Pointed Cat Definition

The definition of a pointed cat might be as follows:

A cat, purebred, stray or feral, that has a coat that is darker at the extremities due to the temperature sensitivity of a chemical process that inhibits full pigmentation of fur in the warmer areas of the cat's body while allowing the cooler extremities to display full pigmentation.

Note 1: the pointed cat is a dark cat that has pigmentation inhibited in the central parts of the cat rather than a light cat that has pigmentation produced in cooler parts of the cat - feet, face and tail.

Note 2: Older pointed cats are darker all over because of poorer blood circulation causing the central parts of the body to be cooler.

Please see cat coats pointed for some nice pictures.

Pointed British Shorthair. This shows lilac pointing. Classic pointing is seal colored (dark brown/black):

Lionel - Photo by by steviewonderous (Flickr)

Ragdoll Cat Pictures

Here are three Ragdoll cat pictures. The first one is by the celebrated cat photographer, Helmi Flick. The second is by Dani, a breeder and great cat photographer in Holland and the third by an amateur photographer, Flickr username: quatre mains who has kindly licensed use of the photo under creative commons.

Ragdoll cat - seal point - Photo copyright Helmi Flick

The photos on this page are protected by copyright © except where indicated. Violations of copyright are reported to Google.com (DMCA).

Ragdoll cat "Myst" - Photo copyright Dani

The next photo is of a Ragdoll show cat at a cat show in Holland:

Beautiful Ragdoll cat - Photo quatre mains (Flickr)

You can read about the Ragdoll and see more photos by Helmi on this page.

Over the Counter Pet Antibiotics

Is is sensible to buy over the counter pet antibiotics? Are we knowledgeable enough to prescribe pet drugs without veterinarian supervision? Breeders probably are as they have learned through constant veterinarian visits. I don't know where you would get them in the UK. Apparently in the USA there are ways to acquire pet antibiotics over the counter. Antibiotics for fish, for example, are freely available at pet stores. In the USA you could drive to Mexico if you are suitably located as pet antibiotics are available over the counter in that country.

Over the counter pet drugs should be the sort of drugs that are safe to use without diagnosis and prescription.

Antibiotics are used to fight bacterial infections. Do you know that your cat has a bacterial infection rather than a viral infection? Most URIs are caused by a virus.

Antibiotics are bacteria specific and are not generic. One antibiotic does not cure all bacterial infections. Are you able to select the correct antibiotic when buying over the counter? Antibiotics can cause allergies and sensitivities in the pet. I'll focus on cats. A knowledge of veterinary medicine is required to avoid pitfalls.

Antibiotics kill the good bacteria of the stomach. These act as a natural barrier against pathogens. Altering the balance of stomach flora can cause illness such as diarrhea. Giving antibiotics to pregnant cats is potentially hazardous for the unborn kittens.

Some antibiotics are combined with steroids. The steroids reduce inflammation. These drugs are usually in the form of creams. Steroids are last resort type drugs that depress the immune system of the cat. Are you able to use these creams safely without veterinary supervision?

Pet antibiotics when administered for too short a time or in too low a dosage can cause bacterial resistance to the drug.

Finally do you have the knowledge to decide how best to administer the drug for maximum effectiveness? Are you able to decide the dosage and frequency?

I sense that we would be less likely to buy over the counter antibiotics for ourselves.

Why do cats put their bum (butt) in your face?

Well to be honest mine don't do that! Maybe we just think that cats put their bum in our face because we as humans are sensitive to what we consider rude behavior but which the cat considers acceptable and normal.

In other words in the normal course of events our cat will present his or her bum to us and she will present her face to us etc. We are just overly sensitive to those times when our cat presents her bum to us and think there is some sort of weird reason for it.

Cats do put their bum in the air when you stroke them. The reason is on this page. That might be what people are talking about. There is nothing in the books about cats putting them bum in your face other than as described on the linked page above.

There is one other possibility. Cats like to scent exchange. They like to deposit their scent on us as it makes them feel more secure. Scent glands are situated around the body including towards the tail. If a cat rubs against you with his or her rear area while at the same time being at around head height she is liable to present to you her bottom. That might be the reason why cats put their bum in your face.

When do you euthanize your cat?

It is easy to decide to euthanize your cat if she is very old, in incurable pain, losing weight, has an incurable disease and sleeps all the time.

What if she is 20 years old, has an incurable disease, is not in pain, sleeps all the time, is static to the point where flies burrow into her fur and lay eggs, sleeps 24/7, refuses to come inside and requires permanent antibiotics to manage an infection in her kidneys? That is my lady cat.

My vet has just telephoned me. It happened a minute ago. I thought it was nice of her to phone me, very nice of her. I gave her the information. She hinted that it was time to consider euthanasia.

I became tearful. I love my cat more than any other creature in the world. But am I keeping her alive for me or for her?

Am I hanging on for me? As I look out the window now, I see her in the garden. She is static. She is lying down. She is in nature. She is glazed over. She recognizes me and comes to me when I go out to her provided I can wake her up. Sometimes it is hard to wake her up. She likes to be picked up and put on my shoulder.

There is almost no life left in her though. I have a week's worth of antibiotics left. What do I do when they run out?