All members of the cat family (Felidae) have an evolutionary desire to move vertically. It is part of their survival skill set but some cat species are described as ‘arboreal’ meaning they live in trees as much or more than living on the ground (terrestrial). Two of these species are the clouded leopard and …
People are very familiar with the distinctive and iconic appearance of the sabretooth tiger and other species of sabertooths, which became extinct about 10,000 years ago. They were slightly smaller than today’s biggest lions and tigers and the question being discussed here is whether they roared like a lion. A study from North Carolina …
This is super-cute Little Roo Russ. She was brought to a shelter in late April 2016. Shelter staff knew immediately that something was wrong. She was walking in a strange way and was much smaller than her siblings. They x-rayed her and found that she did not have any elbow joints. This must have …
A cat’s tail is all three of the above. It is made up of bone, muscle, blood vessels and nerves just like the other parts of a domestic cat’s body. It is no more or less sensitive than the other main areas of the cat’s body in my view. But clearly it should not …
This is an X-ray image that might interest some cat caretakers. It comes from a tweet. The owner says that his cat gets into mischief and he believes that he may have broken all four metacarpal bones of the forepaw when chasing a squirrel. He may have got his foot trapped and then pulled …
Flying kitty from r/gifs My impression is that this bird is a magpie and she is defending her young. I’m not an ornithologist so I am assessing what’s happened as a layperson (update: the magpie is attacking the cat during nesting season). The cat, which looks like a dilute ginger tabby, simply wandered onto …
I think that some of the advice on the Internet may be less than wise. I have doubts whether it is sensible for domestic cats to eat the sort of bones that are commonly available to cat owners. We have to go back to the wild to answer the question. In the wild, the …
What is the sagittal crest in cats? It is a ridge running down the midline of the skull. You should be able to feel it when you stroke your cat’s head. Many carnivores have it. Its presence indicates that the jaw muscles are strong. Humans don’t have it but some individuals have a ‘sagittal …
