Trixie was her name; quite a modern name for cat who kept her owner company in the Tower of London from 1601-1603. Trixie belonged to the Third Earl of Southampton, Henry Wriothesley. Queen Elizabeth I imprisoned him we are told. … please continue reading
Domestic dogs vary in size much more that cats because they have been selectively breed for a much longer time. With a head start of thousands of years the relentless selective breeding of dogs has forced their sizes to new … please continue reading
Why was the cat domesticated? The advent of farming was the reason why the wild cat came to be domesticated. As Dr Morris says ‘there would have been no taming of the cat before the Agricultural Revolution’. This happened during … please continue reading
This is a list of cat breeds in alphabetical order with the date they were created and the place of origin. You will see variations on this information on the internet. This also applies to this site because the origins … please continue reading
Are cheetahs big cats? The one word answer is no. The term ‘big cats’ loosely refers to size. They are unified by the fact that all four big cats roar. Their anatomy allows it. please continue reading
There are five types of tabby cat coat with many variants due to selective breeding over many years. On this page you will see illustrations of the five types of tabby coat together with full descriptions and some history. please continue reading
The naming of this very attractive all-brown purebred cat is perhaps the most confusing of all the cat breeds. As you might expect the breed is named after the Havana cigar no matter how you wish to analyze it. please continue reading
This very nice French cat breed’s origins and history are confusing. The connection with the Carthusian monks appears to have been fabricated to add mystique to the breed. It was probably created by selectively breeding random bred cats and that is certainly the case after WWII. please continue reading
‘Never buy a pig in a poke’ is closely linked to ‘he let the cat out of the bag’. A trickster would substitute a cat for a pig when taking it to market in a bag (a poke). The buyer would ask to see the pig but told he could not because it might escape. And then the cat is released because he’s struggling too much. The secret it out. A failed attempt at fraud. please continue reading
Christianity is behind the hatred of cats in the Middle Ages supported by the independence of the cat making them outsiders akin to atheists and all this was supported by papal bulls from three popes who were cat haters. please continue reading
