Large Cats of North America must embrace both domestic and wild cats. Of the domestic cats there is one "stand-out" large domestic cat. Individual Maine Coon cats can reach 25 lbs (11 kg). Although 7.3 kilograms (16 lbs) is about the average. If you've got a story about a large Maine Coon you might like to share it by making a comment. The figure of 25 lbs though is very much exceptional. Most large Maine Coon Cats weight about 20 lbs. Even this figure puts this domestic cat in the middle rank for size of the world's wildcats. A lot of the wildcats are quite small and of a size very similar to domestic cats today.
Large Maine Coon cat
"Shooter" photo copyrightWendyophoto
The Maine Coon is American through and through. There are no other domestic cats of North America that I can think of that are as big. The American Bobtail is a larger than average domestic cat weighing in around 5 kilograms (about 11 lbs). The American Shorthair is quite a large domestic cat too at an average of about 11 lbs. The Ragdoll is probably the next biggest cat after the Maine Coon. The Ragdoll weighs on average about 14 lbs (6.3 kgs).
So, what about the wildcats of North America? The Cougar is the largest of the North American Wildcats weighing in at about 200 lbs for males. Cougars are also called Panthers, Mountain Lions and Pumas. The name comes from a Native Indina word " meaning "False Deer", apparently. The largest North American wildcat is then ten times larger than the largest domestic cat from the same region. I think this is more to do with practicalities than anything scientifically significant.
The most common North American wildcat is the American Bobcat. This cat has a size and weight a little larger than the biggest North American domestic cat at 13.3 kg (29.3 lbs). However, if you include tamed wildcats as domestic cats (such as the Serval an African cat) this wouldn't be the case, obviously.
Another wildcat from the region is the Canada Lynx. She lives in the woodlands of Canada and Alaska and weighs about 23 lbs on average (10.4 kg). This is not really a large wildcat but nonetheless might qualify as one of the large cats of North America.
A full list of wildcats said to be found in the USA is as follows:
Give me back my earrings..... Photo copyright akk_rus
Persian Cat Earrings are a consumer item that people look for so I've done a bit of research to see if I can list out some online cat jewelry retailers to make things a bit easier for people.
Persians are in the top 5 for popularity of all the domestic cat breeds. It is no wonder that Persian cat earrings are popular too. They'll be a kind of statement to everyone you meet that you live with a Persian cat or simply love Persian cats.
The first website that I have bumped into has silver earrings and the cats are Ultra Pesians. They headline for the pictures of the earrings says, "other Ragdoll...." - getting mixed up it seems. They're definitely Persian cats that have been painted or transfered onto a white or ivory colored background. This site is The Tiger Cat Jewelry store. This link takes you directly to the relevant page. It is Victorian jewelry and the store sells in US dollars.
The above earrings cost $14 and are hand crafted from a solid resin material so I guess that they are durable.
The next may be the best as there are 4 pages of earrings. The site is Esquivel and Fees Craftsmen. The products are solid gold and silver and expensive as a result. There is though a much wider selection. This is once again a USA based site.
The last is Precious Pets who also have a wide selection and plenty of earrings. Enjoy but you might consider not buying and giving some of the money you saved to a Persian cat rescue center instead and make a small contribution to changing the world for the better. It'll make you feel better for a lot longer too. Click on this link to go to some USA Persian rescue centers, three of which are based in California. Purebred Persians can be abandoned as can mixed breed cats. Sometimes it is because of an inability to cope with maintenance and/or litter problems. Litter problems can be due to the human keeper. Persians can get stressed and stress can cause bad litter habits. Quite a high percentage of Persians have bad litter habits apparently.
Update: A pair of Persian cat earrings from Amazon, where else!:
Asian Fishing Cat photograph copyright clarissa~ (Flickr)
Did you know this stocky, small wildcat barks like a dog and the alpha male struts around stiff legged with his tail raised? It's toes are webbed and its claws are partially out even when retracted. It is a formidable predator. One report tells of a fishing cat breaking through a cage partition and attacking a female leopard1.
This stocky cat interests me mainly from the standpoint of its likeness to a domestic cat in terms of size which on the face of it can appear similar but is not in fact the same. This cat weighs between 5 to 12 kilograms (11 to 26 lbs). The average domestic cat weights around 10 lbs. Despite being small, its powerful appearance can deceive local people into thinking that, at a distance, they are looking at a leopard. The leopard however is much larger and one of the big cats. Its weight and size varies from place to place. In India this cat can weigh 26 lbs (the very top end for domestic cats, say a very large Maine Coon or Savannah cat) and in Indonesia it weighs about 13 lbs.
In terms of appearance there is a similarity too (particularly to the wildcat/domestic cat hybrids) but there is no mistaking the wild look of this cat. The face has a very particular wild look, rather aggressive in fact. If you took away the wild look (something that cat breeders are keen to breed into cats such as the Bengal Cat) this cat would be quite close to a domestic cat. However, there is the coat too and this cat's coat is very particular and striking. The strong white and black stripe on the forehead differentiate it from the similar looking Ocelot. These stripes are merged spots.
The coat of the Asian Fishing Cat is a classic brown spotted tabby. This is the best coat for camouflage and therefore survival. The Scottish Wildcat and American Bobcat are very similar in respect of coat type and size. The Fishing cat is Asia's equivalent of the American Bobcat it could be said. It even has a shorter than average tail which acts as a rudder when swimming. See more photos in a large format montage of this cat species.
The wild parent of the Bengal cat, the Asian Leopard cat, is also a cat that likes to fish. This wildcat lives next to water of course and is a good swimmer. There are a number of domestic cats that like water, which is unusual for domestic cats. The Bengal cat is known to like water; clearly inherited from the Asian Leopard Cat. Another wildcat hybrid that likes water is the Chausie. The Chausie is a cross between the Jungle cat and the Abyssinian. The Jungle cat is also called the "Swamp Lynx" so also likes water and has handed this down to the hybrid domestic cat. Pure domestic cats are much less likely to enjoy water.
It is not surprising that some wild cats live near water as it is a perfect source of water and food. Cats are extremely adaptable and it would seem that the cat's dislike of water has been overcome to the point where she can swim with skill in water in order to improve its chances of survival.
Asian Fishing cat published under Creative Commons license
License: この写真は，クリエイティブ・コモンズ・ライセンスの下でライセンスされています。
The fishing cat belongs to a group of cats that includes the leopard cat (DNA testing confirms a strong relationship with this cat), rusty-spotted cat and the flat-headed cat. They all have strong markings and spotted patterns. The leopard cat is much more slender that the fishing cat. A notable feature of the fishing cat is its relatively small ears in comparison to domestic cats and some wildcats. On the ear flaps there are white spots against a black background. The spots are sometimes called "ocelli". The word means "little eye". They look like eyes and are designed to send a signal to aggressors to stay away before a fight.
The Asian Fishing Cat is found in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Sumatra and Java, Indochina and India (see Fishing Cat Range). Its once reasonably continuous range is now fragmented due to human activity.
They sometimes tap the water with their paw imitating an insect luring a fish to the surface. They are nocturnal and few people get to see them in action. They can swim under water too and catch aquatic birds. These are resourceful animals.
This map is an embedded map from Google My Maps that I made up. It is an open collaboration project so if you are able and willing to refine and improve it please go here: Fishing Cat Range.
It is very easy to see the connection between the wildcat and domestic cat and how (s)he became domesticated some 9,000 years ago. After all cats are adaptable and it is a short step from catching rodents in the grassland to catching them near and around barns. And once the wildcat discovered that there was a plentiful supply of rodents near barns (s)he stayed and the farmer liked it.
The Asian Fishing cat and the Asian Leopard cat also catch rodents.
Name
Usually called simply "Fishing Cat". Scientific name is Prionailurus viverrinus. Species Authority: (Bennett, 1833). The scientific name viverrinus is a throwback to its resemblance to the viverrid family of which the large Indian civet is a member1.
Conservation
Asian Fishing Cat - Update 7th October 2008: This lovely cat has moved from vulnerable to endangered on the IUCN Red List. What does that mean? IUCN stands for International Union for Conservation of Nature. The Red List is the most comprehensive list of the status worldwide of the conservation of the world's animal and plant species. The logos below show the different levels of status.
Endangered is EN on the chart. Endangered (EN), considered to be facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild. This chart is reproduced under published under Wikimedia® creative commons license license = Attribution-ShareAlike License. And the text in italics is published under under GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version - see Wikipedia® licensing.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ website says that more than 45% of Southeast Asian wetland that is protected are also threatened. How can this be? Either the wetland is protected or it isn't. The wetlands are the habitat of this cat. Perhaps the most commonly encountered threat to wildlife is habitat loss due to human expansion (population and commercial). In the case of the wetlands mentioned above these are drained for agriculture. Other threats include:
pollution
excessive hunting (I presume for prey and/or the Asian Fishing cat perhaps for skins and other body parts). It is notable that the above map has been viewed more times than the other wildcat maps. Is this because poachers are trying to figure out where this cat is? I hope not.
wood cutting
over fishing - a major threat. Overfishing is a worldwide phenomenon.
Yes, it does eat fish! It uses its paws to scoop out fish from the water. It also swims under water to catch fish, coots and ducks1. Frogs are also on the menu as are small mammals, snakes, birds, snails and crustaceans. The Asian fishing cats teeth are not specifically adapted for catching fish. There have been reports (stories?) of the fishing cat killing chittal (Indian deer) fawns calves, dogs and young children 1.
This is a formidable hunter.
Reproduction
Mating appears to take place in January - February. Dens can be in dense reeds. Litter are usually 2 - 3 kittens. Gestation is approximately 63 - 70 days1. Young cat weigh approx. 170 grams at birth. Kittens play in the water at 2 months of age. Although they suckle for about six months they eat solids at 53 days. They are adult in size at 8.5 months of age.
Semi-domestic cat
Asian Fishing Cat - Update 14th October 2008: There are photographs circulating around the internet (and therefore copyright free in my view) of a small wild cat catching a catfish in a bath. Here is one of the pictures:
Asian Fishing Cat
There been discussion as to whether this cat is an Ocelot or an Asian Fishing cat. The consensus is that the cat is an Asian Fishing cat (see a picture of an Ocelot). I agree because the head stripes that I refer to above are noticeable.
The view is also that the cat, the bath and the fish are in Russia in the home (?) of a person who works in a zoo or some such establishment who raised the cat from kittenhood. The cat is therefore domesticated or semi-domesticated. So things are OK in that sense. When we see an interesting picture like this some of us ask questions and make presumptions sometimes. I am too quick to make presumptions on occassion. We think that someone in the US has acquired a wild cat illegally or something. This is not the case.
The only slight problem I have is the fact that the fish was placed in a bath for a certain death at the hands and mouth of the Asian Fishing cat who are very skilled fishers. OK this is reality etc. But it makes some of us a bit queasy when the pictures are widely distributed for our entertainment.
Although the Asian fishing cat has a reputation for being aggressive they are also said to be quite tame and affectionate as pets. This may be an exaggeration however1.
Here is an Asian Fishing cat video from Bigcat Rescue:
Cat and Animal Cruelty goes hand in hand with human cruelty. Human cruelty is associated with human rights abuse. Human rights abuse at this moment in time is happening in Tibet. The Tibetans are being abused by the Chinese. The Chinese are also killing (in a sickening and heartless way) feral cats by the thousands to clean up streets in preparation for the Olympic games that should never have been awarded to them as it will make them stronger and more able to project to the world the misleading idea that the country is modern and democratic. They made promises to clean up their act in relation to human rights issues and have not.
The Chinese government is still stamping on decent people who criticize them. The government of China is little more than a dictatorship.
Anyway I went to the demonstrations in London yesterday in support of Tibet. There were demonstrations along the route of the torch bearers from Wembley Stadium to the Dome (Canary Wharf area). My partner and I positioned ourselves outside No 10 Downing Street. The crowd of demonstrators was very big indeed. The chanting was good. I became hoarse and I took some photographs which can be seen on this post. I could not see the torch bearer as she was surrounded by Chinese security guards and the police. Who are these Chinese guards? What do the police think about them doing their job? Lord Coe called them thugs. It looks like the Chinese government pulled some strings. England is falling into line for the sake of commerce. Shame on the British government. Big business runs the world, we know that.
The police were out in great force and were nervous and at times behaved brutally in suppressing the one or two brave souls who jumped over the fence to protest on the road. There were about 30 arrests in all. The entire torch bearing procession was spoiled by the demonstrations. Why is this a good thing? Human rights are much bigger than the Olympics and the Chinese government must be stopped.
I was their for the cats and the humans equally. I shouted for the Tibetans and in my heart I shouted for the many domestic cats in China being treated so horribly. Cat and Animal Cruelty definitely go together. Cat and Animal Cruelty is not confined to parts of China and there are obviously many Chinese who treat cats beautifully. It is the government that is at fault and some Chinese people who like to eat cats.
Cat Breed info - Photo copyright tanakawho - this is a mixed breed cat so not a cat breed.
I think that some of the most objectiveinformationcan be found on the Pictures of cats.org website. I also think that people are searching for both written and photographic information. Of these two the image is probably the more popular. The image of a cat doing silly things is the most popular of all. But the silly cat website is more of a fad and will have its day. It is a fashion. And fashioins change.
The parent website to this subdomain is called Pictures of Cats, yes, but it is ultimately a serious website. There are too many serious issues to deal with worldwide in relation to cats and their welfare to be diverted for too long on the silly stuff.
For example this post is being written on the morning of the Olympic torch being carried through London at which their will be protests about China's human rights abuses in Tibet; a very important and serious subject. I will be protesting both on behalf of the Tibetans and the cats that are being slaughtered by the authorities in Beijing and other towns involved in the Olympics. I have already made a couple of posts about this. I treat cats as equals to humans. It could be argued that cats are superior. Humans are certainly not superior to other animals. Being more intelligent does not qualify for superiority. It makes humans able to dominate and survive better but in a truly moral world all living creatures are equal.
What kind of cat breed info can be found on this site and the main site? Well firstly, I have listed as near as possible all the domestic cat breeds alphabetically and photographically over three pages, the first three pages of the site. These pages can be accessed from the navigation bars of this website and the main site. The links are on the top of the navigation bar.
If you don't want to use the navbar use these links:-
The list of cat breeds on these pages have links to probably the best pictures of cats thanks mainly to Helmi Flick and Dani Rozeboom (Maine Coon and Himmies). There are carefully and objectively summarized facts about the cat breeds.
Cat breed info is found on cat breeders' websites or cat association websites. Both, quite correctly have an axe to grind, an interest to serve. What those websites say about the cat breeds will often (but not always) maximize the good aspects of the breed. We accept that and expect it. Other sites where information can be found about the cat breeds such as Wikipedia are good too but the articles are often written by cat breeders or people in the cat fancy. These articles are often very good but once again there is a tendency to be less than totally objective sometimes.
Cat breed info should include both the good (and there is naturally a lot of good) and the bad. The bad usually takes the form of heath issues brought about in part at least by sloppy early breeding practices in the development of the breed in question. What happens is that cat breeders try very hard to develop through selective breeding a cat that perfectly matches the appearance expected by the breed standard. In that quest they sometimes go too far and overstep the mark. This can be done as the breed standards are drafted in loose terms allowing discretion. This can lead to cats with an interesting but extreme appearance. This catches the eye and wins shows but there can be accompanying health issues.
Also in breeding for the perfect type the breeders eye be taken off the ball in respect of health. There are one or two or more cases where this has happened. The far to high incidence of heart disease in purebred cats such as the Maine Coon and Siberian (and now Bengal) is due to the introduction of a cat early on with a genetic predisposition to HCM. That said breeders will argue that the incidence is no higher than in the general cat population. This is incorrect in my opionion.
I try to be highly obejctive myself in writing about cats as I have no axe to grind. I just seek the facts and if they do not promote the cat breed in question so be it. In the long term the truth will strengthen the cat breeding business and the cat fancy generally. The short term view erodes the business and can collapse it. Look at banking. Greedy financiers distabilize the financial markets at the public's expense. These financiers are taking short term views to make quick money disregarding other factors.
Cat breed info should also look at the cat associations as it is they who say which cats are to be breeds. There would be no formal cat breeds without the cat associations. They do a good job generally but there are too many pulling in slightly different directions which weakens the cat fancy.
Of the facts about cat breeds the most important to the public in my view is the appearance of the cat and then behavior. The photographs on the Pictures of Cats site and this site cover the appearance more than adequalely. As to behavior, realistically all domestic cats behave in a very similar manner. Although, you see on the Internet lots of descriptions of the individual cat breeds that imply that the breed is different from another.
I hope that you enjoy the cat breed info on this site and the main site and find it useful.
Photographs illustrating this post are all from cat shows, where the film star like cats get pampered, admired and win prizes:
Top - Young Abyssinian cat copyright shinzui Next down - British Shorthair (I believe) in a the classic blue/grey coat copyright Krzysiu Jarzyna Next down - Persian cat. This is an Ultra (extreme looking) Persian, copyright semarr Bottom - Sphynx cat copyright semarr
(Flickr)
pages 242 - 245. 
