Wednesday, 25 August 2021

An opportunity to adopt blind rescue cat brothers Arthur and Gabriel

Brothers Arthur and Gabriel are both blind and they are going to make somebody very happy. There are a lot of advantages to a cat caregiver in adopting a couple of blind cats who are best buddies. That may sound strange but I have a strong feeling that it is true.

Arthur on the left and Gabriel
Arthur on the left and Gabriel. Photo: RSPCA

Firstly, you will have to keep Arthur and Gabriel inside all the time. That's a great relief to a lot of people. You won't need to trouble yourself about letting your cat outside to live a full life while being tormented about the dangers that there are outside the home. That decision is off the table. They will be full-time indoor cats and they will be happy because they can entertain each other.

A great problem with full-time indoor cats is ensuring that they are fully stimulated but being blind they have challenges which they cope with very well. But these challenges stimulate the brain and because they come as a twosome, they can also stimulate each other. I would expect them to live really nice lives; contented lives. Their human caregiver can feel relaxed about what they're doing. And blind cats cope incredibly well as mentioned. They almost act as if they have eyes once they have settled into their new home and know where everything is. Ideally objects in the home should not be moved once they are familiar with their locations.

CLICK FOR SOME PAGES ON BLIND CATS

Gabriel is the timider of the two. He is a ginger tabby and Arthur is a ginger tabby-and-white. He is the more adventurous. He is very affectionate and loves to be petted and close to his human caregiver. Ginger tabbies are known have nice characters. They almost always males because their coat type is sex-linked.

They are both at the RSPCA. Arthur gets into trouble whereas Gabriel tends to be more cautious and sleeps or snoozes more. They will need a good and experienced caregiver who appreciates the advantages of looking after a couple of blind cats.

They were both rescued last Christmas from a building site in Peterlee, UK by the RSPCA. They weren't born blind but they got cat flu which appears to have developed into a secondary bacterial infection in their eyes which can often destroy the eyes. This is what appears to have happened.

If you are interested you can click on this link which takes you to the relevant RSPCA cat rehoming hub page. That link will eventually stop working as and when the brothers have been adopted.

Katy Perry says women are like cats

Katy Perry started off loving dogs and became a cat lover. I figured out that as at Monday 20th April 2020, Katy Perry possibly has one remaining cat, Monkey because her other had just died. But tell me if things have changed since then which I expect they have. She thinks that cats are like women. This is what she said in the video:

"Women are like cats, like, you know they want to be loved on their own time. They want people to earn their affection and they'll eat whenever they want but do not shove food down their throat."
Katy Perry says women are like cats
Katy Perry says women are like cats

Her interviewer says that it is a brilliant analogy. I don't think it is brilliant. It's passable. It seems that the wanting to be loved in their own time is a reference to the stereotypical image that cats are independent which is inaccurate. Or they are aloof. That, too, is inaccurate. It certainly is for me in my relationship with my cat. We're bonded. Perhaps my relationship is closer than normal or perhaps the stereotypes are wrong. It's the latter. And who shoves food down cat's throats? Not sure about her analogy. Pretty weak but women do like cats more than men which points to the fact that the domestic cat character is a match for a woman's character.


Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

Ricky Gervais is wrong on domestic cat behavior

Ricky Gervais is on YouTube talking to Ellen DeGeneres on her show about cats and dogs. Ricky Gervais is a well-known animal lover (well-done). He doesn't keep dogs because he travels too much which is entirely understandable. But he gets it wrong on cats. I'm a bit surprised by this.

Ricky Gervais is wrong on cats
Ricky Gervais is wrong on cats. Screenshot.

He says that you can leave cats alone for as long as you want because they don't care. But you can't do the same thing with dogs. He thinks cats are highly independent. This is his first error. And before I go on, I want to say that I respect Ricky Gervais for his love of animals. But the fact of the matter is that cats are not independent. They are dependent upon their human caregiver for company, sustenance and security. And they mind when left alone for long periods.

Perhaps the problem in this instance is that Ricky does travel too much and therefore he does not have an ideal connection with his cat. It would appear that he leaves his cat without his company for considerable periods of time. This is not going to help the relationship. He thinks dogs can't cope with this and cats can but I would argue that cats can cope with that separation better but it does not promote a strong relationship.


Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.


And I think there is a huge misconception about domestic cat independence. In the right homes where the caregiver is good at their job domestic cats are very emotionally connected to their human companion. They miss them when they're gone (separation anxiety and idiopathic cystitis). They welcome their human companion when they come home having waited by the door for hours. They want to be next to their human companion. They like to place their paw against their human companion to make sure that they are in contact with them. There is a plethora of indicators which scream to us that domestic cats are connected to their human caregiver very strongly.

And you can't simply turf a domestic cat out onto the street and expect them to survive which is what you are more or less saying if you call them independent. Ninety percent of domestic cats are almost entirely dependent and very often cats are in a codependent relationship with their human caregivers. I am for instance and I'm proud of it. It's a good relationship. It is a good substitute to the human-human relationship. There is nothing wrong with it. It is mutually beneficial. But in effect the parties are mutually dependent.

Secondly, he talks about brushing his cat and then stroking her. He says that she asks to be brushed which is very typical because cats enter into a routine with their human caregiver and they know that if they meow in a certain way their human caregiver will respond by doing what they want which is in this case to brush them. But Ricky Gervais says that after he has brushed and then stroked his cat, she bites him. And he puts that down to his cat asking to be brushed and not stroked. His cat is complaining that he should not have stroked her. He's sort of joking but at the same time he is being serious.

The truth is that this is not a question of his cat receiving something that wasn't requested and therefore complaining with a bite; it is that Ricky Gervais has overstimulated his cat because he is brushing and stroking her too vigorously, forcefully or for too long and his cat thinks that this is play rather than petting (which cats perceive as being licked). 

So, his cat is being stimulated to play and for a domestic cat play involves slapping with the paws (claws out) and biting with the mouth. That's why his cat bites him when he strokes her after brushing. He puts it down to his cat being fickle. I'm afraid it's not; it is down to him brushing and stroking her not quite in the right way. I don't want to be critical but that is the truth of it.

You can tell that Ricky is very close to his cat because he understands variations in her meows. This is partly, though, because a cat will request certain things at certain times under certain circumstances which can be interpreted not necessarily through the vocalisation but because of those circumstances.

Black-and-white cat gives birth to tortoiseshell kittens

This black-and-white female cat was living under a motorcycle cover in America somewhere (I believe). The person who owns the motorcycle saw her. At the time she was scared and pregnant. This unknown person whose Reddit username is: u/mama-and-babies, provided her with a beautiful, secure, safe and warm home for her family. 

Everything looks perfect and you can't beat cardboard for keeping cats warm. She looks content and safe. Whoever the person is they've done a very good job. It sort of restores faith in the human race!

Black-and-white cat gives birth to tortoiseshell kittens
Black-and-white cat gives birth to tortoiseshell kittens. Photo: as per above.

As I said, the mother is black-and-white, while her kittens appear to be tortoiseshell-and-white with plenty of white (calico). They have very interesting and beautiful patterns. I think they are going to be popular cats for rehoming when the time comes. 

The father can't be a tortoiseshell because tortoiseshells are always female and if they are male, they are usually sterile so not sure how these cute kittens came to come into existence! They do look as if they have orange, white and black fur which indicates to me a calico cat.

Perhaps both parents (non-tortie) carried the recessive gene for the tortie coat. I am guessing. Actually, it is far more complicated than that!

Perhaps the male is a rare sexually functioning tortoiseshell. If that is the case, might he be valuable? Find him immediately! :). 

I have overcomplicated things. If the male cat was orange the offspring would be calicos. The commenter is correct.

HOW MUCH IS A MALE CALICO CAT WORTH? - CLICK TO FIND OUT!

Tuesday, 24 August 2021

Jaguarundi - the cat that looks the least like a cat

This photograph of the jaguarundi reminds me that this wild cat is the one that looks the least like a cat. And I am not the only person who might think it. It is the most widely distributed and commonly seen cat in Central and South America although you will be hard-pressed to see one! But it's biology and behaviour are still largely a mystery (as at 2002). And the experts have said that "Taxonomically, the jaguarundi is an enigma".

Jaguarundi
Jaguarundi. Photo: unattributed.


The scientists have put this cat by itself when categorising it i.e. they have assigned the jaguarundi to its own genus (as at 2002). This cat has 38 chromosomes while all other small South American cats have 36 chromosomes. It is also unique in that it has five pairs of E group chromosomes and no F group chromosomes. it has been suggested that the jaguarundi is more closely related to the cheetah and puma than to the other South American cats.

It has been difficult to categorise this cat taxonomically partly because of its appearance as it hardly looks like a cat at all. Its appearance is reminiscent of a marten while some cat experts have compared it to a weasel or an otter. It is said to superficially resemble a blackish-brown neotropical mustelid called a tayra.

CLICK FOR 'WHAT DOES THE JAGUARUNDI SOUND LIKE?

It has two main colour phases, grey morph and a red-brown morph. The pic shows the gray morph.

CLICK FOR A FULL PAGE ON THE JAGUARUNDI

The picture is one of the best that I have seen of the jaguarundi. It comes from The Board Panda website but is unattributed. In the language of the cat fancy and domestic cats, its coat is ticked tabby.

In America, particularly in Florida, some people like to keep them as pets and sometimes they escape which leads to the belief among a certain section of society that they still exist in Florida, USA. They don't not according to the official records anyway. They don't make good pets. Damn, they aren't pets at all. They want to escape.

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