Why is it that we rarely see long-haired feral cats in feral cat colonies? Or have I missed something? I’ll have to keep this brief because there is not much to say unless somebody can add to the article in an enlightened comment.
Long-haired domestic cats are quite popular. There are some very popular breeds with long hair such as the Maine Coon and Norwegian Forest cat. The former is probably the most popular purebred cat in America. The long coat is undoubtedly beneficial for an outdoor cat in cold climates. The trouble is that long coats easily become matted and if left unattended can lead to infection or an infestation of the skin. The Persian cat is another example where arguably the fur is unnaturally too long. Nature would not create fur like this. Even in very cold climates the fur wouldn’t be this long. It would be denser but not very long. And I am referring to genuinely long fur not medium longhaired cats.
Long fur needs attention from humans. It needs to be combed and brushed. The cat cannot maintain it adequately on his own. As feral cats do not have human caretakers any long-haired feral cat would eventually suffer from a matted coat and the consequent potential health problems. Therefore, by dint of natural evolution (natural selection as per Charles Darwin) most feral cats have short hair which is much easier to maintain. That’s the argument.
Genetically speaking there is a reason. The gene that creates long fur is recessive. It takes two parents with the longhair gene to create offspring with longhair. As there are few longhaired feral cats this is unlikely to happen.
If there is a colony of feral cats physically isolated from other feral cats for a long time such as might occur on an island, there would be inbreeding which would allow the recessive gene to show itself and its effects. There would be some longhaired feral cats in this isolated colony.
But the default hair length for feral and domestic cats is short hair.
Now tell me that you see an equal number of short and long-haired feral cats 😉😊
I have recently started taking care of a feral or stray cat community when they at different points decided my house was safe.
I took in my neighbor’s barn cats when he moved and the new people were letting them starve. Since then, we’ve set up cameras and have found we have several long haired strays.
Moreover, they might be mixed with Maine Coon. We had one litter of kittens before I could get the first female fixed. They have raccoon-striped tails like their dad that had medium length fur.
The barn cats and the male that impregnated her feel comfortable enough to come into the house. The tomcat dad is the meanest, skilled street fighter cat and has to be separated from everyone but I love him. Even though he only tolerates me for salmon.
All the other cats and I have identified atleast 5 are all long-haired. Only one who has super dense thick brassy blond orange has a tail.
The other four are all Cymrics – long haired Manx. They have the stumpy tails. One is small with wild black fur with an orange one every so often. One is solid black, one is solid gray, and I swore there was a multi colored black orange and white one but I don’t have pics of that one. I would love to send pics, but can’t see how to attach.
I understand that those are rather rare but they won’t let me near them and my super mean stray alpha male cat will attack them when he catches them in there. I am new to this and I am getting everyone fixed and vaccinated as I can afford it. We can only do 5 this month.
Thanks for sharing Christina. I would be interested to know in which country you live. Is it the USA?