Archive for March, 2008
Mar
2008
The Colorpoint Shorthair Cat
March 31st, 2008 at 11:42 am by Cat Lover in Cat Breeds
Even if you’ve never heard of the Colorpoint Shorthair cat before, you may have seen several of these elegant animals. Many people mistake Colorpoint Shorthairs for their close relative, the Siamese. After all, the only real difference in their appearance is that the Colorpoint has a variety of point colors that Siamese cats do not have.
These cats have a graceful body, a long, tapered tail, and a tan or white body color. The points, which include the feet, tail, ears, and face, are in a different color. Recognized Colorpoint colors include Red, Cream, Cinnamon, Fawn, Smoke, or Silver. In addition, this breed can have tortoiseshell, tabby, or particolor patterns in any color. These cats have a long, narrow face with an almost triangular shape and almond shaped eyes.
Mar
2008
Pet Grooming Options For Cats
March 29th, 2008 at 05:23 am by Cat Lover in Cat GroomingWhen considering pet grooming options, one must decide which pet groomer will be best. There are many dog groomers out there, but very few cat groomers. If you have a cat you should look carefully at what specific facilities offer cat grooming expertise. Cats are finicky animals and they can be very hard to groom, putting the groomer at risk for bites or scratches.
Choosing a professional cat groomer is a important decision the pet owner must make to ensure the health and happiness of their cat. As with all animals a bad pet groomer can make mistakes and unintentionally hurt the animal destroying confidence in making the cat emotionally distraught.
Mar
2008
Cat Flea Control
March 28th, 2008 at 01:54 pm by Cat Lover in Cat CareHas your cat become infested with fleas or ticks? If his buggy skin has been keeping you up all night, it is time for you to get those fleas or ticks under control.
Even the cleanest cats can end up with a flea infestation. All it takes to turn your flealess pet into a flea bag is one friendly stray cat or dog that comes along for a visit and leaves his fleas behind. When a person or cat walks outside, he will pick up the fleas and bring them inside. Even one flea can lay quite a few eggs. When the eggs hatch, you will have a full scale infestation.
Mar
2008
Important Terms Associated With Maine Coon Cats
March 27th, 2008 at 01:49 am by Cat Lover in Cat InformationOnce you have a Maine Coon Cat, and you start talking and socializing with other Maine Coon Cat owners, you will find that you need to use a new vocabulary of words, in relation to the beloved cats. Here is a list of common terms and phrases associated with Maine Coons.
Outcross – If a Maine Coon is an outcross, this means that he is a product of mating between two animals of different blood lines. Litters that are outcross litters tend to be healthier and more robust than those who are products of inbreeding or line breeding, after a certain number of generations.
Mar
2008
Human Training For Maine Coon Cats
March 26th, 2008 at 06:40 am by Cat Lover in Cat InformationIn the pet world you will hear lots of people talking about training their pets. They might train their pets to do tricks, to use a litter box, or to walk on a leash. But if you own a Maine Coon Cat, you can bet that your cat is talking to other animals about training you – not you training him. That’s right – when you have a Maine Coon, you are not the ownee - you are the owned, and you must therefore be trained.
First, your Maine Coon will set a sleeping schedule for you. He does this by paying attention to your habits. He notes the time that you usually go to bed, and the time that you usually wake up. In the future, if you do not go to bed or wake up at your usual time, he will not tolerate it. He will nag you about going to bed – and he will torture you until you get up. You will learn to stick to the bedtime schedule, or pay the consequences.
Mar
2008
Common Cat Health Problems
March 24th, 2008 at 12:11 pm by Cat Lover in Cat HealthIf you’ve never owned a cat before, you may not realize that cats can suffer from quite a few different health problems. Some of these problems are easily preventable, while others are hereditary.
One of the most common cat health problems is the hairball. Cats groom themselves constantly with their tongues. The loose hair comes off on their tongues and is swallowed. Sometimes the hair gradually forms into a ball instead of passing through the cat’s body.
Mar
2008
Is A Turkish Angora Cat Right For You?
March 23rd, 2008 at 06:09 pm by Cat Lover in Cat InformationIf you want a longhair cat breed that is as intelligent as it is beautiful, you may want to take a look at the beautiful Turkish Angora. This breed is one of the oldest cat breeds, originating in the fourteen hundreds in Turkey. For some time, cat fanciers thought that the Angora was extinct, since imported cats had been bred so frequently to Persians to improve the Persian coat that Angoras in other countries died out.
Luckily, Turkey was more careful to preserve this ancient breed. At first, this country refused to part with any Angoras. However, finally Turkey agreed to sell a few cats and some pure Turkish Angoras were imported to Europe and America after World War II.
Mar
2008
How To Train A Cat
March 22nd, 2008 at 02:03 am by Cat Lover in Cat TrainingMany people are under the mistaken impression that cats are arrogant, moody creatures that will ignore their owners’ attempts to train them. They think that cats could obey and choose not to. Although cats do ignore commands because they don’t feel like doing what their owners ask, sometimes they are not obeying because they simply do not understand.
Training a cat generally takes a lot more time and patience than training a dog. Positive reinforcement works better than negative reinforcement with cats. If you punish them, they will just wait until you are not watching to misbehave, so it is better to simply ignore wrong responses and lavish praise on your cat when he responds correctly.
Mar
2008
The Japanese Bobtail Cat
March 21st, 2008 at 08:00 pm by Cat Lover in Cat BreedsAlthough the Japanese Bobtail is a breed that goes back several centuries, this breed is still incredibly rare. If you are fortunate enough to find one of these beautiful cats, you will have a wonderful pet.
The Japanese Bobtail was first developed in the seventeen hundreds in Japan. Unfortunately, the longhair cat gene is not dominant, so few kittens are born with the long coats required by the breed standard. To make breeding these cats even more difficult, two related longhairs are not bred together unless there is no other choice. This is because the Bobtail is a very healthy breed. Too much inbreeding would lead to the development of some dangerous genetic disorders.
Mar
2008
The Havana Brown Cat
March 20th, 2008 at 11:58 am by Cat Lover in Cat BreedsWhen a cat breed has a name like Havana Brown, it can only come in one color, right? Well, actually, the active Havana Brown comes in a rich Chocolate color or an attractive Lilac color.
This breed was created when a Chocolate Point Siamese cat produced a solid Chocolate kitten. Although this has been happening in Siamese cat litters for centuries, these Chocolate kittens were usually disqualified by both the Cat Fancier’s Association in the United States and cat associations in Great Britain. In the nineteen fifties, a breeder in the United States fell in love with the Chocolate Siamese and imported a female cat from Great Britain to found a new breed of cat called the Havana Brown.
