Behavior

  REVIEWING A BOOK ABOUT AN EXTRAORDINARY CAT:  MAKING THE ROUNDS WITH OSCAR

Oscar, seemingly an ordinary cat, seems to have extraordinary perceptions.  His story is told by Dr. Dosa, a gerontologist who cares for patients with advanced Alzheimer’s in a nursing home.  Families of the patients share their experiences and emotions as caretakers, sons, daughters, husbands and wives of Alzheimer’s patients who, after a lifetime of learning, working and raising children are now unlearning.  They are unlearning how to get home, how to dress and undress – everything that we do that we take for granted every day.

There are many differences between cats and dogs.  Some of the differences are listed below:

• EATING:   Cats eat carefully requiring at least several minutes (sometimes longer) to eat; they can be finicky eaters.  Senior cats require even more time to eat, tipping their head from side to side while chewing.  Cats cannot be fasted; quick weight loss diets can cause life-threatening complications (liver failure, etc).

Dogs devour their food seemingly in a matter of seconds.  They can tolerate a lack of food much longer than cats.

Black Cats – Good luck?  Bad luck?  Magic?  Mysterious?  The following are some Superstitions regarding Good and Bad Luck or Omens related to Black Cats:

What is my plan for my cats if I die or become unable to care for them?   I plan on living at least another 20 years but none of us knows how long we will live (no matter how old we are today).  Nor do we know how long we will be healthy enough to care for our cats.  My friends and I talk about who would do what for my cats if something were to happen to me.  We also talk about who they want to care for their animals  if something were to happen to them.  They have cats, dogs, tortoises, etc.

A cat’s tail is an extension of their spine.  It holds approximately 10% of the bones in their body.  The number of bones (caudal vertebrate) in the tail averages between 20 and 23; the number of bones correlates to the breed of the cat and the length of the tail.  The vertebrate contribute to bowel control.  Injury can cause damage to the bladder, large intestine or anus.    

The PURPOSES of our cats' tails are as follows:

My friend, Fran and I exited my car in front of my house.  She had never met my cat, Tigger.  He was sitting in the front window watching us.  I told her that sometimes Tigger could be shy.  She replied:  “Oh, we will be fine.  He just gave me a slow blink and I gave him one back.”  I was baffled.  I had cats all of my adult life and had never heard of that.

Gracee is pictured above hiding under her favorite rug with only her head showing.   She usually sleeps on top of the rug. Do orange cats like orange rugs?   I used to have a blue rug there and she never slept on it or under it.

Gracee learned to hide under everything imaginable from her older brother, Tigger (who has crossed over the Bridge)  He taught her to burrow and hide under comforters, blankets, towels, etc.  Sometimes at night when I was ready to go to bed, I drew back the covers and there, all curled up and comfy, was Tigger.  Now, it is Gracee gazing up at me with her big, sleepy golden eyes.

Is your precious kitty a predator?  Yes.  Even if our cats are domesticated, kept indoors and called house cats, they are still predators.  And, ALL predators – from polar bears to ladybugs – instinctively clean/groom themselves after they eat.  Please note:  If your cat stops grooming, consult with a veterinarian immediately.  He might be very ill.

            The above picture shows six month old Sophee, one of the Cat Authors, on her first evening in our home.  Sophee is a calico.  Calico is NOT a breed. It is a color, a pattern.  Calico cats have a coat of white fur with distinct patches of colors, usually orange and black.  In contrast, tortoiseshell cats (not to be confused with calico cats) have red, black, brown, yellow and/or orange colors woven throughout their coats.  They do not have the distinct colorful patches of the calico.  Some torties do have white fur with the mottled or woven coats but do not have the distinct calico patches.

Not all cats purr.  Cats that purr cannot roar.  Cats that roar cannot purr. Humans have long researched and studied cats to determine specifically what the mechanism is that enables some cats to purr while others cannot.  Details of that discussion were in July’s Mews ‘N News Article “How Do Cats Purr?”

Cats that do purr are:  the Domestic Cat, Bobcat, Ocelot, Lynx, Puma, Cougar, Serval and the Cheetah.  They are in the Felinae Subfamily.  ALL cats are of the Felidae family.