A Michael Broad Blog
I always like these short videos showing a charming Maine Coon kitten growing up. This breed grows up slowly; still developing at 4-years-of-age they say. And this particular individual is a lovely ginger tabby with a nice little dark smudge on the left side of his nose which I think adds to his attractiveness. …
A recent study has once again looked at the concerning situation regarding the extinction of the Scottish wildcat which is actually a European wildcat living in Scotland. About 15 years ago scientists knew that the Scottish wildcat was near extinction because of hybridisation with domestic and feral cats in Scotland. Acceleration of wildcats mating …
This is another infographic which I hope summarises what is going on when a cat coat becomes pale and washed out. A lot of people like the appearance. All the grey cats are a washed out black. The most famous grey purebred cat is the British Blue. The Russian Blue is also a dilute black.
This is my infographic on the agouti tabby domestic cat coat which we all know. It is the original cat coat.
We all know that the domestic cat tabby pattern is the most common and best known as it comes from the domestic cat’s wildcat ancestor the North African wildcat which has a less contrasty spotted/mackerel tabby coat. Domestication introduced the blotched tabby in the 19th century; a late arrival.
Domestic cats have the required ‘umami’ taste receptors on their tongues to respond well to an enzyme called inosine monophosphate and an amino acid called free L-Histidine which combine to produce a strong umami taste. Cats enjoy these taste receptors thanks to the inheritance of Tas1r1-Tas1r3 genes. The umami taste is described as the …
You know that in the cat fancy grey cats are called blue cats. The best known is the ‘Blue British Shorthair’. This is a grey-furred cat. Grey fur is caused by the presence of the dilution gene. It causes the melanin pigment clumps in each hair strand to be dispersed with gaps as shown …
“Inbreeding depression” is a euphemism for a general lack of health in an individual purebred cat which has been selectively bred (using artificial selection) for appearance, which automatically incorporates inbreeding. Cat breeders often have to inbreed their purebred cats in order to fix their appearance. This is because the appearance is held on a …
While doing some research on pet health insurance I noted that one insurer increases their insurance premiums because Bengal cats are predisposed to developing an inherited disease (in my opinion) called “Flat-chested Kitten syndrome (FCK)”. It’s a disappointment to me to read about this because you have to add this disease to the others …
