We don’t see many feral cats with long fur

Why don’t we see many feral cats with long fur? It is about functionality. The suggested answer is that long fur is unsuited in most places because it requires human attention to keep it in good condition. Without human intervention the skin can become infested and infected as it becomes matted. Another less important issue is that the cat will overheat in warm climates.

3 cats in a cat colony
3 cats in a cat colony. Photo: Pixabay.
Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles: Toxic to cats | Dangers to cats

The Maine Coon and Norwegian Forest cats have medium-longhaired coats. Before they became pedigree cats, they were barn cats and moggies respectively. Chilly Norway has a climate suited to a random bred outside cat with longer fur. It makes sense. Both these cats need to be groomed by their human caregivers as domestic cat companions, often as full-time indoor cats in centrally heated homes. Under these circumstances the long fur is purely decorative as some people like longhaired cats.

A study of Latin American cats indicated that the preference of a significant section of cat owners for longhaired cats is a strong factor in their continued existence when otherwise they’d fade out. The climate is a lesser factor. This is a case of general human intervention affecting the anatomy of cats.

ASSOCIATED: Why do feral cats not meow?

In the wild, the only time we see wild cats with thick coats is when they have to have them to survive. I am thinking for instance of Pallas’s cat and the snow leopard as two good examples.

You’ll never see a feral cat with fur the length of the Persian as the coat is the result of artificial selection by breeders. This popular cat breed needs daily grooming I’d suggest to ensure the cat does not create a health problem through matting. You’ll see some horrors stories of matted coats.

I am sure that you know that cats cannot sweat through their coats. They can only control their body temperature by sweating through their paw pads and by panting. Thick, luxurious fur is attractive to many but it has an unwanted functionality for indoor cats like the Persian.

SOME MORE NATURAL SELECTION:

Our desired cat

All domestic cats should be selectively breed. Discuss.

You can categorise domestic cats two ways: purebred and random bred. The default category is random bred. There are far ...
Maine Coon with a hint of tiger

Infographic on hip dysplasia in Maine Coon cats

This is a cross-post with another website which happens to be dedicated to Maine Coon cats. As far as I'm ...
Curious and seriously cute kitten

We need to selectively breed moggies to reduce predation

We know that most domestic cats are "moggies" i.e., non-purebred cats. They been created through natural selection whereas purebred cats ...
Selectively bred cat to meet human expectations

Domestic cats are struggling to keep up with our expectations in 2022

There will have to be far more controlled, selective breeding of domestic cats to create a companion animal which is ...
Archipelagos are a cluster of islands and the species living there are vulnerable to introduced species like rats and cats

Rats or cats? Which is the worst for killing island species?

Every scientific paper that you read regarding the extinction of native species on small islands in archipelagoes always refer to ...
Selective breeding clipart

2 reasons why cats are selectively bred

The two reasons why domestic cats are selectively bred, primarily by cat breeders, is to create cats with a certain ...

Please search using the search box at the top of the site. You are bound to find what you are looking for.

Useful tag. Click to see the articles: Cat behavior

1 thought on “We don’t see many feral cats with long fur”

  1. Not alway’s true,I had a long haired black/White feral cat whom I called scroungy and sadly several winters ago he just disappeared but on a happy note I have his daughter ‘Innis’ and she is a mirror of him,I miss him terribly but tis the way of ferals,they come and go but he always had a warm cat house and plenty of food and alot of love from me,the photo is him and his daughter.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

follow it link and logo

Note: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified.

I welcome and value comments. Please share your thoughts. All comments are currently unmoderated.

This blog is seen in 199 of the world's country's according to Google Analytics which is pretty much the entire world.

Scroll to Top