Gimme gimme! writes Giane Portal, the famous cat photographer who lives in Brazil and who took this photo that has such impact. It is one of her favorites, as far as I can tell. It says a lot about the cat. You can see the photo on Flickr by clicking on this link. And please note that the photo is protected by copyright.
This is Angel Blue, a blue British Shorthair cat. Blue is the original colour for the British Shorthair cat. The two go together like apple pie and custard.
"Blue" is very much a cat fancy word as the true colour as you can see is in fact grey ("gray" in the US). Well a sort of blue grey but more grey than blue.
The blue colour is the black pigment (eumelanin) in the hair strands diluted by a certain gene. The "d" gene has the effect of clumping the pigmentation in the hair strands so that there are clear areas that overall gives the impression that the hair is grey.
Selective breeding allows the breeder to vary the depth of colour. The British Shorthair blue cat has the "basic aaB-dd" genotype. Other cats that can only be blue are the Korat, Russian Blue and Chartreux. These are the grey cat breeds as I call them. The British Shorthair can be shown in all colors and all divisions of the traditional category so blue is just one color but probably the best know colour, for this cat breed.
The British Shorthair coat is one of the best to stroke and touch because it feels fantastic. It is dense and crisp.
Angle Blue has that classic Brit SH face, cheeky looking with large expressive eyes. The eyes are yellow or is that amber. Cat breeders like to use interesting words to describe colour.
Angel Blue doesn't care what colour she is or that she is beautiful (I think she is a she - could be wrong though). She just wants that food. Gimme it now please. I can't wait anymore.
I am guessing but it must be her favorite food. Read more about the British Shorthair if you'd like too by clicking on this link.
Black and white cat in a nice cool ceramic sink - photo by kretyen (Flickr)
You see a lot of really nice photographs on Flickr of cats sitting and sleeping in sinks or basins. They fit snugly into these bathroom basins (do you use that word in the USA?). The sinks, towards which cats migrate on a regular basis, are in bathrooms.
So what it going on? Obviously the sink is comfortable. That is why the cat is there. So why is it comfortable?
One obvious reason is that it is high up. Cats like high vantage points because they are safer.
Secondly, the sink or basin in a nice shape for the cat to fit into. But they are hard. We should not assume that cats like soft cuddly surfaces. In my experience this is simply not the case.
Cats do like warm spots but it is not as simple as that. Because cats also like cool spots in the hot weather. They like the temperature to be just right - like us.
A website called Plus Pets is in breach of copyright and Google has helped to stop the website owners taking advantage of it. It is a good example of how Google is now more concerned about and aware of the rampant breaches of copyright that are taking place on the internet on a daily basis.
Google is naturally concerned that unless it does something about the problem of violations of people's intellectual property rights as the premier power on the internet then one day the governments will step in and create an international body that regulates the internet. There is a good argument that it does need to be regulated by an impartial, international body that is not driven by commercial gain.
Google cannot delete offending pages unless it is a Google Blogger account. But it can blacklist the offending page. What I mean it can delist it from search results which is the same as burying it under a pile of billions of webpages - the offending page becomes invisible. Of course Yahoo and the other search engines can still find and list it but Google is the dominant force in search enquiries on the internet.
In this instance Plus Pets had blatantly used copyrighted material from my website. The images copied were by Helmi Flick a well known international cat photographer of considerable repute.
In fact they copied and republished other photographs by other photographers too but I have no authority to act on behalf of the these photographers and so cannot make a complaint to Google for them.
I won't link to the offending page as that would undermine the process! Google also make a record of the complaint on a website: ChillingEffects.org, which is a public website.
This is the page on Chilling Effects where my complaint is recorded and which was upheld. I have made many more complaints and they are all acted upon.
People who violate copyright are irresponsible in their behavior. If it were allowed to go on unabated ultimately the internet would break down and become a place that could not be trusted.
The internet is a wonderfully useful facility but its integrity must be protected in order to foster long term growth.
One of the original cat fancy cat breeds, the British Shorthair is a purebred cat of singular appearance that has been developed over one and a half centuries of selective breeding from the British moggie (random bred cat), which itself goes back to the Romans.
Although I say selectively bred it should be noted that after the second world war there was a need to cross bred with other cat breeds to keep the breed alive (why wasn't it crossbred with British street moggies?). This has taken the Brit SH away from its origins. Even earlier in the early 1900s the breed was crossed with Persians. Personally I don't find this so much "selective" breeding and reckless breeding.
By the way, "British" in this context means a cat of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales (the UK) and including: the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, and the British overseas territories. So Britain is bigger than the UK. And bearing that in mind I think it would be more accurate to say that this cat is more the English Shorthair as at the outset it would have been developed from cats in the south of England. Although as mentioned it was outcrossed. I find this bizarre. Why couldn't we just keep the original cat? Is the Brit SH actually a hybrid cat breed - it looks like that. There appears to be nothing pure about it, sadly. Sorry if that sounds a bit tough but...
Undemanding and gentle. They are famous for their silent voice. The mouth opens and nothing comes out! Or the sound is very gentle and quiet. Apparently they don't like being handled that much. They have been described as "unflappable".
British Shorthair Health
There is a health screening test for this cat breed for hip dysplasia, indicating that there is a possibility of inheriting a predisposition to this condition. This cat has a low incidence of inherited diseases on my assessment and this page mentions two. The coat is dense. It is suggested that the home should not be too warm.
You can see from Helmi's wonderful photos below that this is a sturdy, semi-cobby, medium to large cat. The face has been developed to look chubby and cheeky! It is slightly flattened but far short of the excessively bred flat faced Persian.
This cat is strong, muscular and heavy. The most outstanding feature is probably the coat - dense and springy, it is a pleasure to put your fingers through it.
"Nox" lives with the Flicks. Photo: copyright Helmi Flick
Blue and fawn (?) coloured British Shorthair cats
Photo: copyright Helmi Flick
Nox (above) is all black. He has the most gorgeously dense and even coat. It is a pleasure to stroke. He is a nice balanced and pleasant cat. What more do you require in a domestic cat?
The British Blue is the original show cat colour. The two cats/kittens below on the outside are British Blues as is the cat on the left in the photo above.
This page has a bit about the genetics behind the coat colours. And this page discusses the differences between the Brit, American and European SHs.
British Shorthair Bicolor
The 2 in the middle are solid blue and white bicolor Britis Shorthairs
Photo copyright Helmi Flick
British Shorthair Kittens For Sale
Always visit the breeder. You can check out facilities and ask direct face to face questions. Watch out for overbreeding. My sister bought two British Shorthairs. She eventually gave them back to the breeder (or someone else) as they were stupid - yes, inbred to the point where the cat was affected mentally. I have seen before in Burmese. Not sure how prevalent it is but in any case you want the cat to choose you and you can only do that in the presence of the cat before purchase. Helmi Flick highly recommends visiting the breeder.
The cat clubs, Yahoo Groups and major cat associations are good sources of cat breeder listings. A Google search will list the best established cat breeder high up in the search results.
This page: Yahoo Groups for British Shorthair has quite a nice list of groups. I recommend these groups as it is a good networking resource for info about a cat breed and they are easy to join and get started.
Amzon.com do a lot of gifts based on this breed. Here is a selection:
Allevatori British Shorthair
The word "allevatori" is Italian for farmers according to Google translation. In this instance I am guessing that it means breeders. Italians are also fond of this cat breed.
Le British Shorthair & Chats British Shorthair
This heading is a reference to the search phrases people make. In this case it must be French people who are demonstrating an interest in this long established cat breed. I hope this page helps. The all French Chartreux is similar to the British SH blue with a similarly long history. French people wanting to buy a Bristish Shorthair are probably better off jumping on the Eurostar (train direct from France to England) to visit English cat breeders (see links above).
Pet supplies plus coupons are best found by going to the Pet Supplies "Plus" Monthly Flyer page of their website. You just enter your ZIP code or state and the website brings up a store by store flyer in which you can find discounted and sale items.
I have not seen actual coupons yet! Those ever elusive coupons. Maybe they don't exist? Uhmm..on this page of the Great Deals Savings Magazine there are two coupons! They expire on 20th June 2011. I haven't the faintest idea if they are genuine. They are printable.
Another way to save is through their $20.00 PSP gift card. You can win this by submitting a story about your pet. The story gets published on their site so you get a double benefit. Not bad.
