cats: October 2014

Tabby Cats Are Some Of The Most Familiar Types Of Cats

Tabby Cats are some of the most familiar types of cats. Their fur coats can have five different color tabby coat patterns. One of the most common types of coat markings are those of the striped tabby cat, which is called the Mackerel Tabby pattern. The other four types are the Blotched Tabby, Spotted Tabby, Ticked Tabby, and Patched Tabby. The Mackerel Tabby pattern is the only striped coat pattern seen in domestic cats. Other types of cats with striped coats, as well as a spotted patterning, are the Exotic Cats or wild cat species.
The classic tabby markings are comprised of a mixture of light and dark banded hairs and black hairs. The black hairs are clustered together in patches or apparent stripes to create the tabby pattern. In the Mackerel Tabby, the resulting pattern is of dark stripes on a lighter background. The stripes are long, thin, mostly vertical, and moderately curved. They often break into short bars or stripes on the sides and stomach of the cat.
The Mackerel Tabby pattern often causes two interesting markings. First is an "M" shape formed by the dark hairs, which is often found on the forehead of these cats. Second, they also often have a "peppered nose", where black dots are found on the otherwise pink nose. Besides tabby cats, there are other types of cat colors and coat patterns. Others are the Tri-color Cat or Tortoiseshell Cat color Patterns which include the Torbie Cat and Calico Cat, and there is the Orange cat or Ginger Cat as well.

Tabby Cat History

The Mackerel Tabby pattern is the original tabby pattern. It is believed to have originated from the African Wild Cat Felis sylvestris lybica and the European Wild Cat Felis sylvestris sylvestris. Both of these wild cats have a pale, striped tabby pattern. But when the breeds mix, the result is a much more prominent Mackerel Tabby pattern.

Why do cats purr?

Over the course of evolution, purring has probably offered some selective advantage to cats. Most felid species produce a "purr-like" vocalization. In domestic cats, purring is most noticeable when an animal is nursing her kittens or when humans provide social contact via petting, stroking or feeding.

Although we assume that a cat's purr is an expression of pleasure or is a means of communication with its young, perhaps the reasons for purring can be deciphered from the more stressful moments in a cat's life. Cats often purr while under duress, such as during a visit to the veterinarian or when recovering from injury. Thus, not all purring cats appear to be content or pleased with their current circumstances. This riddle has lead researchers to investigate how cats purr, which is also still under debate.

Scientists have demonstrated that cats produce the purr through intermittent signaling of the laryngeal and diaphragmatic muscles. Cats purr during both inhalation and exhalation with a consistent pattern and frequency between 25 and 150 Hertz. Various investigators have shown that sound frequencies in this range can improve bone density and promote healing.

What About Are Cats Thinking

“We did one study on cats—and that was enough!” Those words effectively ended my quest to understand the feline mind. I was a few months into writing Citizen Canine: Our Evolving Relationship With Cats and Dogs, which explores how pets are blurring the line between animal and person, and I was gearing up for a chapter on pet intelligence. I knew a lot had been written about dogs, and I assumed there must be at least a handful of studies on cats. But after weeks of scouring the scientific world for someone—anyone—who studied how cats think, all I was left with was this statement, laughed over the phone to me by one of the world’s top animal cognition experts, a Hungarian scientist named Ádám Miklósi.

We are living in a golden age of canine cognition. Nearly a dozen laboratories around the world study the dog mind, and in the past decade scientists have published hundreds of articles on the topic. Researchers have shown that Fido can learn hundreds of words, may be capable of abstract thought, and possesses a rudimentary ability to intuit what others are thinking, a so-called theory of mind once thought to be uniquely human. Miklósi himself has written an entire textbook on the canine mind—and he’s a cat person.

Cats Taking Owners' Habitats

Dogs and Cats Help Prevent Infections in Kids

For the Journal of Veterinary Behavior study, the researchers studied two groups of cats. Each group received excellent care, in terms of food, medical attention and grooming. The owners of all the cats worked during the day and returned home in the evenings.
The first group of cats, however, lived in smaller homes and stayed closer to their owners. The second group lived more of an indoor/outdoor lifestyle on larger property. These cats were also kept outside at night.
Over time, the cats in the first group mirrored the lives of their owners. Their eating, activity and sleeping patterns were very similar. The cats left out at night became more nocturnal, matching the behaviors of semi-dependent farm cats with more feral ways.
"Cats are intelligent animals with a long memory," Jane Brunt, DVM, and the executive director of the CATalyst Council, told Discovery News. "They watch and learn from us, (noting) the patterns of our actions, as evidenced by knowing where their food is kept and what time to expect to be fed, how to open the cupboard door that's been improperly closed and where their feeding and toileting areas are."

Cats Do Roam, Tracking Shows

Piccione pointed out that cats' food intake is associated with that of owners, perhaps explaining why human and cat obesity rates seem to so often match. Cats may even match their elimination patterns with those of their owners.
"It's always interesting when I hear about people who have the litterbox in their bathroom and the cat uses it when the owner is on the toilet," Brunt, a past president of the American Association of Feline Practitioners, said.
Another recent study, published in Applied Animal Behavior Science, looked at personality in cats. Many of the primary traits -- arrogant, social, shy, trusting, aggressive, calm, timid, excitable, dominant and curious -- apply to humans as well.
Authors Marieke Cassia Gartner and Alexander Weiss of The University of Edinburgh believe that the environment in which a feline lives "is one possible explanation for the variance in results in the domestic cat, as personality may not be completely comprised of genetic makeup."
Humans even serve as role models for their cats.

what happens if something happens to you?

The great majority of us cat companions bring our felines home with the full intention of giving them a forever home. But what happens if something happens to you? If you are young, middle-aged or even early in retirement, maybe you don't think about it a lot. You assume that you will outlive your cats. And you probably will. But there is always a chance that you won't. That really hit home with me this week.

A fond associate and friend of mine, Dr. Lorie Huston, died suddenly and unexpectedly last week, leaving behind 6 cats, some of them shy or special needs. Because she was not old – at 54, she had a busy career as a veterinarian and a growing list of accomplishments – she didn't think about making arrangements for her cats, who were now in need of new homes. Fortunately for Lorie, as president of the Cat Writers Association and a well-known blogger and award-winning businesswoman, she had a broad network of friends across the United States that stepped up to help rehome her cats. So far three are adopted, and three (including a tripod cat) still need homes. With the efforts going into this project, there's no doubt Lorie's cats will all be safe.

Most cat companions, however, don't have Lorie's big group of social-networking-savvy friends. If you died tomorrow, what would happen to your cats?

Although I'm as guilty as the next person in that I haven't made arrangements for my crew, this is something I think about a lot. I know that Binga would most likely be OK – she's mine jointly with my fiancé, who loves her as much as I do. There is no doubt she would have a home with him … that is, unless we died together on a trip. Summer? I would hope that Summer would go back to her breeder, who still dearly loves her. (I would have wished the same thing for Sparkle, who had the same breeder as Summer.) But I haven't done anything to specify that. Boodie? She has always sort of been the "extra cat," the one we wound up with because she was kind of dumped on us. She's shy. She's not special-needs, but she does need some extra love and understanding. Brian would probably keep her ... but what if he couldn't?

Then there's my dad's cat, Smokey. My dad is 95 and not well, and Smokey will outlive him. He has already told me that he would like her rehomed – but not with me and Brian. It has nothing to do with our ability as caretakers. It's just that Smokey really needs her own person and she doesn't really like other cats. And she wouldn't have that here. I agree, Smokey does deserve better than what we can give her here. We would probably have to isolate her from the rest of the cats, and the attention she would get would be loving, but not the full-time companionship she gets from my dad. And that one-on-one attention is what she really needs. Will I be able to find that for her? I hope so, but who knows?

About Cat Behavior

Behavioral problems in cats, such as avoiding the litterbox, excessive meowing and other attention-seeking behavior, biting and painful or destructive scratching can be corrected by first eliminating physical causes, then instituting a program of gradual retraining, with the help of these resources. Remember that there are no bad cats, only uninformed cat caregivers.

I would suggest trying to deal with one problem cat behavior at a time. Too many "dos" and "don'ts" will only confuse your cat and frustrate your training attempts. Start with the most potentially hazardous problems first - such as chewing on electrical cords - then move on from there. Here are the most-often reported behavioral problems in cats:

Attention-Seeking Behavior
Attention-seeking behavior and excessive vocalization often go hand-in-hand with cats. Causes for these behaviors can be either physical or emotional, or both. Before punishing your cat for excessive crying and meowing, or other attention seeking behavior, do some homework on possible causes.

See Also: Rippling Skin Disorder
Also called Feline hyperesthesia, one of the symptoms of Rippling Skin Disorder is loud "lost-in-the-night" howling.

Cats' Aggression Toward People
Cats' aggression toward people can be caused by poor training as a kitten (as in play aggression), fear, or other factors. Learn how to prevent a cat's aggression toward people, how to deal with it when it happens, and how to curb a cat's biting and scratching behavior.

Feline Aggression Toward Other Cats
Cats sharing a household will sometimes fight, but when active aggressive behavior between cats rears its ugly head, sometime human intervention is necessary.

Aggression between cats can be fear-based, territorial, or redirected aggression. This article will help the reader deal with aggression between cats in a household.

Tips for Cleaning Cat Urine

There are a variety of reasons why felines bypass their litter box and urinate everywhere else in your home. If your cat is sick, has behavioral issues, is getting used to a new pet or child, or is protesting a dirty litter box, then she might opt to use your plush carpet or your new chaise lounge as a place to do her business.

It’s important to consult with your veterinarian to find out why your cat isn’t using her box. But in the meantime, if you do find urine on the new chaise lounge, don’t fret. We’re sharing 10 tips for cleaning cat urine and preventing your furniture from being given away to your sister who’s been eyeing it anyways.

10. Grab a paper towel, and try to blot up as much of the urine as possible. If it’s a large spot and you don’t want to waste paper towels, use a cloth towel or old clothes that can be thrown away. If the spot is on the carpet, stand on the wet spot (remember to wear shoes).

9. Don’t rub the stain. If it’s dry, pour cold water on the stain, and blot.

8. Avoid using detergents with ammonia in them. The “pee smell” in them might encourage your cat to mark the spot again.

7. Use a commercial product found at your pet store or a homemade mixture from ingredients found right in your own home. Make sure to test either of the two on a small area first.

6. Here’s a good homemade solution: mix a water and vinegar solution. Vinegar is great for killing bacteria. This mixture is perfect for both old and new stains. Try 1 1/2 cups of warm water and a ½ cup of vinegar. Pour this concoction over the stain and soak for about 3 to 5 minutes. Note: vinegar is not good for marble or stone.

5. There’s nothing like good all-purpose baking soda. After the water and vinegar solution is dry, sprinkle the area with baking soda. How much is enough? A lot.

4. You’re not done just yet with the homemade remedies. Mix 3/4 cup of three percent hydrogen peroxide (you know you have some under your bathroom sink) with 1 teaspoon of dish detergent. Sprinkle this solution over the baking soda and test a small spot. You need to do this because sometimes peroxide can discolor or bleach fabrics (source). Work the baking soda into the fabric or carpet.

3. it’s time to let the mixtures dry for a few hours. Once the spot’s good and dry, vacuum the excess baking soda. If the stain is extremely tough, repeat the entire process again.

2. If homemade mixing is not your thing, there are commercial products on the market that work well too. Make sure to look for cleaners that contain enzymes because they work to break down the urine and neutralize the odor (source). Make sure you follow the instructions carefully on these products.

1. Just because you can’t see the stain, doesn’t mean you can’t smell the stain. Deodorizing must be part of the equation. Once again, baking soda and a mixture of detergent and water will help minimize odors.