Let’s talk Cats! Reading assignment: Encyclopedia of Cat Breeds, pp 32-37
Jan 17, 2016
Let’s talk Cats!
Reading assignment:
Encyclopedia of Cat Breeds, pp 32-37
BENGAL TIGER
CHEETAH
AFRICAN SERVAL
SERVAL
BENGAL
BAST: EGYPTIAN GODDESSProtector of cats, women and children. The Bast Cat was the
goddess of sun but was also associated with the moon because it reflected the sun’s light. She is also known as the
goddess of love, fertility, birth, music and dance
MUMMIFIED CAT
Have been radiographed by researchers
* Many were found to be ~ 2 years old*Necks that were broken may have been
a sacrifice to cat goddess* It was also said that upon the natural
death of a cat, the Egyptian people mourned heavily and even shaved their
eyebrows as a sign of grief!
EGYPTIAN MAUThe only naturally spotted domestic cat. The spots are not
just on the coat, a shaved mau also has spots on the skin
During the middle ages religious fervor discouraged the practice of paganism. Cats were thought to
be evil and were tortured and killed. The reduction of cats during the 1600 -1700’s was
partly responsible for the spread of the bubonic plague as rodents
spread the black death.
Feline Conformation
•Most breeds fall into two categories:•Cobby (Persian and British Shorthair)•Foreign/Extreme (Siamese)
Cobby Body type
Extreme Body type
There is a third body type that is recognized for those cats between a Cobby and a foreign/extreme:
*The Moderate type(Moderates include most tabbies,Havana Brown and American Curl)
The Moderate Body type
American Curl cats
Manx:This cat is classified according to tail length:
rumpy: no tailrumpy riser: stub
stumpy: partial taillongy: complete or near complete tail
Rumpy Manx
Rumpy Riser
Stumpy Manx
Longy Manx
The Feline Tabby Coat Patterns
There are four primary coat patterns that encompass MOST tabby cats.
Classic or Blotched TabbyAgouti/Abyssinian Tabby
Spotted TabbyMackerel Tabby
Classic, or Blotched tabby
Abyssinian/Agouti tabby
SPOTTED TABBY
Mackerel Tabby
“Cooper” is my mackerel tabby!
So we’ve talked Tabby, what about the solid colored cats?
Cats with ONLY one color fur are called:
Self or Solid
If a cat is black over most of its’ body but has a patch of white on its’ chest, it would be considered:
Self or solid black with white
Self or Solid Black with white
Self or Solid cats
Self or solid black
Self or solid blue
Self or solid white
Cat colors are all variations of two primary colors:
Red and Black
**White is actually a masking of other colors! (It keeps all other colors from coming through!)
The most common feline coat colors are:
BlackBlueRedCream
Other colors are dilutions/combinations of these colors
Pointed Color Patterns
In the Siamese color patterns, the body of the cat has little color, But the “points” of the body appear darker.
Feet, Face, Tail, and Ears are referred to as the “points”Even at these “points”, the colors are diminished so black
appears as a dark brown, commonly called “seal”
Red pointed
Cream pointed
Seal point
Blue point
Lynx PointLynx Point cats have bands that resemble Mackerel Tabby stripes.
Because they’re points, the stripes only appear on the head, legs and tail, just like the other point colors