Cat breeds,Cat Senses and Cat Anatomy

Continued from page 1
like Catlopedia, The Ultimate Encyclopedia Of Cats, Cat Breeds and Cat Care by Alan Edward, The Encyclopedia of cat by Michael Pollard and The cat - A Complete Guide by Claire Bessant are now available at http://www.amazon.com/.Cats are free from many skeletal abnormalities that can affect dogs. All cats have flexible spine. The cat's body has great elasticity. Because vertebrae of spinal column are held together by muscles rather than by ligaments, as in humans, cat can elongate or contract its back, curve it forward, or oscillate it along vertebral line. A cat uses its tail for balancing while jumping or falling. All cats have an excellent sense of balance, which enables them to leap and pounce with ease. Several spongy pads of thick skin cover bottoms of a cat's feet. The pads cushion paws and enable a cat to move quietly. Cat hunts and kills birds, rats, mice, insects, rabbits, frogs, squirrels, lizards, snakes, fishes, cockroaches and other small animals. Cats are most skillful hunters out of all other animals. A cat usually hunts alone instead of hunting in groups because hiding and pouncing cannot be successful in a group whereas dogs always hunt in groups.Cats also have a keen sense of balance and can easily walk along tops of narrow fences or along narrow ledges.All cats are excellent fisherman. Cats can be used as catchers of fish. Cats run faster than any other animal. A domestic cat can run at speeds of upto thirty miles per hour. Cheetah run faster than any animal. Cheetah can run at speeds of seventy miles per hour. Cats are also excellent swimmers. Some cats can do swim for pleasure and some cats specially tiger swim for long distances. All cats walk on tips of their toes, not on soles of their feet. The Giraffe and Camel are only known animals that walk on tips of their toes similar to cats. Cats are sleepiest of all mammals. A cat sleeps for sixteen to eighteen hours in a day.Whiskers are long straight hairs that protrude from lips of cats. The whiskers are sensitive to air currents. Whiskers or vibrissae are delicate sensitive organs of touch equivalent to fingertips of human beings. Whiskers may help catch reflections of sound, thus serving somewhat same function as antennae do in other animals.Cats have about twenty four movable whiskers, twelve on either side of their nose. Small groups of whiskers are also situated on other parts of body as well such as on outer edges of cheeks, above eyes and on back of front legs.The useful websites related to cats are http://directory.google.com op/recreation/pets/cats, http://www.petplace.com/ , www.pbs.org/nature/excats, http://www.i-love-cats.com/, http://www.thecatbasket.freeserve.co.uk/,www.nhm.org/cat.For information about cats visit website of animal planet channel cat guide at http://animal.discovery.com/guides/cats/cats.html. For more information on cats visit website of Encyclopedia Encarta at http://www.encarta.msn.com/,visit encyclodedia Aniwa at http://www.aniwa.com.

I am owner and webmaster of website http://www.catswelfare.org.I am working in the SPCA Mumbai,India for the past seven years.I am also a cat dentist.

Cat Behaviour Part-1

Continued from page 1
trust and vunerability. A cat arch its back when it is threatened by another animal. Although cat is a relatively small animal, it can frighten enemies by arching its back, bristling, and hissing. Cat rubbing up against legs of its owner for obtaining food or caresses. For body language of cats visit animal planet channel website at http://animal.discovery.com/guides/cats/behaviour/bodylanguageintro.html. Cats use about hundred different types of sounds for communication while dogs use only about ten different types of sounds for communication. Researchers have noted some sixteen vocal patterns in cats. The basic cat sounds are purring, meows and hisses. Cats can readily vary these sounds, thus seeming to talk. Most peoples are able to communicate with their pet cats. A cat meeting with another cat can emit more than fifty different sounds for communication which vary in tone from harsh to acute. The cat forms words that assume a precise meaning for other cats. The cat possesses a sweet sound, Purr, which it uses to express joy, momentary well being and affection for its owner. It is a musical sound repeated at length when cat is happy. Purring also occurs in cats that are injured and in pain. The books How to talk to your cat, communicating with your cat, Psycho kitty and What is my cat thinking The essential guide to understanding Pet behaviour are now available at http://www.amazon.com/. Cats can distinguish between shapes of letters of alphabet of language like human beings. Cats can distinguish between complex shapes such as circles, squares, triangles etc. Cats can also distinguish colours. Out of all animals, only cats have skill of jumping from great heights by rolling their body in air, so that they tend to land on all four feet on ground, without injuring themselves. Cats survive fall from great heights. A cat survived fall from 20th floor of a New York apartment building. Another cat named Andy survived fall from 16th floor of a Miami apartment building. Cats have been subjects in a number of studies involving weightlessness. The studies have shown that under conditions of weightlessness, a cat is unable to right itself, but will float about in any position. Cats seem to defy gravity. A cat can survive fall from height of hundreds of feet. After a fall, a cat always land on its feet on ground. A frightened domestic cat can run at speeds of upto thirty miles per hour. A cat can jump upto seven times its height. Cats are excellent climbers. Cats are excellent hunters. Mother cats teach their kittens to hunt. A cat always hunt alone whereas dogs always hunt in groups because stalking, hiding and pouncing cannot be successful in a group. A kitten at six weeks of age can hunt alone. Cat's vision and hearing power is more than dogs and human beings. Cat's vision and hearing power is one of highest in animal kingdom. Cats have well developed sense of smell. Cats have additional cigar shaped smelling organ known as Jacobson's Organ besides having nose. Cats have fourteen times more smelling power than human beings. Cats mark their territory with help of scent glands by means of rubbing and scratching. All cats defend their territory and cats does not tolerate competition within its own territory. The territories of cats can be as large as hundred acres or more for rural cats and as small as a few feet for city cats. The territory of cats are safe places for sleeping, eating, hunting, defecating and playing. Like human beings, cats are territorial by nature. Scent glands are located on various parts of cat's body including their faces, feet and base of their tail. Scent glands contain molecules called Pheromones. By means of rubbing their faces on various objects, cats are releasing Pheromones. Pheromones affect number of behaviours like reproduction and establishing territory. All cats scratch for whole life because scratching removes dead nail material from their claws and establishes their territory by marking with scent glands at bottom of their feet. Scratching also provides a cat with a form of physical therapy for muscles and tendons of his paw. When a cat is scratching, claws are practicing extending and retracting. Scratching posts and scratching pads preferably covered with a rough material such as sisal rope should be selected in order to avoid scratching by cats. Treading is common in cats. Treading in cats is believed to be a sign of contentment, pleasure and relaxation. Pet cats rub against their owners for marking their territory with help of scent glands. Cats groom themselves by their saliva. Traning a cat is very easy because cats are very intelligent animals. Cats can learn many activities by observation like human beings. The observation power of cats is greater than all domestic animals. Cats can be easiest to train out of all domestic animals. Many books related to training of cats, behaviour of cats and intelligence of cats are now available at http://www.amazon.com/. Books like 50 Ways To Train Your Cat, How To Get Your Cat To Do What You Want, Communicating With Your Cat, Cats On The Counter: Therapy And Training For Your Cat, Teaching Your Cat Simple Tricks, 101 Training Tips For Your Cat, Understanding And Training Your Cat Or Kitten, Understanding Your Cat, Test Your Cat's Creative Intelligence: Eighteen Easy-To-Use Test Cards To Verify Your Cat's Artistic Ability and The Cat I.Q. Test are now available at http://www.amazon.com/.

I am owner and webmaster of website http://www.catswelfare.org.I am working in SPCA Mumbai for the past seven years.I am also a cat dentist.