editing. You have to get the edges clean and that means a lot of meticulous deletions unless he uses software that does it all for him. But in my experience the best software is imperfect. I am probably wrong but this looks like three images sandwiched together: the background buildings, the cat and the foreground people. He has built up the image from the background creating three layers in all.  Giant cat sleeps in the middle of the road. Image: Matt McCarthy. You can see his work on Instagram: link .

The ancient Egyptians may well have been the world's first cat breeders. Also, they may have bred by far the greatest number of cats at any time in the history of cat breeding.  They were world record holders when it comes to the domestic cat but in a very uncomfortable way. This was not a nation that worshiped the cat in the way you do when you respect the cat as a sentient being; no, it was worshiping the cat as a deity and breeding millions of cats for ritualistic sacrifice. As I said this was a nation of cat abusers not cat lovers . Bastet - Ancient Egyptian sculpture - Louvre museum I think the word "worship" has been misused in relation to the cat in ancient Egypt. The worship of the god Bastet (a statue in the shape of a cat - the god of beauty) was not due to a respect for the real cat, the domestic cat as a useful companion animal. It was about using and abusing the domestic cat to try and please a god with the intention of improving the life of the wors

This is a list of cats that live in trees. I am referring to a group of wild cat species, of course. The first sentence should be qualified by saying that no cat species lives in trees all the time. There are wild cats that live in forests and spend time in trees and hunt in trees. These cats also live on the ground (terrestrial cats). All cats are good climbers. Some are better than others. Tree dwelling cats are the best climbers for obvious reasons. They are usually slender and have long tails for balance. The picture of the margay below illustrates this admirably. These two wild cat species are the best climbers and most associated with tree dwelling: Margay Clouded leopard Margay resting in a tree, typical behavior - Photo copyright Adriane Taylor See more of Adriane's work Other wild cat species that spend time in trees are: Ocelet - hunt on the ground, rest in trees and escape to trees Leopard cat - likes forest cover and can be "quite arboreal in their h

WARNING : this is about dog and cat meat and the brutality of the business. It's just horrendous. The pictures are from a horror movie only it's real this time. And for the perpetrators it is all normal but got the cats and dogs it is a living hell until they are mercifully killed. You have to click links to see the pics as they are too horrible to have on this page.  The brutal and ignorant behavior by the humans (sub-humans) who kill cats and dogs for meat reminds me of Putin's behavior in his manic desire to invade Ukraine and the subsequent death, destruction and rape perpetrated by his troops. There is not much difference in attitude which is why Russia is matey with China and vice versa. It is tough to face up to humankind's weaknesses. People in one country don't like people in another country criticising them. They say "you don't understand our culture" and "what right have you got to criticise". That sort of thing. At its root, this