My Cute Pussy Cat

Getting Your Cat to Come to You

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 09:19:00 +0000

Unlike dogs and children, cats are unlikely to come to you just because you want them to obey. However, a cat who knows he will be warmly petted, brushed, will receive a treat, or an extended period of lap-napping, is more likely to get up, stretch, look casually around, and then wander over to you (displaying, for all intents and purposes, the attitude that it was his idea in the first place). No animal will come to you willingly if you are raising your voice or if they think they are going to be punished.

Cats, by the way, respond best to names that end in an "ee" sound. You will most likely get a better response if you shorten Prince Zadrach of Dominquez' name to Zaddy, for example. Too, they seem to respond better to a higher-pitched tone of voice.

Genetics

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 21 May 2009 01:25:00 +0000

Feeding and diet

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:53:00 +0000

A very young cat is being fed with milk

Further information: Cat food

Cats feed on small prey such as insects, birds, and rodents. Feral cats, or house cats who are free-fed, consume about 8 to 16 small meals in a single day. Despite this, adult cats can adapt to being fed once a day. Cats are classified as obligate carnivores, because their physiology is geared toward efficient processing of meat, and lacks efficient processes for digesting plant matter. The cat cannot produce its own taurine (an essential organic acid), and, as it is contained in flesh, the cat must eat flesh to survive (see Taurine and cats). Similar to its teeth, a cat's digestive tract has become specialized over time to suit meat eating, having shortened in length only to those segments of intestine best able to break down proteins and fats from animal flesh. This trait severely limits the cat's ability to properly digest, metabolize, and absorb plant-derived nutrients, as well as certain fatty acids. For example, taurine is scarce in plants but abundant in meats. It is a key amino sulfonic acid for eye health in cats. Taurine deficiency can cause a condition called macular degeneration wherein the cat's retina slowly degenerates, eventually causing irreversible blindness.

A cat eating a House Mouse

Despite the cat's meat-oriented physiology, it is still quite common for a cat to supplement its carnivorous diet with small amounts of grass, leaves, shrubs, houseplants, or other plant matter. One theory suggests this behavior helps cats regurgitate if their digestion is upset; another is that it introduces fiber or trace minerals into the diet. In this context, caution is recommended for cat owners because some houseplants are harmful to cats. For example, the leaves of the Easter Lily can cause permanent and life-threatening kidney damage to cats, and Philodendron are also poisonous to cats. The Cat Fanciers' Association has a full list of plants harmful to cats.

Avocado plant parts are toxic, but the fruit (minus the pit) is an ingredient in AvoDerm cat food.^[35] However, the ASPCA has declined to say whether this food is safe or not without knowing the details of how the avocado is processed.

There are several vegetarian or vegan commercially available cat foods supplemented with chemically synthesized taurine and other added nutrients that attempt to address nutritional shortfalls.

Cats can be selective eaters (which may be due in some way to the aforementioned mutation which caused their species to lose sugar-tasting ability). However, cats generally cannot tolerate lack of food for more than 36 hours without risking liver damage.

Cats have a fondness for catnip, which is sensed by their olfactory systems. Many enjoy consuming catnip, and most will often roll in it, paw at it, and occasionally chew on it.

Cats can also develop odd eating habits. Some cats like to eat or chew on other things like plastic, paper, string, wool, or even coal. This condition is called pica and can threaten the cat's health depending on the amount and toxicity of the non-food items eaten. The condition's name comes from the Latin word for magpie, a bird which is reputed to eat almost anything.

Behavior

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 11 May 2009 01:59:00 +0000

Sociability

Cats can befriend other cats. Here, one cat grooms the other.

For cats, life in close proximity with humans (and other animals kept by humans) amounts to a "symbiotic social adaptation" which has developed over thousands of years. It has been suggested that, ethologically, the human keeper of a cat functions as a sort of surrogate for the cat's mother, and that adult domestic cats live their lives in a kind of extended kittenhood, a form of behavioral neoteny.

Cats may express affection towards their human companions, especially if they imprint on them at a very young age and are treated with consistent affection.

Regardless of the average sociability of any given cat or of cats in general, there are still any number of cats who meet or exceed the negative feline stereotype insofar as being poorly socialized. Older cats have also been reported to sometimes develop aggressiveness towards kittens, which may include biting and scratching; this type of behavior is known as Feline Asocial Aggression.

Physiology Of Lovely cat

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:52:00 +0000

Size

Diagram of the general anatomy of a male cat

Cats typically weigh between 2.5 and 7 kilograms (5.5–16 lb); however, some breeds, such as the Maine Coon, can exceed 11.3 kilograms (24.9 lb). Conversely, very small cats (less than 1.8 kilograms (4.0 lb)) have been reported.

The largest cat ever was officially reported to have weighed in at about 21.297 kilograms (46.952 lb) (46 lb 15.25 oz). The smallest cat ever officially recorded weighed around 1.36 kilograms (3 lb).

Cats average about 23–25 centimeters (9–10 in) in height and 46 centimeters (18.1 in) in head/body length (males being larger than females), with tails averaging 30 centimeters (11.8 in) in length.

Introduction Of Cat

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 07 May 2009 13:18:00 +0000

The cat (Felis catus), also known as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from other felines and felids, is a small predatory carnivorous species of crepuscular mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and its ability to hunt vermin, snakes, scorpions, and other unwanted household pests. It has been associated with humans for at least 9,500 years.

A skilled predator, the cat is known to hunt over 1,000 species for food. It can be trained to obey simple commands. Individual cats have also been known to learn on their own to manipulate simple mechanisms, such as doorknobs and toilet handles. Cats use a variety of vocalizations and types of body language for communication, including meowing, purring, hissing, growling, squeaking, chirping, clicking, and grunting. Cats may be the most popular pet in the world, with over 600 million in homes all over the world.They are also bred and shown as registered pedigree pets. This hobby is known as the "cat fancy."

Until recently the cat was commonly believed to have been domesticated in ancient Egypt, where it was a cult animal. However, a 2007 study found that the lines of descent of all house cats probably run through as few as five self-domesticating African Wildcats (Felis silvestris lybica) circa 8000 BC, in the Near East.

Nine lives

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 07 May 2009 13:13:00 +0000

According to a myth in many cultures, cats have nine (or sometimes seven) lives. The myth is attributed to the natural suppleness and swiftness cats exhibit to escape life-threatening situations.Also lending credence to this myth is that falling cats often land on their feet because of an inbuilt automatic twisting reaction and are able to twist their bodies around to land feet first, though they can still be injured or killed by a high fall.

History and mythology

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 07 May 2009 13:10:00 +0000

Egyptian sculpture at the Louvre

Main articles: History of cats and Cats in ancient Egypt

Cats have been kept by humans since at least ancient Egypt, where Bast in cat form was goddess of the home, the domesticated cat, protector of the fields and home from vermin infestations, and sometimes took on the warlike aspect of a lioness. The first domesticated cats may have saved early Egyptians from many rodent infestations and likewise, Bast developed from the adoration for her feline companions. She was the daughter of the sun god Ra and played significant role in Ancient Egyptian religion. It has been speculated that cats resident in Kenya's Islands in the Lamu Archipelago may be the last living direct descendants of the cats of ancient Egypt.^[91]

Freya and her cats

Several ancient religions believed that cats are exalted souls, companions or guides for humans, that they are all-knowing but are mute so they cannot influence decisions made by humans. In Japan, the Maneki Neko is a cat that is a symbol of "good fortune". Although there are no sacred species in Islam, it is said by some writers that Muhammad had a favorite cat, Muezza.^[92] It is said he loved cats so much that "he would do without his cloak rather than disturb one that was sleeping on it".^[93]

Freyja — the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility in Norse mythology — is depicted as riding a chariot drawn by cats.

There are also negative superstitions about cats in many cultures. An example would be the belief that a black cat "crossing your path" leads to bad luck, or that cats are witches' familiars used to augment a witch's powers and skills. This belief led to the widespread extermination of cats in Europe in medieval times. Killing the cats aggravated epidemics of the Black Plague in places where there were not enough cats left to keep rat populations down. The plague was spread by fleas carried by infected rats.

An exaggerated fear of cats is known as ailurophobia.