Cat Dominance Hierarchy

There is a cat dominance hierarchy developing or developed in my home. It's the first time that I've seen it happen because it is the first time I have kept more than one cat. There are three. Well, I'm not exactly keeping three in the normal sense. One I am keeping. She is an old girl (about 16 years old), overweight, shy, quiet and a bit nervous (see picture middle right).

The other two are strays. First there is Timmy. He is an athletic boy cat, youngish, great jumper, eats like a horse and sleeps like a log. He turned up several months ago and he pops in every day for food and a snooze. I don't think he considers this place home though, more a motel (he's top left on this page sleeping while being in control).

Then thirdly we have Pippa, a small, mentally sharp, nervous, loving and totally black female cat who lives next door and obviously doesn't feel that happy about it because she comes to visit without any prompting whatsoever. Quite the contrary in fact. She is terrorized by my cat, which I find surprising. She still comes though.

So the hierarchy, which is wholly to be expected is that the Top Cat is Timmy. He is the Tuxedo boy looking exactly like "TC" of Top Cat cartoon fame.

Next in line is my girl, Binnie. She is to the right on this page. Yes, she's overweight because she is defensive and hides and is therefore not active enough. Plus she always wins the arguments about food.

Then at the bottom of the league and hiding under a table is little Pippa:


Pippa, the lowest in cat dominance hierarchy at my place.

No doubt the table gives some protection from that ogre my cat (just joking as my Binnie is completely soft and gentle). But Binnie's natural instincts take over and she knows she can beat Pippa but not Timmy who she just looks at and steers clear of.

Timmy is Mr. Boss man. That is cat dominance hierarchy.

Cat Dominance Hierarchy to Cartoon Cats

Cats have a Sagittal Crest

My cat has a sagittal crest, has yours? Some (all?) cats have a sagittal crest. When I feel the top of her skull, which she likes me to do by the way, I can feel a ridge along the middle of the skull running from the front to the back. It is quite noticeable. I rub her head a lot as she likes it but just thought that her skull was a little uneven!

[note: the cat in the photo is not my cat. This cat chewing grass lives with Flickr photographer ex.libris and the photograph is by her published under a creative commons license]

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You can read more on this by clicking on this link

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Well now I know different. The sagittal crest is commonly found among adult male gorillas. These animals have a very strong bite due to strong jaw muscles, which attach to the sagittal crest. The main chewing muscle is the temporalis muscle. This ridge of bone develops on animals who use their teeth when hunting and killing prey.



It can be present on dogs and cats of all types. The wildcat hybrids such as the Bengal cat and Savannah cat are perhaps more likely to have this ridge of bone. We know how hard a cat's bite can be so this is no surprise to me. Yet a domestic cat's bite is relatively weak compared to the Tasmanian Devil, a small dog like animal living in Tasmania. This animal has the world's strongest bite (see Cat Bites -- this sets out comparisons of bite strength)

There you go, cats have a sagittal crest -- have a feel next time you stroke your cat.

Cat Lovers of India

It is time that the cat lovers of India got together and formed a group. They would be the first cat fancy group in India, as I see it. I think it is time to do this, as according to Alexa, a web information company owned by Amazon, about 9% of the people who visit my website, www.pictures-of-cats.org live in India.

Fantastic, and yet it seems that proportionally very few people live with domestic cats. Why then start a cat fancy association. It might be called "Cat Association of India" (CAI) by the way. The reasons are these.

I bumped into a the Blue Cross of India website. A distinguished Indian women, Dr. Nanditha Krishna, has written an article that is posted on the site, called, "Are We Civilized?" It is an article on animal welfare in India or the lack of it. Well, not the lack of it exactly, but the need to improve it substantially. Through this article I discover that Dr. Nanditha Krishna is Honorary Director of the C P Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation and the C P R Environmental Education Centre. I visited the C P Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation website and discover that they are concerned with the promotion of the community and India culture; both wide and excellent objectives. These goals are to be achieved through education.

It is the element of education that I would like to be brought to bear on the matter of animal welfare. I couldn't see anything on the Foundations website that was concerned with the promotion of animal (and therefore cat, my area of interest) welfare. Cat and animal welfare can be improved in India through education. And what better medium to disseminate information about an animal, a companion animal, the cat, than through a cat association formed by the cat lovers of India?

The cat associations in the West are really only concerned with promoting the purebred cats or non-purebred show cats. They do this by holding information on cat pedigrees, providing judges at cat shows and endorsing and supporting cat shows. There is little work on the ground to do with the feral cat problem. The concept of show cats at shows and feral cats being euthanized at shelters don't sit comfortably together. Indians can improve on the concept of the cat association and create a first.

So why cannot the cat lovers of India create a cat association in India that not only promotes the cat but also tackles cat cruelty and animal cruelty through education? The purebred cat spearheading the welfare of the lowly feral cat is a very democratic concept and it would provide masses of credibility to the formation of a cat association, one that would not only provide pleasure to the better off and their purebred cats but also help their poorer cousins - covering the full spectrum. This could only have a beneficial spin off for all animals domestic and wild in India.

If the people of India are better informed I believe that they can and will become animal lovers or at least they will better respect animals and thereby drastically reduce incidences of cruelty to them. The cat lovers of India can help and promote this cause.

I cannot complete this post without mentioning Captain Sundaram, the Founder of the Blue Cross of India. He was a wonderful man ably supported by his wife who must also be highly commended as well.

Some Links:

• Cat Lovers of India to Cat and Animal Welfare in India
• Blue Cross of India - Founder

Try this for a successful website:

Cat Illness Prevention

Gaia - to illustrate this page nicely - photo by fofurasfelinas

Cat illness prevention is possible with certain diseases. What about some of the most common and expensive (in respect of veterinarian bills) diseases - can they be prevented?

One classic, common and potentially expensive to cure illness is caused by foreign bodies trapped in the intestine. Cats like to play and chew on things and that is good as it provides exercise provided the objects with which our cat is playing are the right ones, things he/she can't swallow like thread. Bits of thread can be very damaging if swallowed and may need an expensive trip to the veterinarian and at this time of economic woe that is not a good scenario, nor is it good for the cat as it is life threatening.

I guess the moral is to keep items that can be ingested by our cat out of reach. That is quite a big call as there are so many possibles but a quick look-see might at least get rid of the worst offenders. Bengal cats have a particular propensity, it seems, to use their mouths on objects (see Bengal Cat Behavior). Objects that can pass through the stomach can be arrested at the intestine. What then of objects that can be ingested but stop at the stomach? These are a wider range of objects. Keep anything that might be eaten out of reach.

My cat once suffered from cystitis, an infection of the urinary tract. Blockages of the urinary tract are not uncommon and some cats have a greater propensity to this condition. A simple proactive measure, and one that I took up, is to ensure that our cat drinks well. I add water to microwaved fish, for example. Making sure that there is plenty of fresh water available is obvious, and, also, not depending, uniquely, on dry cat food is wise. Some veterinarians recommend wet (canned) food over dry food. One well known American vet and author is Elizabeth M Hodgkins DVM (see grain free cat food or cat food recipe as examples). See also Feline Kidney Disease and FLUTD (Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease).

Bladder Stones another urinary tract disease is also commonly encountered. Please read the full post, Feline Kidney Stones, for full details as to how to minimize the occurrence of this disease. In short a good quality wet food diet low in magnesium and acid is the best for cats with a propensity to contract this disease. In this instance cat illness prevention is possible.

Another Urinary Tract Disease is renal failure. This can happen with a cat poisoned by car antifreeze. The recent large scale incidences, in the United States, of cat and pet poisoning caused by melamine in cat food and pet food generally caused renal failure and death. Another poison that damages the kidney is the house plant Easter Lily: See House Plant Poisonous to a Cat. See Cat Poison. Cat illness prevention is possible in this case too as dangerous products can be stored safely. The garage is out of bounds, always. Wandering cats can be attracted to car antifreeze. People should be aware of this. Some nasty people deliberately poison with antifreeze; please watch out for this.

Hyperthyroidism is a relatively common disease. There is nothing that can be done to prevent it but if caught early complications can be minimized. Signs are weight loss combined with a good appetite.

With current knowledge there is nothing that is currently known that can be done to prevent: Mast Cell Tumors, Fibrosarcoma (Skin Cancer), Intestinal Cancer. However, Skin cancer can be rarely be caused by vaccinations (see Cat Vaccination Recommendations). Also see Cat Coats White -- white cats are more prone to skin cancer, extra care should be taken in the sun.

Cat illness prevention is possible with respect to a number of common and expensive to cure diseases.

Cat Illness Prevention to Cat Heath Problems

To Get Rid of Stray Cats

OPINION: Is it right to get rid of stray cats? Do we have a collective responsibility to deal with stray cats in a humane way and not simply to get rid of them?


Stray cat outside my patio door, wanting food. Do I feed her, or get rid of her? See this post to find out: Feeding stray cats.

Sure, not everyone likes cats and some people hate cats but God knows why. If a person hates cats they hate the world too; that's what I say. But looking at it from a practical point of view, some people dislike cats and therefore if there are stray cats (plural) around they might like to get rid of them. That I can understand.

There are a lot of stray, semi-stray, becoming stray and plain feral cats about. All are the result of irresponsible people or at least their predicament can be traced back to the irresponsibility of a person or persons. Domestic cats should have a home. That is their raison d'etre. Anyway, I've banged on about this before and it gets boring.

Because someone else has been irresponsible resulting in the effective abandonment of a domestic cat, should other people pick up the pieces? That doesn't necessarily mean taking in stray cats or feeding stray cats. We can't expect all people to do that. But should we collectively by lobbying government and if needs be taking action to change things such that there are fewer stray cats around and therefore less of a need in the future to get rid of stray cats?

The only way to get rid of stray cats in the very short term is take them to a rescue center where they most likely will be euthanized - bingo, problem solved or is it? In the medium or long term the only way to get rid of stray cats is to trap, neuter, medicate if needs be, vaccinate and rehome or return. That would mean stray cats being around for a while but gradually we would get rid of stray cats this way and in a humane way. This method takes commitment, time and some resources and it seems that right now these are in short supply.

In conclusion, the only way to truly get rid of stray cats in the long term and on a permanent basis is for all people who keep cats to behave is a responsible manner towards their cats and other people. This can be achieved by ensuring that their cats are neutered and well kept. In the very short term it seems the only way is to kill them in a humane manner (and not like they do it in a part of Southern China (killing brutally and eating) or New South Wales, Australia where ground shooting of feral cats is encouraged by the authorities).

To Get Rid of Stray Cats to Feral Cats.