Cat Chit Chat

The Texas legislature is debating a bill - a proposed law - which would restrict what landlords can demand from their tenants if they are pet owners. Essentially, it limits what landlords can include in the landlord-to-tenant agreement which is normally some kind of lease. An apartment for a cat owner! Image: MikeB at PoC. If the bill passes the legislature and is signed off by the governor the legislation “would allow landlords to either cap a monthly pet fee at $20 or collect a one-time refundable pet deposit at the outset of someone’s lease. However, the proposal would prevent them from doing both.”.  Nathan Winograd, perhaps America's greatest animal advocate currently, says that this sort of legislation is long overdue "as is an outright ban on housing discrimination for families that include an animal companion" to use his words. At this time, I do not have any more information about this change in Texas's legislation but clearly it is great news because arguabl

The cat's caregiver urgently but innocently asks: " HELP! I've heard lilies are toxic to cats. I was given this bouquet today as a bday gift and she keeps following it wherever I put it (outside, inside, living room, bedroom, bathroom). I cut the pistils and vacuumed the pollen and spores, not sure if that's enough. Are cats also attracted to lilies?" Picture by u/Idrialis on Reddit.com I find the picture terrifying to be honest.  Anybody who has done some research on the effect of lilies on domestic cats should be terrified of this plant. There is no place for this plant in a home where there is a domestic cat or cats. They should be completely banned from the home. Even if they are a present on a birthday as is the case in this instance. Lilies and cats should be separated permanently and completely. Why are lilies toxic to cats ? Even a small amount of pollen from one of the toxic lily species can kill through kidney failure. The lady says that she has removed

I have seen many domestic cats obsessed with getting into glass jars, vases and boxes including very small boxes. But this when I think takes the biscuit. It's a supreme effort. Although I have seen a Bengal cat get into a billiard table pocket! Yep, equally extreme behaviour. Cats love tight spaces and they love investigating which is why they need 9 lives 😃.  Here is that Bengal cat doing his extreme thing: And here is a link to the page: Bengal cat gets into a billiards' table pocket . The largish cat has to make two stabs at it. Determined. Admirable. Some cats love the security of tight spaces and it doesn't matter how they achieve that sensation: box, vase, jar you name it. 

My reading of the genetics behind this father and daughter cat looking as they do (very cute and very rare) is that they have the white spotting gene or piebald gene in their genetic makeup and it has caused this highly unusual Zorro mask to develop. I guess it is just by chance that the white spotting gene had this effect upon the way the pattern developed. I don't think that there is any special genetic mutation going on here. Screenshot. The white spotting gene normally simply results in a standard bicolour cat. These two are bicolour cats but the markings are remarkable. Normally the markings are just black-and-white blobs or a white background with markings being created by darker coloured fur. An example of a bicolour cat is the Harlequin . I have a page on bicolor cats. Please click on the link below. Solid and white cat coats .

A person on social media asked for some advice because their cat is vomiting and they are suffering from chronic kidney disease and hyperthyroidism. They are seeing a veterinarian but they wanted to bounce the problem off other social media users one of whom is me. Of course, I strongly advocate seeing a veterinarian and this person has seen a veterinarian about the recent developments and will see them again. Image: MikeB This is my brief response: "I am not a veterinarian but I know cats very well. Your cat has chronic kidney disease. She is vomiting. Is there a link between chronic kidney disease and vomiting? That is the question that comes to my mind. There is a connection. Signs of uraemia which is toxins in the blood because they are not being eliminated by the kidneys, can result in vomiting, diarrhoea and anaemia. There are other symptoms. So, it's just possible that the chronic kidney disease may have advanced more than is believed. That said, the vomiting might not

The cat's caregiver asks the question in the title and adds: "Should I leave like this or do something? He can walk fine and it only seems to hurt if you touch it, I didn't see any blood or complaining" My response is as follows (it continues below the picture - what would your response be?): "As the cat's claw is embedded into bone and that bone is the distal phalange of the foreleg and hindleg toe, it would seem to me that the claw has broken at its base where it enters into the bone. Cat claw is bent sideways, what should I do? This is a screenshot from a video provided by the user whose username is: u/Kistar2. It will be sore because there are nerve endings and blood vessels which pass into the base of the claw. As the others have said, cats are stoic. They don't show pain generally but your cat does indicate that it is tender to the touch. It would appear that he or she has landed badly after jumping down, jumping up or perhaps clawing their way up s

 This is a question asked on social media which I'm going to answer here. I think the vast majority of cat owners would answer the question in the same way. When two cats live together and they are friendly with each other a bond is created (obviously). If one of those cat passes away the other cat will feel the effects of that. It depends of course on the depth of the bond and for how long they have been friends. Cat friends. The loss of one may well cause grief in the other. Image: MikeB. My strong indication, having researched the matter, is that domestic cats can grieve for the loss of their human caregiver or another cat. The subject of domestic cat emotions is work in progress but it's almost logical to presume that a cat will feel the effects of the loss of a friend. Domestic cats do have emotions. The question is how complex are they? Grieving, or a form of grieving, can be experienced by a domestic cat I believe. We don't know for sure how cats feel in the grieving

I have never considered it but there is an "intermediate" type of cat food which is dehydrated wet cat food. It is shipped in packets as a powder. You pour out the amount that you think your cat can eat at one sitting. You add some warm water and it becomes a pâté or a soup depending upon how much water you add. The advantages are that you can control the portion size and of course the storage of the food is easier. It is very compact and very long lasting. It gives the cat owner better control over cat food storage and delivery. How many people use dehydrated wet cat food to feed their cat? Image: The Honest Kitchen I think this is important because often cats don't finish the portion provided because the sachet is too big or perhaps the owner gives them too much. I don't know how many millions of tonnes of wasted, smelly wet cat food is thrown away into garbage cans annually in any one country but I expect that it is a vast tonnage. Anything to reduce cat food waste

 The full text of the question: "Why is my cat constantly peeing by my front door, he doesn’t do it anywhere else just in that one spot,we have 3 litter boxes that are cleaned daily,he’s peeing in there also but constantly by the front door (6 months old maine coon x bengal booked into be neutered on the 28th."  The person who posted the question and who was seeking help describes inappropriate elimination ('peeing') but I don't think it is peeing. It looks more like spraying to mark territory as it occurs near the front door. This is a major point in the cat's 'home range'. The area that he considers to be his claimed territory.  They describe their cat as a Maine Coon x Bengal cat cross. A very rare cat breed. The cat looks more like a Bengal to me. Here he is: Why is my cat constantly peeing by my front door, he doesn’t do it anywhere else just in that one spot. This is the cat who looks more like a Bengal cat to me. Picture: u/beccamx41 If the cat

Nothing apparently really special about the video but it is special in many ways. This young man has created a beautiful relationship between himself and his cat companion. It is the human who runs the show. It is the human who dictates how well the relationship runs. It's their world and they create the cat's world. But when it is this good the cat is going to be very happy. And of course, that happiness is reflected in the caregiver. An interesting little aspect of this repeating video is that the cat and man kiss each other. The cat really wants to kiss her man. Kissing is fine but it is very rarely done on the lips between cat and person. There is the faintest possibility of the transfer of pathogens from cat to person in this activity. As a large number of cats have toxoplasmosis it is just about possible that the man could get it from his cat . It would be unlucky though.  Toxoplasmosis is asymptomatic in cats very often.

The exact words of the cat's owner asking for help on Reddit.com are as follows: My cat has been acting weird. All day she’s been standing on her rear toes with her butt in the air always pointing it at me. She’s never done this before what does it mean? I shortened them for the title. The picture accompanying the words immediately tell us what is going on. My cat is acting weird. She’s standing on her rear toes with her butt in the air. What does it mean?. Female (queen) in heat prepared to mate. Image: u/OMGJay on Reddit. Their female cat is in oestrus (heat) and is seeking a mate and ready to copulate. She raises her bottom slightly and places her tail to one side. The classic pose of a female cat waiting to be mated. Before doing this, she would have provided other signals to males to indicate that she was ready to mate such as rolling around flirtatiously. Clearly, the owner has adopted this cat and unusually not had her spayed (sterilised). He/she may have rescued her informa

This is a question on the Reddit.com website which I would like to also answer on this site. This is quite a typical problem actually. Domestic cats identify almost everything that they encounter through their sense of smell. Or to put it more accurately, they confirm the identity of the object. This happens as you can see when they eat. They sniff food because at close range their eyesight is not that great and therefore, they've got to identify whether it is edible and nutritious through its smell. One kitten hates the other after they were neutered. What's happening? Image: u/jkamio When a cat goes to a veterinary clinic for any procedure including a minor operation like a male neutering, they come back smelling of the veterinary clinic. And the veterinarian has probably used a sterilising agent on the site of the wound which also will have a strong smell. These smells transform the freshly neutered cat into a complete stranger to the sibling. Whereas once they recognised th

'Boar-cat' was an early name for a male cat. An alternative name was 'ram-cat'. Both were replaced by 'tom-cat' in the 18th century, with the spelling now normally being 'tomcat'. You can go back further to medieval times (500-1500 AD) when tomcats were called 'Gyb' which was a shortened name for Gilbert which is why it is capitalized in contrast to tomcat which is not. The 'painting below' is by an AI computer on instructions to paint a 'medieval scene with cat'. I think the result is pretty damned good: Cat in a medieval scene as painted by DALLE E an AI computer. Gyb was a generic name but it could also be a given name to an individual cat. And there were variations on the name such as 'Gibbe' and 'Gybbe'. A Scottish poem from the late fifteenth century by Robert Henryson goes: "When two mice are on a table-top, Barely have they drunk once or twice When in comes Gib Hunter, our cat."

A fear of cats, as you might know is called 'ailurophobia' (eye-lure-o-PHO-bia). A fear of cats is not uncommon. I'm told that nearly 22.2% of individuals living in the USA are frightened of animals of different kinds. I don't know the percentage for cats but it won't be insignificant. It might be to do with the fact that they are very competent predators with sharp claws and long canine teeth! The cure for a fear of cats is slow desensitisation (familiarization). Image: MikeB The cure for ailurophobia is straightforward enough and it concerns desensitising the individual. This is distressing for the patient. It requires a step-by-step process in which the first step is presenting to the individual things that are only remotely feline. They just need the merest impression that something associated with cats is near them such as a photograph of cats or kittens or toy animals. After a while a kitten can be placed in a small secure cage and left about 10 or 12 paces aw

The interesting aspect of this pretty conventional list (see below the infographic) on causes of domestic cat vomiting is that it was entirely written by a computer. I mean it formulated the answer and typed the entire thing itself. It looks good so you can rely on it. The other point is that there are many causes of vomiting in cats and you'll need to see a vet if it continues beyond 24 hours. Actually, there is only one thing you need to know about cat vomiting! Click this to find out . Cats are good vomiters. Far better than humans. They do it with great ease. So, you might not need to race off to the vet but will have to go if it continues. I have page which analyses cat vomiting with a bit more precision, which you might like to take a look at. Click on the link below. Cat Vomiting – including types of vomiting for diagnosis . Eating too quickly or eating too much. Eating spoiled or spoiled food. Eating non-food items, such as plants or string. Gastrointestinal infections or p

 A lot has been said about the frequency and number of meals over 24 hours. I think 2 meals a day is too low a number (but Cornell, VCA Hospitals and most other sources disagree with me 😢 - they advocate 2x).  There could/should be more meals but less quantity in each meal I believe. I believe this to be more natural but it is up for debate (definitely). Although the domestic cat's wild ancestor, the North African wildcat, eats 7-20 small meals over 24 hours according to Science Direct. The domestic cat has inherited all of the wildcats attributes. We follow the ancestor to figure out these issues. How often should domestic cats be fed in 24 hours? Image: MikeB RELATED: Some more on the topic . I also believe that the typical sachet of wet cat food contains too much at one sitting. In my experience cats are more inclined to eat all of their food if the sachet is small. They tend to leave some otherwise which is annoying for a number of reasons including where do you put it and it

I wanted to discover some definitive laws about cat ownership in Finland, specifically with regard to whether domestic cats can go outside and wander around freely. I wanted to ask this question because Finland to an outsider is a cold place. It would seem to be inhospitable to domestic cats to be outside. Of course, I am stereotyping but what is the general rule about letting cats go outside? Domestic cat in Finnish weather. Image in public domain. I couldn't find any really good specific details but people who have lived in Finland say this. They say that outside of the cities free roaming cats are quite common. The same applies to semi-feral barn cats and what the Finish called "summer cats". These are cats which have been adopted during summer months and then abandoned when winter arrives. That sounds rather unpleasant I must say. I would have expected better from the Finish. I don't know of any specific law which states that domestic cats living in Finnish cities

This is a hot-off-the-press news story with a short lifespan! Frontier Airlines must have a chief executive who likes animals and is concerned about animal welfare. I can't think of any other good reason. I am delighted. The airline has offered the public vouchers for free flights if they each adopt one of three rescue kittens found in North Las Vegas. Frontier Airlines has offered flight vouchers for pet parents who adopt any of three kittens named Spirit, Frontier, and Delta (from left to right) at the Animal Foundation in Las Vegas.(The Animal Foundation via CNN) They were found about two weeks ago and are currently at a foster home. They are nearly newborn and once they are ready to be adopted out, they will. They named the kittens Spirit, Delta and Frontier. The airline picked up on this and are delighted that they've named the kittens after airlines one of them theirs. As a reward and in the interests of promoting animal welfare, a representative of Frontier Airlines tol

The French adage "plus ça change" comes to my mind immediately.  It is a phrase which means that things don't change because basic human nature does not change even over thousands of years. Medieval bedroom with woman and her cat. Photo-edited pic by MikeB. And so back in medieval times (500-1500 AD) a well-known book which can still be found on Google, "Boke of Nature", advises in the strongest terms to keep domestic cats out of the bedroom: "Dryve out dogge and catte, or els geve them a clout" I guess you can understand it but it must mean: "Drive dogs and cats out of the bedroom and if they enter hit them!" Nice. A bit unfriendly to say the least.  There is a strange medieval story of a knight and a lady he loves. She has a cat companion. She rejected the knight's advances. He goes to her bedroom at night in disguise. Her cat scratches him. She softens as a result and becomes his mistress but he refuses to marry her because he is scare

The Azul Cubano is a very little-known cat breed from Cuba. It has a "blue" shorthaired coat but it can be semi-longhaired and it was registered in 2010 in Cuba. It is better known as the Cuban Blue. I will refer to "Cuban Blue". Cuban Blue cat aka Azul Cubano. Image: Reuters. The Spanish word "azul" means blue in English as you might have guessed. But of course, blue does not mean the colour blue as we know it. It means gray with a slight bluish tint. That bluish tint comes about because blue is a dilute black. When you dilute black because of the presence of a dilution gene you create this slightly blue tint to the gray. Reuters reported on what was then described as a "new breed" on May 27, 2011, almost 12 years ago. Almost nothing has been heard of the breed since. That tells you how insignificant this breed is in the world of the cat fancy. In fact, it may have fizzled out completely At that time, the president of the Cuban Association of Ca

NEWS AND COMMET: This is a peculiar story. Initially it made me scratch my head but I saw the issues later when writing this. A cat owner who might have been identified through CCTV cameras, apparently decided to abandon their five-month-old cat at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. They didn't catch a flight so the indication is that they travelled to the airport and then left on the RTA train going downtown. Cat abandoned in airport bathroom. This is a photo-edited creation! Not the cat in the story. Image: MikeB. They abandoned their gray-and-white cat in an airport bathroom near a pre-check in area. The cat was in a carrier sitting on a sink. The illustration on this page is a mockup by me so this is not the actual cat and neither is the carrier on a sink! It's presence is to illustrate the page. The cat and carrier were discovered by a Southwest Airlines employee. Initially they thought that this wasn't a purposeful abandonment of a cat but an accident. They anno

"Anyone missing a cat?" the flight attendant announces as she holds the said cat at arm's length while walking down the aisle. Cat escaped from carrier (or released) is found and reunited with owner! Screenshot. This is one of those American internal flights with cats and dogs in carriers under the seat except a couple 'escaped'. Well, I'm not sure that they exactly escaped but perhaps were released 😉👍. Result? Cat wandering around the cabin where he/she was found by a nice flight attendant who doesn't know how to carry a cat 😃. Or she is a little nervous and holds the cat at arm's length to avoid a scratch perhaps. Fair enough. @david.hislop Well that’s a first ✈️🐈😹 #cats #catsoftiktok #unitedairlines #united #southwest #southwestairlines #reels #catstagram #catslovers #airlines @United Airlines ♬ original sound - David Hislop It is all quite cute because cats add some soul to an aircraft's cabin when in mid-flight don't you

Answer: false in my view but we don't really know. If you are a human, living in the UK and perhaps elsewhere, you will be declared legally blind if your vision is 20/200 which means that if an object is 200 feet away you have to stand 20 feet from it in order to see it clearly. Under daylight conditions, domestic cat eyesight is less good than humans'. However, under dusk and night time conditions it is better I would argue. Domestic cat eyes have evolved, as you know, to see under dusky conditions because that is when prey animals are around. I was one of the first web owners to produce a pictorial comparison between domestic cat and human eyesight. Other websites have followed since. You can see that page by clicking on the link below: Cat Vision Pictorial Examples Two of the image comparisons are below. How domestic cats see by MikeB How domestic cats see by MikeB What colors do cats see? Cat see colours pretty well but it believed they are colorblind to red or red/green (b

A petition on the UK government website has 102,436 signatures. It was open for 6 months. Its demand is to "Make it a legal requirement for drivers to stop & report collisions with cats". This is a campaign that has been going on for a long time (since at least 2014). It is a good campaign. Drivers have to stop and report accidents with other animals including horses, cattle, asses, mules, sheep, pigs, goats or dogs, but not cats or wild animals.  Image: MikeB Because it reached over 100k signatures it has to be debated in the House of Commons. It will be next week. But it is a waste of time because the government will not enact new legislation to comply with the petition. Their reason? Here is the Department of Transport response on the petition website: "The Government has no plans to make it an offence to drive off after hitting a cat. A focus for this Government is to make roads safer for all users, which will in turn reduce the risk to all animals.  Under sectio

Ever heard of the American Blue Cat? I doubt it because according to a very earlier writer about the cat breeds, Rush Shippen Huidekoper, writing in 1895 this was a name for the Russian Blue of today.  The naming of the cat breeds can be a little bit confusing and problematic sometimes. Back in that time more than 120 years ago, this cat breed had been given many names including "Blue Cat", "Maltese Cat", "Archangel Cat", "Russian Cat", "Spanish Blue", and "Chartreuse Blue".  Russian Blue photo copyright Helmi Flick. RELATED:  What is a blue Maltese ? Apparently, the author explained that the name "American Blue" is "probably due to the fact that the Maltese for some years has been a very favourite cat in America, and has probably been bred more carefully than any other breed of cat, so that its representatives formed a distinct type of good quality". That is a little bit of history which may interest one o

Everything that Taylor Swift touches turns to gold metaphorically speaking. For example, Taylor Swift, herself, is officially the most followed person on Instagram with a mind-blowing 239 million followers. We know she loves cats and we know that one of her cats as Olivia Benson, a Scottish Fold. Olivia Benson. Image: Instagram (modified by MikeB) And because of that connection and for no other reason in my opinion the news media are saying that Olivia Benson has the potential to earn millions and therefore is worth millions herself. Taylor Swift has given Olivia her own Instagram account. From that account she has the potential to earn big. She is described as a moneymaking machine with an estimated value of US$97 million. How does it happen? Why can't I have a cat worth millions of dollars!? Hundreds of millions of people would love that too. But you've got to be Taylor Swift. Olivia Benson living with John Doe in a suburb of New York would not make a penny even if they had t