The Balinese cat is a semi-longhaired Siamese cat. As this is essentially an American cat (Made in America!)  and as in America the Siamese cat is a very slender, highly developed, cat breed, this cat is also slender. The cat body shape is called "oriental" in the cat fancy but I don't think the shape is actually truly oriental (see cat body types ). There is some controversy over the original shape of the Siamese cat. The breeders of Siamese and Balinese cats say it was a very thin cat. I say balderdash. It was a normal shaped cat, which common sense dictates is the truth. You have to be a fan of of the slender cats to like this cat breed. If you prefer what people refer to as the traditional appearance you will might find this cat too heavily bred. Through selective breeding , breeders have gradually turned the Balinese cat into a large eared, long legged, tubular bodied cat with pointing and blue eyes and....a gorgeous plume of a tail . Balinese cat. Photo: Helmi

The California Veterinary Association (CVMA) are complaining about unlicensed animal healthcare providers. This is in response to the increase in people who are not qualified veterinarians providing animal healthcare services such as dental cleanings without anesthetics as I presume they are unqualified to anesthetize an animal. These unqualified people also provide services such as "physical therapy"(not sure what that is) and chiropractic services (spinal adjustment - never heard that being performed on animals particularly companion animals). The point that I want to make is this. The Californian vets haven't a leg to stand on. They have no right to complain. It is the pot calling the kettle black. The CVMA cynically defended at every possible stage the ban on declawing in eight cities in California. They did this with poor tired arguments that fail to stand up to scrutiny. They would support the declawing of cats to their last drop of blood while being totally bli

Do something selfish and adopt a special needs cat from a shelter that is about to be euthanized (actually killed) because no one wants to re-home him or her. What do I mean by being selfish? Surely when someone adopts a cat that has special needs it is an act of altruism? It is a gift of life to a cat that few people want. Binnie I think that is wrong. There is a special reward for the person adopting a special needs cat. There is the joy in knowing that you are doing something good. There is the pleasure that you are doing something few other people do; making you special. And there is the satisfaction in knowing that you have probably saved a cat's life. It doesn't get better for a cat caretaker. I am not particularly altruistic but I happen to care for two special needs cats. They were, in a way, foisted on me - I had no choice. My old lady cat, Binnie, I rescued from the street about 19 years ago and she must has been about one year old or more then. She is de

Man made cat hair balls look great when used in imaginative, designer jewellery. We know that hair balls in cats can cause the cat to throw up. This is all pretty normal stuff. Sometimes they can become compacted and cause an intestinal blockage leading to vomiting and worse - serious stuff. This page, though, is about a completely different aspect of cat hair balls. I am reminded how useful hair balls can be. They can be made up into cat toys as well. Hair Ball Jewellery - see base of page for copyright issues Cat hair combed out is very fine as it is usually the undercoat, the downy fine hair that is brushed out with some binding awn hairs. This fine, pleasant to touch cat hair rolls up very easily in the hand, between two hands or the fingers of one hand into a shape of your choosing. Cat hair is something that people who dislike cats, hate. But it is a really pleasant material that is easy to work with. It binds together very nicely. In this instance small man mad

Kesennuma, Miyagi, Japan Photo: by @KiyomuTomita The abandonment of cats and dogs following the nuclear power plant disaster would not have happened if individual people and government agencies had cared sufficiently. The disaster of the destruction of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant following the double whammy natural disasters of earthquake and tsunami has left an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 companion animals abandoned including cats, dogs, horses and pigs. It seems there is abandoned livestock as well. The Japanese sometimes tie up their dogs to chains and these dogs were abandoned. That is tantamount to a death sentence. At the time the people left the area that was contaminated by radiation from the power plant, they were not contaminated themselves. Or if these residents were contaminated it was slight. Because these animals have been in an area for a considerable time that has radioactive contamination in the atmosphere they now need to be professionally decont

While America does very little to stop the flow of abandoned cats and dogs, Australia is doing something about it. It is taking those much needed but rare first steps by instigating a proactive and planned approach to managing abandoned cats and dogs rather than the lazy reactive approach which essentially entails picking them up and killing them. Sometimes they get rehomed through shelters but the majority get "euthanised" a euphemism for killing. So, what are the Aussies doing? Well they kill cats too as it happens: Ground Shooting of Feral Cats . But certain states in Australia including Queensland have decided to introduce a combination of measures. This is a bold step into the unknown. And there are many skeptics who say it won't work - just shoot 'em and be done with it, they would say. This does not work and is a short term measure that is cruel. Feral cat, Sydney, Australia Photo by Frangipani Photograph Mandatory registration of cats was introduced

It just occurred to me today. I wondered if we should write Blogger posts in Hindi. Hindi is the primary language of India. English is the second language. Hindi is the fourth ranked language in numbers of people who speak it as a native language. The estimated total number of Hindi speakers is 405 million. I have just written a page on cat breed info in Hindi! It is a Google translation of course. Hindi is written left to right so that helps. The point is this. India is a rapidly developing country and there are a good number of billionaires in India. They manufacture cars for export to Europe in India for example. The people are becoming westernized. In the west the domestic cat is a very popular family member. There are about 80 million domestic cats in America. Is it not possible that Hindi speaking Indians might want to read Blogger posts about cats in Hindi? Why impose the English language on people whose first language is Hindi? To publish in Hindi might encourage visits