Frightened kitten poops over girl in car (picture)

This is a bit sad but amusing at the same time. Well, it might be amusing if you are not the girl 🙃. It looks to me as if the family had just adopted this kitten from a rescue center and the kitten was scared as he/she was held by the girl as they drove home. Pooping inappropriately is a sign of stress as it is scent marking to reassure the kitten. It is instinctive. The kitten was removed from her known temporary territory and placed in a strange place. She was out of sorts and needed to reassure herself. There was nothing malicious or hostile in the behavior. The cause is the opposite really; nervousness. I am sure that she settled down quickly and is now a contented adult in her nice home.

Frightened kitten poops over girl in car (picture). Pic in the public domain.

Photo taken immediately after parents of a four-year-old child adopt a stray cat in Walmart carpark

A stray cat in a Walmart car park went up to a four-year-old child and rubbed against him. The child's parents adopted the cat. One of the child's parents (the mother is my guess) took the photograph that you see on this page. It was taken not long after this stray tabby cat introduced himself to the child in the carpark. The child looks pleased; delighted even. I bet he had something to say about adopting the cat. When a domestic, stray cat does this i.e. chooses their human caregiver, you more or less have to accept if you are open-minded and, in a position, to adopt a cat. These beginnings nearly always lead to a fruitful and close relationship for the lifetime of the cat.

Photo taken immediately after parents of a four-year-old child adopt a stray cat in Walmart carpark. Photo: u/janaynaytaytay on Reddit.com.

Photo of a Sphynx cat doing Pilates (plus a bit about the breed)

You can always bank on a Sphynx cat to look interesting in a photograph. This is one such example. It's obviously set up but done well. It caught my eye. The eye is immediately drawn to the webbing between the toes. The hairlessness of the sphynx cat shows us what is typical of all domestic cats, namely the webbing between the toes. This simply must be an adaptation for swimming. Domestic cats are pretty good swimmers which goes against the views of a lot of people that "cats don't like water". They don't mind water. Their wild cat ancestor does a lot of hunting near watercourses. These are good areas for prey animals.

Photo of a Sphynx cat doing Pilates. Photo in the public domain.

This Sphynx cat looks nice and clean. You probably know by now that Sphynx cats have a problem with becoming grimy because the sebaceous glands in their skin which would normally deliver oil to the individual hair strands, instead deliver it to the skin where it attracts dirt. That is why they say that you have to clean a Sphynx cat with a damp cloth regularly. I've also heard that they can smell a bit because of this.

RELATED: Extraordinary face of a male hairless cat.

And of course, you can't let them wander around outside so they are always going to be full-time indoor cats. Perhaps a catio would be ideal but you would have to make sure that you don't let blazing hot Californian sun shine directly into it if your Sphynx cat likes to spend time on a shelf in the catio.

Sphynx cats are known to be monkey-like. They are good climbers and intelligent and mischievous. Of all the breeds, they are in the top echelon of intelligence it is said. Although you have to take cat breed intelligence comparisons with a pinch of salt. It is impractical, if we are honest, to compare the intelligence of the cat breeds. It's impossible to compare the intelligence of an adult domestic cat with that of a four-year-old child as well. People try to do it but I disagree with the idea.

RELATED: Cat Intelligence.

Sphynx cats are a bit like Marmite. You either love them or loathe them. They are certainly eye-catching. They are the most photogenic of all cats other than the supra-large Maine Coons.

This cat is not entirely hairless. For a start, they are covered with a very short down that is almost imperceptible to the eye and can hardly be felt. There may be a small amount of hair on the tip of the tail and the extremities i.e. the points may have a soft short dense hair. Sometimes you see them with crinkly broken whiskers.

You will probably see somewhere out there in the world a hairless cat that is not a Sphynx cat and neither is the cat a purebred cat. They are still out there but of course extremely rare. They have been around for thousands of years and the spontaneous genetic mutation which causes the hairlessness sometimes pops up. You will see hairlessness in dogs, rats mice and other animals.

RELATED: Do Sphynx cats smell?

There are various stories about the beginnings of the Sphynx cat breed. Gloria Stephens thinks that her research has produced the best example. She says that in 1974 in Wadena, Minnesota, USA, a female cat called Jezebelle gave birth a hairless kitten called Epidermis. She was female. The following year Jezebelle gave birth to Dermis another hairless female. They were sent to Kim Mueske of the Z. Stardust cattery in Tigard, Oregon.

The classic Sphynx origin story is that in 1966 in Toronto Canada a domestic cat by the name of Elizabeth produced a hairless kitten named Prune. And in 1978, 3 hairless kittens were rescued from the streets of Toronto. These three kittens may be the foundation for the Canadian sphynx. There are other stories. I think I will stop as it is confusing. Hairless cats have popped up in Paris, France and other parts of the world. Some said they were the offspring of Siamese cats. Others said that they were stray cats.

There is one thing that is certain which is that the first Sphynx cats that became the foundation cat of this breed were non-purebred cats, simply random-bread cats from which they were selectively bred to produce this popular and interesting breed.

Joe Rogan f-words all the way through his loud, rude (funny?) diatribe about the cat

I guess Joe Rogan is like Marmite: you hate him or love him. He screams out the fact that he is right-wing - far-right? He must be a bigtime republican with a cabinet full of guns and dogs whimpering at his feet. 

He's just admitted to using the n-word in his podcast multiple times. He says that he's not racist and the use of the word was taken out of context by people who want to get at him. 

He has promoted the anti-vax movement which has cost lives. He admits that he should have been more careful. A lot of criticism has been dumped on him by artists with Joni Mitchell and Neil Young quitting Spotify.  

And others are following. He is on a $100 million contract with Spotify. They can't get rid of him. I guess he is too popular. People like this brand of rude comedy and hard-boiled chat.

I hate the crude way he denigrates the domestic cat. He knows a bit about cat behavior and has used that knowledge to take the piss. The F-word is used copiously. Too much for me. It sounds crude after a while. He even rolls over on his back and pretends to lick his dick in mimicking a cat grooming. Charming. As I said: crude. Do you like what he says and his attitude? 
 

Note: This is a video from another website which is embedded here. 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.

What kind of Bengal cat wins cat show competitions?

If you want to know the kind of Bengal cat which wins cat show competitions, you need to look at the breed standard (CFA or TICA) and while reading that have a look at a couple of photographs of two Bengal cats who have won competitions. This is exactly what I've done for this page. I welcome the views of cat breeders and judges etc. Please comment as much as possible.

Importance of the coat

Below you will see two winners. When I look at these photographs the most outstanding aspect of the anatomy which catches my eye is the coat and the nature of the markings. This is a high contrast coat and the rosettes and doughnuts ('donuts' in American English), as they are called, are very pronounced and sharp. The patterns are interesting and exotic. I think a lot rests on the quality of the markings.

Overall appearance

A cat that wins Bengal cat shows is going to be medium-to-large in size with a sleek, muscular build. The hindquarters are slightly higher than the shoulders and the "boning is substantial". This cat has a thick tail with a rounded tip. The head is expressive with a "nocturnal look". The markings are stunning with a wild appearance. The cat should be alert and active with an air of inquisitiveness but at the same time have a dependable disposition. Males are usually larger than females.

CFA cat show winner. Image: CFA

Glittering

The quality of the Bengal cat coat is unique to the breed. It is close lying, soft, silky and luxurious. Ideally it should be glittered. I've discussed that on another page (see below). The coat genuinely looks as though it is glittering as if it's been sprinkled with stardust.

RELATED: Bengal cat glittering.

Bengal cat glittering. Image: PoC.

Coat types

The CFA standard mentions two types of Bengal cat patterns and colours: rosetted/spotted tabby pattern and marble tabby pattern. The former is a coat covered in rosettes and spots with a horizontal flow to their alignment. 

The contrast between the pattern and the ground colour or background should be 'extreme' in the words of the CFA. The rosettes can be of many different shapes such as a round doughnut, open doughnut, pancake, paw print, arrowhead or clustered. These are preferred to single spotting. 

Other markings

The markings around the eyes and on the face should be strong and bold. The backs of the ears have a thumbprint. The colour of the chest and belly should be lighter than the other parts of the coat. The CFA likes horizontal shoulder streaks, spotted legs or a rosetted tail. The belly must have spots on it.

Bengal cat that has won at CFA cat shows. Image: CFA.

The marble pattern is sometimes called a blotched tabby pattern and is full of swirls. There should be high contrast between the markings and the background as for the rosetted coat. There should be sharp edges between the markings and the background. The markings are two toned. 

They say that there should be no resemblance to the classic tabby pattern and circular pattern or bull's-eye is undesirable. They are emphasising the fact that the tabby pattern of the Bengal cat is superior or different to the standard tabby pattern on a standard tabby cat. They prefer a random pattern and the more random it is the better. They like a stained-glass effect.

I've given you a flavour of how the survey relates to the coat pattern of the Bengal cat. It is complicated. There are lot of features to the coat that they are checking on. It is perhaps the most important aspect of the Bengal cat in terms of appearance.

There are many types of Bengal cat in terms of the coat type from blue mink smoke to black melanistic. I would recommend that you have a look at the CFA breed standard.

Negatives

On the negative side, the CFA disqualifies Bengal cats if the belly is not patterned when the cat is a rosetted/spotted tabby, marble tabby, charcoal tabby and snow tabby. They also disqualify when there is a distinct locket on the neck, chest, abdomen or anywhere else. If the tail is kinked or deformed the cat is disqualified. A cat with crossed eyes and 'cow hocking' with also qualify for qualification.

Just short of disqualification, Bengal cats will be penalised if the rosettes or spots run together vertically forming a mackerel tabby pattern. They'll be penalised if he or she has a circular bull's-eye pattern for the marble tabby. And if a snow tabby patterned Bengal cat has a "substantially darker point, as compared to colour of body markings" that cat will also be penalised.