Another Helmi special. She get to meet the most beautiful cats. They are all tabby cats in this photograph. I notice that they all have very straight profiles, by which I mean there is a straight line from the eyes to the tip of the nose. This is the like the profile of the modern Siamese. What does the breed standard say?
TICA’s standard says,
Profile: Long, straight profile from tip of nose to brow without break in line, i.e., no stop
So, these kittens meet the breed standard with respect to their profile! I bet they conform to the breed standard in other areas too. Unfortunately I don’t know who bred and who owns or owned these kittens.
Incidentally, they are looking at a cat tease (a feather of similar object on the end of a long stick) being held by Ken Flick. The idea is to catch their attention simultaneously to create a interesting image. It succeeds. It is difficult to get all the cats in a group to react in the same way and you can’t go on, and on, trying to get the shot because kittens and cats tire out and start to become distracted. The cat photographer has to get the pic quick and have quick reactions.
You can see that the big fella in the middle, the red tabby and white, has instinctively raised his right paw to grab the tease, despite the fact it is out of range.
I have the weirdest brain. I love the larger breed cats (Maine Coons, Weggies, Ragdoll, Angora, etc) and the smaller of the exotic wild breeds (African Blackfooted, Kodkod, Manul, Sandcats, etc.) Either way… in 1998 the Guinness World Record for ‘Biggest Domestic Cat’ was a Maine Coon from Vermisso Cats named Leo. They later change it to ‘Longest Domestic Cat’. Leo was 48 inches or four feet (1.19 meters). Now another Maine Coon named Stewie beat him out with 48 1/2 inches (1.232 meters). I have rights to use Leo’s pix on my large breed cat Flickr group: Here is my favorite: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shohom67/2220862097/in/set-72157601245888715 (Leo at 13 weeks!)
Anyway, my point is… that although Weggies just plain sexy beasts (as we say here in the states about cars, etc.) and they get an extra year of growth (Maine Coons-5 yrs vs. Weggies-6 yrs.) They seem to top out at 28 lbs/ 12.7kg, where Maine Coons go up to 35 lbs/15.88kg. So you’re right. 🙂
@Michael: I have a large pool of cat photos on my Flickr group. I have notified group members that I may share their pix/vids unless they turn the share/copy links off. I have a graphic that I post in the comments of each pix I use in my blog, on Facebook/Twitter, etc, so they know. Feel free to use the pix that are available for blogs.
Dan
Thanks Dan, fantastic. I’ll have a look and see what I can do. I am the same about cats; love small wild cats and large domestic cats. It is probably normal. Update: A page on that gorgeous Maine Coon.
Classic photograph.
I wonder how old these kittens are. I’m guessing 4-5mos. Beautiful shots. These kittens are good size, not telling how big they will be once they reach maturity (takes six full years with Weggies). Thanks!
I don’t know how old they but as you say they do look a decent size. Adult weggies are on the large side of average, aren’t they? They are a bit smaller than Maine Coons. They fall into the same bracket as the Real Turkish Angora in that the moggie weggie counterpart to the refined cat fancy kitten you see above, is on the streets and in the barns of Norway.