Cat history and Advantages of Keeping Cats Written by chetan gupta The Cat was a pet at least eight thousand years ago because bones of cats, mice and humans were found buried together on ancient island of Cyprus. In ancient Egypt, cat was a pet at least five thousand years ago. The cat was considered to be a sacred animal in ancient Egypt. Cats are held sacred in Buddhism. Much appreciated by Buddhists was capacity of cats for meditation which they sensed in cats. The Birman cat descends from cats that were venerated as gods in Buddhist temples. In Burma, Burmese cats are held to be sacred. The Birman cat descends from cats that were venerated as gods in Buddhist temples. The Buddhist priests believed that faithful returned to earth in form of a cat. In Buddhism, it is believed that on death of a person who had reached highest levels of spirituality soul entered body of a cat. It remained there until cat died, when soul entered paradise. Even today, in some Asiatic sanctuaries, divine powers are attributed to cat and it is believed that in hereafter soul of cat speaks to Buddha in favor of its owner that still lives on earth. In Buddhist temples across Asia, cats are kept as mousers. Among most charming of Japanese cats is Maneki-Neko, a small cat believed to ensure happiness and good luck. Japanese Buddhists venerate cats after their death. The temple of Go - To - Ku - Ji in Tokyo is dedicated to cats. Vested priests serve temple and intone chants for feline souls. Crowded into temple are sculptures paintings and relief carvings of cats. In each of these, cat has a paw raised as if in greeting, classical pose of cat Maneki - Neko. Cats continue to be worshiped as deities in countries such as Thailand and China. The power of cats to see in dark was also considered useful to hold evil spirits at way, since it was usually thought that eyes of cat were more active at night, walls of many Asiatic houses were adorned with images of cats. In England, a black cat sitting in a house on a wedding day is thought to bring good luck. In Thailand, a Diamond eyed cat is believed to be a symbol of good luck. In South America, Incas revered sacred cats, representations of which can be seen in pre-Columbian Peruvian artifacts. The earliest representations of domestic cat were Egyptian tomb paintings and sculpture. By 5th century B.C., images of cats appeared on Greek coins, and later they were depicted in Roman mosaics and paintings and on earthenware, coins and shields. Cats have reputation for having nine lives. Cats are very affectionate towards human beings. The Siamese breed of cats are very affectionate towards people. Cats can recognize footsteps of their owner from hundreds of feet away. Cats are easy to care as compared to dogs. Outdoor cats bury their faeces. Cats groom themselves with their saliva. The cats tongue, saliva and paws help in grooming cats themselves. Cats groom themselves about twenty times in a day. Kittens start cleaning or grooming themselves at age of one month. All cats generally do not need bath. Cats are easiest to care out of all domestic animals. Cats are most independent domestic animals. Cats do not need care and attention. Cats are also small in size. Cats also exercise themselves. Cats are most playful out of all domestic animals. Kittens play themselves by batting and tossing small objects, hunting and by jumping in and out of boxes. Cats love to hide in cardboard boxes, drawer or laundry basket. Kittens begin playing with toys at age of four weeks and their enjoyment becomes more elaborate as they grow. Kittens that have free access to a terrace or garden will amuse themselves by running after a butterfly, bug, insect or leaf. Cats enjoy being stroked by their owner. The gestation period of a cat is 63 days. The average litter of cats consists of four kittens. Kittens are born blind, deaf and helpless. The eyes of kitten open at eight to ten days of age, and they begin to be weaned about six weeks after birth. The senses of kitten begin to function ten to twelve days after birth. Soon after birth mother cat licks her kittens, this action cleans them and helps stimulate their circulation. After birth of kittens, mother cat take them to safe places. Scientific studies have shown that stroking a pet cat or kitten and playing with a pet cat or kitten reduce stress and anxiety and lowers blood pressure of its owner. Cats can also learn to live with other domestic pets. The fur of cats is soft and beautiful. Cats are comfort - loving creatures, seemingly addicted to warmth and luxury. Cats also seem to grow fond of their owners, adopting them almost as parents. Cats are available in many coat colours. Cats and kittens use litter boxes or toilet and unlike dogs, cats do not need to be walked. Dogs are not able to use litter box and toilet and dogs need to be walked. Kittens begin using litter box at just five or six weeks age. The litter boxes of cats should be filled with sand, regular clay, clumping clay or wooden pallets. Childrens and adults both enjoy playing with cats. Kittens should be domesticated at age of two to four months. The weight of a newborn kitten is about hundred grams. Many cat magazines are published in USA , UK, and other countries each year. Cats have been portayed in works of many great artists including Leonardo Da Vinci, Albrecht Durer, Paul Gauguin, Theodore Gericault, William Hogarth, Edouard Manet and Pablo Picasso. Most cats like to become friendly with human beings while few of them want to be left alone. Kittens are most playful out of all domestic animals. All kittens play by themselves by finding amusement or satisfaction with odd trinkets or by jumping in and out of boxes, hunting and poking, batting and tossing small objects. Kittens also exercise themselves. Keeping cats as pets can bring cheerfulness and for aged, emotionally disturbed and prison population they bring about amazing transformation. Cats can be lifesaver for their owner. A cat of UK saved his owner's life by signaling that gas cooker had been left on with his paw. A cat named Mourka delivered vital messages from Russian scouts about enemy's gun replacements. According to news Cat sense organs and Cat Breeds Written by chetan gupta Cats are available in all rainbow colours and their shades. Cats are available in hundreds of colours. The common coat patterns in cats are solid, tabby, tortoiseshell, bi colour, tri colour and colourpoint. Eyes of cats are most beautiful as compared to all other animals. Eyes of cats are also found in all rainbow colours and their shades. A cat can have each eye of different colour. Each eye of a cat can have two or more colours. The eyes of kittens change color over a period of months to final eye color. Eyes of cat are found in slanted, almond and oval shapes. The eyes of cat shine at night because they have a layer of reflective cells at back of each eye known as Tapetum Lucidium of yellowish colour which acts like a sort of bright mirror reflecting light on retina. Cats are able to see clearly in dim light. The night vision of cats is six times greater than human beings. Cats are not able to see in complete darkness. For function of vision, Cats have more nerve cells in their brain as compared to human beings and all other mammals. Cats also have about three times more rods in their eyes as compared to human beings so they can see better than human beings in dim light. Cats have Peripheral vision and binocular vision which enables it to accurately judge large distances. Eyes of cats have a additional third eyelid or nictitating membrane which is a thin fleshy membrane that is usually tucked away at inner corner of eye. The third eyelid helps in protection and cleaning of eye. The retina of cat's eye is made extra sensitive to light by a layer of guanine, which causes eye to shine at night in a strong light. Cats have highly developed sense of touch. The skin of cats is covered with highly sensitive touch spots which respond to lightest pressure. The skin of cats shine due to sebum, a lubricant secreted by sebaceous glands of skin. Ear of cats can rotate up to 180 degrees in order to locate and identify even faintest of squeaks, peeps and rustling noises. Ears of cats have twelve muscles. Tiny erector muscles, attached to hair follicles, enable cat to bristle all over. In relation to their body size, cats have largest eyes as compared to any other mammal including human beings. Domestic cats possess some colour vision. Domestic cats are able to see blue, green, yellow and gray colours. Cats sense of hearing is one of highest in animal kingdom. Cats can hear ultrasonic waves. Hearing power of cats is about three times greater than human beings. Hearing power of cats is about two times greater than dogs. Cats can hear sounds of upto 65kHz and dogs can hear sounds of upto 30kHz. There are more than forty thousand nerve fibres present in auditory nerve of cats as compared to human beings having about thirty thousand. Deafness is an inherited defect among some white cats, particularly those with blue or odd - color eyes. Sense of smelling in cats is highly developed. Cats have fourteen times more smelling power than human beings. Smelling power of dogs is greater as compared to cats. The cats have additional smelling organ known as jacobson's organ besides having nose. The jacobson's organ is located in upper surface of a cat's mouth. A cat has a small wedge - shaped nose. The tip of nose is covered by a tough layer of skin called nose leather. The nose leather may be of various colors. It is usually moist and cool. A sick cat may have a warm, dry nose. The sense of taste in cats is as developed as sense of smell. The taste buds are present in tongue of cats. Cats prefer salty and sour tastes more than sweetness and bitterness. The tongue of cats is covered with hooklike rough protuberances or papillae, that it uses to rasp meat from bones and to groom itself. Out of all domestic animals, only cats have true furs. Cats have both undercoat fur and outer fur. The fur of cats are warm, soft, shiny, silky and of various lengths depending upon breed of cat. The cats can have upto two hundred hairs for every square millimeter on their body. There are more than hundred breed of cats. There are about forty internationally recognized breeds of cats which differs mainly in their personality, intelligence, coat colour, coat colour pattern, body size, ear size, ear shape, nose size, eye colour, tail length, tail shape, thickness of tail, fur length, face shape and eye shape. The famous cat breeds include Siamese, Persian, Ragdoll, Balinese, Russian Blue, Maine Coon, American Curl, Manx, Himalayan, Burmese, Abyssinian and Birman. Other breeds include Bombay, Norwegian Forest Cat, Scottish Fold, British Shorthair, American Shorthair, American Wirehair, American Bobtail, Laperm, Ocicat, Siberian, Egyptian Mau, Oriental, Colorpoint Shorthair, Chartreux, Cornish Rex, Devon Rex, Somali, Singapura, Exotic, European Burmese, Havana Brown, Japanese Bobtail, Turkish Angora, Turkish Van, Tokinese, Sphynx, Javanese, Korat and Selkirk Rex. The coat colour patterns in different breeds of cat are Solid, Tabby, Shaded, Parti - Color, Colorpoint, Tortoiseshell or Calico and Bi - Coloured. Out of all cat breeds, Persian breed of cats have longest and thickest fur. The coat of Russian Blue cats is blue coloured. The Manx breed of cats do not have a tail. The largest breeds of domestic cat are Ragdoll and Maine Coon. The Siamese breed of cats is exceptionally more vocal. The Sphynx breed of cats is hairless. The Japanese Bobtail breed of cats has a short rigid tail with bushy hair. The Scottish fold is a medium sized cat with ears that fold toward face and downward. The Maine Coon breed of cats looks somewhat like a Raccoon. The American Curl breed of cats have ears that curl away from face. The American Wirehair breed of cats have a unique wiry coat that is not dissimilar to that of Cornish Rex and Devon Rex breeds. Most breeds of cats have rounded face. The most favorite breeds of cat are Persian, Siamese and Maine Coon. Many breeds of cats have narrow or flat face. Many cat encyclopedias are now available at http://www.amazon.com/. Cat Encyclopedias like Catlopedia, The Ultimate Encyclopedia Of Cats, Cat Breeds and Cat Care by Alan Edward, The Encyclopedia of cat by Michael Pollard ,The cat - A Complete Guide by Claire Bessant, The new encyclopedia of cat by Fogle, Bruce and Dorling Kindersley and Cat Encyclopedia by Verhoef Verhallen and Esther J.J. are now available at http://www.amazon.com/. Many cat Magazines and cat periodicals like All About Cats, Your Cat and Cat World are now available. Teeth of cats are sharp and they are adapted for tearing flesh because cats are carnivorous animals. Cats have from thirty to thirty two teeth. The anatomy of cats is very similar to anatomy of human beings. The skeleton Cont'd on page 2 ==>   ImproveHomeLife.com © 2005 Terms of Use