Cowardly cat haters abuse outdoor domestic cats secretively

Almost daily we read about some form of domestic cat abuse carried out secretively by cat haters. The typical method to abuse a domestic cat is to feed them poison such as antifreeze. You can do that secretively very easily. Poison is probably a favourite of cat haters. Another is to simply kill them and mutilate cats. Once again this is done at night, out of sight, when their owners are asleep. Domestic cats are predisposed to abuse at night because indoor/outdoor cats are active at that time.

RELATED: One family lost six cats to antifreeze poisoning.

Spray painted cat Australia.

And sometimes we see domestic cat spray-painted. This is currently happening in Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia (see picture above). Cat owners are disgusted by it and they are up in arms. A secretive, cowardly cat hater is spray-painting domestic cats. Animal advocates are saying that not enough is being done by the local government to get to the bottom of it and enforce animal welfare laws. Some cat owners think that the enforcement of animal cruelty laws are underfunded in New South Wales, Australia. Aerosol paints are toxic to cats figures are going to lick it off.

I've seen domestic cats with elastic bands around their heads in another form of cat abuse.  Or tied tightly around legs to stop the blood flow. A further method of outdoor domestic cat abuses to shoot BB gun pellets at them from windows. In the UK they would be airguns. Sometimes people shoot .22 calibre rifle bullets at cats. This is what happens in America. Once again it is done secretively. It is rare that these perpetrators are caught by law enforcement.

RELATED: Can a BB gun kill a cat?

There are innumerable ways to abuse cat secretively. Another one comes to mind. Cat owners driving up to cat rescue facilities with unwanted cats in a cardboard box and dumping the box by the building. They do it at night but sometimes they are caught on security cameras. Or they may simply dump the cats among the garbage. They drive up quickly, leap out of the vehicle and dispose of the animals as fast as possible. They don't want to be caught quite naturally but these are cowardly acts by inadequate people. If they don't hate cat then they don't want because they been careless enough to allow them to breed.

Another way that cowardly cat hating people kill cats or harm them is to drive over them when they are on the road. Rather than avoiding a domestic cat on the road at night, they drive over them. Nobody knows how the cat died other than it was an accident on the road. It's a perfect crime and it disgusts me.

RELATED: Son drives over three cats with proud mum in passenger seat.

It is sad to think that the friendliest domestic cats are the ones most exposed to abuse by cat haters. These are the cats who walk up to people on the street seeking human interaction because they've not got enough of it with their owner. The cat hater entices the cat towards them and then picks them up and abuses them. Or there may steal them. I've seen cat thieves do this. This is a form of cat abuse because the domestic cat is suddenly placed into an alien environment causing anxiety. These are also not infrequently captured on CCTV cameras. We can see who they are. However, they are rarely apprehended by law enforcement.

I read today, by the way, that in the UK only 6% of suspected criminals are charged. One in 16 crime suspects in the UK were taken to court last year. And only a tiny fraction of the people who commit crimes are actually taken to court. The police are almost doing nothing in the UK. You might as well simply disband the entire police force and live life without them.

Cat haters operate secretively and they are bolstered by the fact that they know they will rarely if ever be caught by the police because in the UK they are next to useless.

Melanism in cats - full discussion

The cat above is a "grizzled" Chausie in cat fancy language or a cat with melanism in more scientific language. She is a silver tipped black Chausie. The cat's name is "Shekinah" and she was raised on Tammy Isaac's Willowind Cattery in South Texas. The photo is copyright protected. The photographer is Helmi Flick.

This post is about melanism in cats. The same principles apply for any form of melanism. Melanism refers to the black pigmentation of melanin.  This pigmentation colors hair, iris of the eye and skin. The pigmentation in the hair, however, is more a very dark, inky, rich bluish/brownish grey as the black coat pattern is still visible as a ghost pattern. Cats that carry the gene mutation that causes melanism are called "melanistic cats". Melanism is caused by a dominant autosomal allele². The same source says that it is caused by an "autosomal recessive gene"⁶. This is conflicting information and shows that science is unsure of the genetic mechanisms involved. The conflict may be due to the fact that a different gene is involved in different cat species.

The opposite effect is albinism, when hair, iris and skin lacks pigmentation altogether.

Melanism may be linked to an added resistance to disease. The following wild cats can be melanistic:

Scottish Wild cat
Indian (Temmincks) Golden Cat
African Golden Cat
Jungle cat (dominant gene melanism, silver tipped)
Jaguar (dominant gene melanism)
Leopard ("black panther")
Cheetah
Caracal
Serval
Lynx
Bobcat
Jaguarundi
Geoffroy's cat
Clouded leopard
Ocelot
Pampas cat (Cincinnati zoo)
Oncilla
Kodkod

Source: messybeast.com

Wild cats

Another phrase that is frequently used specifically for large wildcats is "black panther". Black panthers are melanistic cats. The specific wild cats that this phrase relates to is the jaguar and the leopard (see also: black leopard pictures). These are very similar looking wildcats but they live on different continents. Amongst the wild cats, melanism is most common in jaguars. At one time (incorrectly) black jaguars were considered a separate wild cat species. As mentioned, the pattern is ghosted (see image below). It can rarely refer to the cougar (mountain lion or puma) too. Melanistic pumas are localised or very rare¹. A visitor to PoC claims to have seen a 40 lb black cat in Arizona. And please see: I encountered a seven foot long oily black mountain lion...

Melanistic jaguar showing ghost pattern - photo: by ahisgett

However, there are many other wild cats that are melanistic. Melanism seems to be common in some species of wild cat and less common in others. In addition to the jaguar and leopard mentioned above, the serval, kodkod, jungle cat, Geoffroy's cat and oncilla can be melanistic while it is a rare condition or localised in the Bobcat, clouded leopard (in Borneo only) and cheetah. Apparently melanistic Geoffroy's cats are common. Partially black and melanistic African golden cats have been observed³. As to the Bobcat there were reports of 10 black bobcats in southern Florida⁴. As to the cheetah there is a record of one being sighted in Zambia and one in Kenya⁵. Melanistic servals are found in the Abedare Mountains of Kenya as are also black leopards. Black leopards are also found in the foothills of the Ruwenzoris, the Ethiopian highlands, Congo and South Africa⁶.

Melanistic jungle cat (felis chaus) - Photo by Joachim S. Müller

Domestic Cats

There are some good examples of melanism in domestic cats on PoC. The best is probably the F4 Savannah cat that I photographed at A1 Savannahs called "Midnight".

F4 Savannah cat "Midnight" with melanism - Photo Michael 

Another is the F1 Safari cat (a wildcat hybrid). And heading this post is a black Chausie another wildcat hybrid domestic cat.

Genetics

Information about the genetics behind melanism in cats is very sketchy. I can say this with some confidence because Robinson's Genetics, the premier book on cat genetics, barely refers to it.

Sarah Hartwell on messybeast.com writes:

"Melanism is due to changes in the "agouti" gene which controls blackness (due to bands of colour along the hair shaft). Cats with normal agouti genes have ticked or banded hairs. Cats with 2 copies of the mutated agouti gene have solid colour hairs. In wild species this causes melanism (in domestic cats other genes affect the colour e.g. black, grey, brown). In most cat species, the gene for melanism is recessive to that for normal colour. In jaguars, melanism is a dominant gene."

Clearly the dominant (or recessive) gene that produces melanism causes the pigment, melanin, to be added to hair, skin and iris in a continuous manner at the time that the hair, skin and eyes are being formed. By way of contrast, the agouti gene causes pigment to be added to hair in bands producing the tabby appearance.

Biological melanin is called "eumelanin".

Notes:

1. Wild Cats of the World page 8

2. Foreman GE 1988 Behavioral and genetic analysis of Geoffroy's cat in captivity as referred to in Wildcats of the World page 206.

3. Wild Cats of the World page 247

4. Wild Cats of the World page 186

5. Wild Cats of the World page 21

6.  Wild Cats of the World page 320 (leopard description)



Melanism to Home Page

Reason why domestic cats are lactose intolerant

There comes a time when a mother of kittens decides to start weaning them.  This typically occurs in the fourth or fifth week of a kitten's life but it might be earlier in a large litter or if the mother is unwell or stressed.  The mother instigates the process of weaning as kittens rarely if ever decide to wean themselves.

Original photo by Addy Cameron-Huff. Cat is Finnigan. He looks like a Turkish Van.

The mother starts to spend time away from her kittens and/or blocks access to her milk.  She does this by lying or crouching with her abdomen against the ground.

The kittens get hungry and hunger drives them to search for food.  In the wild the mother brings back prey and tears it up to make it easier for the kittens to eat.

Prey is meat, the flesh of (usually) small mammals.  This forces kittens to develop their ability to eat and digest meat.

These developments include a change to their digestive tract.  The flesh of animals takes longer to digest than milk so kittens' intestines become lined with villi.  These are small finger-shaped projections which increase the amount of nutrients that can be absorbed through the lining of the intestinal wall.

Also, the enzyme that breaks down milk sugar, lactase, is permanently substituted by sucrase which breaks down the sugars in muscle which is meat.

As a result, the adult cat does not have the enzyme lactase in their digestive system to break down milk sugar and therefore it is indigestible or what we call “lactose intolerant". 

Cats are lactose intolerant to varying extents depending on the individual. Humans can also be lactose intolerant. I am. We are not designed to drink cow's milk. It's for cows.

Comment from Christine:

"Many who think they are lactose intolerant find this is only true when they consume pasteurized dairy products. This applies to cats as well. Pasteurized milk appears to remove the enzymes that help digest it."

The classic image from years ago of giving a domestic cat a treat of milk was a misconceived idea. I am sure that there were many cats with diarrhoea in those days although the owners would have been unaware of it as cat litter had not been invented.

Note: early weaning in domestic cats can cause behavioral problems.

'Clingy cat' - an alternative viewpoint

If you do a Google search for the word “clingy", Google throws up a list of possibilities for what you are searching for.  Google extends the search term and finds searches for information on "clingy babies", "clingy girlfriends", "clingy toddlers" etc..  When Google adds to your search term it bases its information upon what people search for. Obviously, people are searching for information about clingy toddlers etc.. The word "clingy" proceeds a human but not a cat.

Clingy? Insecure cat needing reassurance or a loving cat who likes to be with her human?
You decide.

This reinforces my beliefs about articles on clingy cats.  I don't believe there is such a cat as a clingy cat or if there are clingy cats, they are rarer than people believe.

I believe that cats who want to be with you a lot and who wish to interact with you when you're at home simply want to do that. They want to be with you, close to you and interact with you and why not? This is why people look after a domestic cat, isn't it? Some cats will be more independent-minded than others and they won't be so "needy", to use a human expression, but some cats will in human parlance demonstrate that they are needy but in my opinion they're not.  They simply want to have some fun with their human caretaker.

This may come about because, as is often the case, the cat's owner is out for a large part of the day. If that is the case then it is completely natural that a domestic cat will want to be with their human companion more than usual.

Sometimes, the cat may make a nuisance of himself with his owner by pestering her. Once again, I do not think that this is attention seeking or a cat that is needy or clingy. I think this is a cat that either wants to play or be with their human companion, or want something else.

On occasions, you may see a cat that is genuinely clingy meaning insecure in the same way that a person who is insecure may seek attention and be needy. However, I believe these cases are relatively rare and I also believe that cat behaviourist can and often do mistake the behavior of insecurity in a cat with a cat who likes to be around their human companion.

If a cat does interfere too much with the activities of their human caretaker, I believe that the onus is on the human caretaker to resolve the matter by looking at what they are doing to see whether they can improve their performance in relation to their cat.

What I mean by that is are they interacting with their cat enough from the cat's standpoint?  And are they feeding their cat enough?  Those sorts of things should be a priority and if they are all dealt with satisfactorily, perhaps look at the possibility that the cat is genuinely insecure and figure out ways to make the cat feel more secure.

Siamese cat behavior - 7 topics covered

Classic Siamese. Seal point. Not extreme.
Photo: in public domain

Siamese Cat Behavior does have a certain reputation but this may be slightly exaggerated. There are 7 areas to cover when discussing Siamese cat behavior if you want to do a thorough job 😉.

• What the experts say about the Siamese family of cats.
• General cat behavior.
• Differences in behavior from cat to cat (individual personality). This is probably greater than any differences from breed to breed.
• Siamese cat behavior.
• Whether there are any differences in the behavior between the types of Siamese cats of which there is an endless spectrum. There are though essentially 3 types, the Modern and Traditional, with the Classic in between. Is the classic body conformation the Thai cat?
• Spaying and neutering - the effect on behavior.
• Illness - modern Siamese cats have the most inherited diseases of all the cat breeds.

As this is a very long page in which I discuss domestic cat behaviour generally as I must when discussing the behaviour of a cat breed, you might like to dip into the early part in which I report on what an expert says about the behaviour of the Siamese cat family. And there is a Siamese cat family because the Siamese cat is within a number of other cat breeds such as the Balinese, Oriental Shorthair and Oriental Longhair. And there is a range of Siamese cat types. It is a pretty big topic.

Expert opinion on the Siamese cat family

Gloria Stephens who is a past cat breeder and cat show judge (book: Legacy of the Cat) states that cats of the Siamese cat family "are vocal to the point of loudness and are quite active". They really like to sit on their owner's lap and sleep next to their owner at night. In her words, "They want to be as close as possible, and their need for closeness verges on the desperate."

And as they are intelligent, they like to investigate and "comment on everything their owner does". This makes them "demanding cats". But then to satisfy this demand all you have to do is to be close to your Siamese cat, hold them and stroke them. In short love them as an excellent cat caregiver.

General cat behavior

Obviously, a Siamese cat whether Modern or Traditional will have common domestic cat characteristics, which will be more pronounced than the particular breed characteristics. Realistically all purebred cats are very similar in character. It is usually the exotic wild cat hybrids that show some differences such as the Bengal cat.

Cats will act instinctively, which means reacting to what is going on around them. They are essentially, if one goes back thousands of years, domesticated wild cats. This is relevant as what they do is rooted in wild cat behavior. Their hunting skills come readily to mind. They are adapted to hunt so they have great senses. Play can lead to a scratch if it is too rough, for example. Play is a learning process for hunting.

Intelligent cats - and some breeds are I believe more intelligent than others (although there is no hard evidence to support this) - will be more inquisitive and generally more active than less intelligent cats. 

The Sphynx cat is thought to be more intelligent than average. We know that the Persian cat is affectionately known as a piece of furniture (i.e. static and undemanding). I wonder how cats feel about this? Being thought of as being a lesser cat breed in terms of intelligence. 

Cats don't mind as they're more tolerant than humans. We should agree that intelligence has a say in cat behavior generally. Siamese cat behavior will be subject to these general cat traits and Siamese cats are intelligent. This should include close relatives such as the Oriental Shorthair, Balinese and Javanese.

Susan Ford, daughter of Gerald Ford, and the family's Siamese cat, Shan, in 1974.
Photo: Wikipedia under CC license. Image: A1206-12A, Courtesy: Gerald R. Ford Library

Personality traits 

Due to nature (genetic traits) and nurture (environmental impact) individual cats will have differing temperaments. For example, difficult early years will or might make your cat more defensive. This will translate to being more static and less adventurous. This in turn may lead to weight problems. Or, a cat may be more prone to being nervous. This might translate to poor litter habits. These are individual traits which are similar in their variety to those found in humans. 

Siamese cat behavior (as a cat breed) will be substantially modified or completely altered by possible individual traits. This is less likely to happen in a cat bought from a quality Siamese cat breeder as the breeder will ensure that cats in her charge are well socialized (well-balanced characters and good with people and pets). A quality breeder will effectively take out of the equation the variation in character due to environmental factors.

Persian Siamese and non-pedigree cats. Human participants in a study believed that the Persian and Siamese made better pets than the non-pedigree. Is this a true result? Is it distorted by purchasing cats compared to adopting a non-pedigree from a rescue centre?

Spaying and neutering

Cat breeders keep unaltered cats for breeding purposes. They often keep their male cats in outdoor pens. That just about says all you need to know about the behavior of male unaltered cats. Castrating a male cat eliminates the natural sex drive which has the pleasant effect of reduced territorial fights and injuries. Spraying urine (scent marking) is also reduced significantly. The lack of sex drive makes them more inclined to stay at home, a trait which makes them more domesticated, in effect. 

In other words, it makes domestic cats less like wild cats and more like domestic cats; the cats that we like to live with. As for females they spray too and there is no pregnancy to worry about once neutered. Altering as some breeders call it, is pretty well essential despite seeming a little cruel. It is really a consequence of living as a domestic cat.

Illness

Illness can affect Siamese cat behavior. Sometimes unexplained behavior, perhaps untypical aggressive behavior can be put down to an illness or injury. A vet is the only person to decide the best course of action in this instance. Illness though can affect behavior generally. I wonder if the propensity of the Siamese cat to having a squint (cross eyed) affects this breeds behavior?

Siamese cat behavior

I mentioned cat intelligence earlier on. It is not surprising that Siamese cats are at the top end of the intelligence league. This is reflected in this breed's vocalizations and attachment to humans. This is a cat that is involved in the human/cat relationship and the Siamese is not backward in coming forward in asking for something when the occasion demands. So, all other elements being equal and on the assumption that your Siamese is well socialized and well balanced she should be a little more inquisitive, involved and interactive than the average mixed-breed cat and the majority of the purebred cats. This means more input for the person keeping the cat.

This "people orientation" may translate into an issue if another cat joins the family. I immediately think of Helmi Flick's F1 Chausie that lived with her for a time. An F1 Chausie is a wildcat hybrid and quite demanding. They form close relationships with people. They are intelligent. I could see a disturbance to the balance in the relationship if another cat or person was introduced into it. 

One site called it jealousy but this is not an emotion that cats feel (or am I wrong?). However, cats love routine and if the cat has a close relationship with a person and this is disturbed it would cause upset that could be seen as jealousy. Cats take a long time to settle into a routine. Routine provides a comfort zone, something all animals (including humans) like and don't want disturbed.

Siamese cat behavior is considered by some to be extrovert in comparison to some other cat breeds perhaps because Siamese tend to be more vocal. Their need for human companionship is expressed in their vocal demands. But let us remember that all domestic cats depend on us, as that is what makes them domestic cats.

In truth cat breeders and the cat associations tend to exaggerate the characteristics of a cat breed, particularly the breed they are breeding to distinguish the breed from others. It is important to distinguish breed from breed to justify the breed. The variations from cat to cat will sometimes outweigh the differences from Siamese cat to another cat breed.

The Wikipedia author proposes that the Siamese cat coat (white with points) contributes to this breed's character in that the coat makes this breed less well camouflaged and therefore more dependent on people for survival. Hence the desire for a closer connection with humans. This begs the question as to the development of the coat color and pattern. It is certainly not the best for survival. That accolade for that must go to the tabby cat coat.

From the point of view of people living in the West the history of the Siamese cat starts late in the 1800s on the importation from Siam of a Siamese cat. This cat was a Traditional cat. What happened in Siam (now Thailand) to create the pointed coat? The pointed coat is probably due to a genetic mutation. 

If this happened naturally in Siam (and the history of the Siamese cat goes back a long way in Thailand) then this theory could have merit. It is a development that leaves the Siamese more vulnerable. Think of all the wild cats (except the big cats) such as the Scottish Wild cat and the American Bobcat .They all have the best tabby coats you can see. These provide great camouflage. The top cats like the Tiger are not well camouflaged as they have no predators.

There are a number of posts on cat behavior on this website, which discuss cat behavior from various aspects. You can use the labels panel to select these posts. Here is one on cat breed characteristics.

The Different Siamese cat types

There used to be one Siamese cat, the standard regular looking cat as imported into the UK in the latter part of the 1800s. Now things have changed. This change was brought about entirely by cat breeders breeding for a more "elegant" and "extreme" or plain skinny figure. These contemporary cats that I have called "Modern Siamese" may have altered characters.

My research indicates that they are less robust from a health point of view. But do they have different characters from the Traditional Siamese cats? The answer is probably not. There is certainly no obvious evidence that Modern Siamese behave differently. But being noticeably thinner and therefore more prone to being affected by ambient temperature may affect their character and eating habits (greater heat loss). Modern Siamese are in my opinion less healthy and this will be manifest in an altered behavior (depressed and less active). The Modern Siamese may also be nervous.