What affects us affects cats
No, an individual leopard can’t change their spots once they are fully developed. But the background colour varies considerably across the cats huge distribution. And leopard markings are, in fact, dark spots to rosettes which vary in ‘size, shape, thickness of margins and whether the margins are broken into two, three, four or even …
This is a photograph of an all-white Maine Coon cat with heterochromia iridum. In layperson’s language, this beautiful cat has odd-eye colour. And it is a classic case of odd-eye colour because one eye is yellow-gold and the other is blue. The reason why one eye is yellow-gold and the other blue is because …
We know that the Scottish wildcat is either extinct in the wild in Scotland or very nearly so because of long-term hybridisation with domestic and feral cats. These two species i.e. the wildcat and the domestic cat readily mate. It is the wildcat’s undoing in Europe and in Africa. And today, we are told …
A kitten’s personality is dictated by inherited behaviours and environmental experiences; the nature and nurture argument, which has been around for donkey’s years. It is universally accepted that the important socialisation period of cats to people appears to occur between two and eight weeks, whereas it is less effective if delayed until after seven …
The question effectively asks why cats are white all over. It is because they have a dominant gene symbolised by the letter W which removes pigment from the hair strands. It does this by removing the pigment creating cells in the skin. These are called melanocytes. Genes are on chromosomes and chromosomes are in …
No one wanted this stunning odd-eyed Scottish Fold on offer online. I suspect that the reason is because Scottish Folds can have inherited health issues linked to the reason for their flat ears (cartilage production defect). That said these are the best example of feline odd-eyes that I have seen, which incidentally, are nearly …
You know those black freckles on the tip of the nose, gums, eyelids and the lips of an orange (ginger, yellow, red) cat? You have probably seen them and wondered what they were and if they were a health problem. Well, they are not a health problem and the experts call this skin ‘disorder’ …
Polydactylism occurs in cats because of a spontaneous genetic mutation.
