Yes, is the answer to the question in the title. I can produce the results of a couple of tests that were passed by domestic cats as evidence. Firstly, mine. When I buy the paper in the morning, I have to walk to a garage about half a mile away. My cat follows me – …
The cat fancy through their cat associations – I typically refer to the Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA) in the US – not infrequently demand through their breeding guidelines called breed standards that specified cat breeds such as the Siamese and LaPerm have almond shaped eyes. Here is an infographic on the topic which some might …
Here comes Toji! – Photo by fofurasfelinas (link at base of page) This is a really nice picture by a well-known Flickr photographer, Giane Portal, Flickr name: forfurasfelinas, of a sanctuary or rescue cat (she is heavily involved in cat rescue) named Toji. As we can see, he is a brown mackerel tabby cat and …
This wonderful photograph of a Canada lynx padding its way through snow amply illustrates the enormous paws of this medium-sized wild cat weighing approximately 8-11 kg. It is a wild cat species which closely resembles the bobcat but the paws of the bobcat are much smaller because it has not evolved to live in a …
The enormous paws of the Canada lynx are a good example of evolution (natural selection) Read More »
As per the Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA) breed standard the eye colour of the Siamese cat is always a “deep vivid blue” and that eye colour is the same across all the different Siamese cat colours from seal point through to chocolate point, blue point and lilac point. And it is the same across the …
All cats are digitigrade; that is, they walk on their toes. You probably know this. Incidentally, they walk with a direct register gait which means that the paw prints made by the forelegs are occupied by the paw prints made by the hind legs as the cat walks forwards. The distal phalange (phalanx) of each …
TikTok’s cat vision filter is unsophisticated and misleading. I’ll explain why. TikTok has introduced another ‘filter’. What that means is the platform a alters the reality or filters the video that you make and, in this instance, they make the video look as if it was through the eyes of a cat. And in simplistic …
Here I am trying to summarise all that is felid in a short infographic for general use. The central point is that the domestic cat thinks they are a tiger. The toy dog thinks they are a wolf. That’s why they behave and look the way they do. It is always worth remembering that. Sometimes …
Together with the cat’s athleticism, their claws and teeth define the cat because they are essential to their predatory nature. The cat is a top predator and they live with us when domesticated. It’s remarkable in many ways that humans should so successfully live with such a devastating predator. The relationship isn’t always successful for …
The claws of wild and domestic cats (infographic) Read More »
NO, not NORMALLY is the answer to the question in the title but there are exceptions. The paws of the hind legs are almost always out of bounds in my experience. More so than the forepaws. But after living with my cat for around 8 years and developing an ever-closer relationship, he likes me to …
Do cats accept the touching or petting of their paws? Read More »
The question asks if the top speed of the greyhound is faster than that of the cheetah or vice versa. Therefore, I’m not going to go into a long discussion about the endurance and acceleration of these two animals (but see below). I’m simply going to set down for the record what I think is …
Introduction: I was the first person to make these comparison point-of-view images. Everyone has followed. I used our knowledge of the cat’s eyesight to work it out. Enjoy. We cannot be absolutely certain that these images are entirely accurate but they should be pretty close. Remember too that cats have poor close-range eyesight partly because …
The title sounds unfair and biased but it isn’t as it is based in biological fact. The prevalence of deafness in pure white domestic cats varies depending on whether they have two blue eyes (the highest proportion of deaf cats), odd-eye colour or non-blue eyes (least likely to be deaf in both ears). Where the …
A domestic cat companion’s eyes are expressive. There are probably five basic eye configurations: Wide-open pupil i.e. a dilated pupil with wide-open eyes Narrowed eyes with a narrow slit of a pupil Half-closed eyes with the pupil in a relaxed mid-range position Closed eyes Stare Background The pupil is the aperture of the eye which …
Do domestic cats sometimes defecate when they are scared such as when on the veterinarian’s consultation table? The answer quite definitely is yes. I have personal experience of this when I took my then three-legged black, male cat to the vet because of what transpired to be a tumour behind his eye. He was a …
