This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedia's deletion policy. Please share your thoughts on the matter at this article's deletion discussion page. |
Toe tufts are commonly found on cats with medium to long coats. Clumps of fur that stick out at least 1–2 cm (0.39–0.79 in) beyond the paw pad can be considered tufts. In addition to soft paw pads, toe tufts help a cat to silently stalk its prey by muffling excess noise.[ citation needed ] However, outdoor cats tend to lose their toe tufts due to excessive abrasion on the rougher outdoor surfaces.[ citation needed ] This is in distinct contrast to indoor cats who spend most of their time walking on carpet or smooth floors.
Although toe tufts do not cause additional hairballs in cats, they do make some aspects of hygiene more difficult. For example, cat litter, dirt and other particulates may stick to toe tufts and cause a cat some discomfort. Therefore, a cat with extra long toe tufts should be checked regularly for tangles and taken in for grooming.
A bicolor cat or piebald cat is a cat with white fur combined with fur of some other color, for example black or tabby. There are various patterns of bicolor cat. These range from Turkish Van pattern through to solid color with a throat locket.
The Maine Coon is a large domesticated cat breed. It is one of the oldest natural breeds in North America. The breed originated in the U.S. state of Maine, where it is the official state cat.
The Exotic Shorthair is a breed of cat developed as a short-haired version of the Persian. The Exotic is similar to the Persian in many ways, including temperament and conformation, a flat nose and face with the exceptions of the short dense coat.
A claw is a curved, pointed appendage found at the end of a toe or finger in most amniotes. Some invertebrates such as beetles and spiders have somewhat similar fine, hooked structures at the end of the leg or tarsus for gripping a surface as they walk. The pincers of crabs, lobsters and scorpions, more formally known as their chelae, are sometimes called claws.
The Scottish Fold is a breed of domestic cat with a natural dominant gene mutation that affects cartilage throughout the body, causing the ears to "fold", bending forward and down towards the front of the head, which gives the cat what is often described as an "owl-like" appearance.
The Himalayan, is a breed or sub-breed of long-haired cat similar in type to the Persian, with the exception of its blue eyes and its point colouration, which were derived from crossing the Persian with the Siamese. Some registries may classify the Himalayan as a long-haired sub-breed of Siamese, or a colorpoint sub-breed of Persian. The World Cat Federation has merged them with the Colorpoint Shorthair and Javanese into a single breed, the Colorpoint.
The Norwegian Forest cat is a breed of domestic cat originating in Northern Europe. This natural breed is adapted to a very cold climate, with a top coat of long, glossy, water-shedding hair and a woolly undercoat for insulation. The breed's ancestors may have been a landrace of short-haired cats brought to Norway about A.D. 1000 by the Vikings, who may also have brought with them long-haired cats, like those ancestral to the modern Siberian and Turkish Angora. During World War II, the Norwegian Forest cat was nearly extinct; then the Norwegian Forest Cat Club's breeding program increased the cat's number. It was registered as a breed with the European Fédération Internationale Féline in the 1970s, when a cat fancier, Carl-Fredrik Nordane, took notice of the breed and made efforts to register it. The breed is very popular in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, and France.
The thumb is the first digit of the hand, next to the index finger. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position, the thumb is the outermost digit. The Medical Latin English noun for thumb is pollex, and the corresponding adjective for thumb is pollical.
A paw is the soft foot-like part of a mammal, generally a quadruped, that has claws.
The Ragdoll is a cat breed with a colorpoint coat and blue eyes. Its morphology is large and muscular, and it has a semi-long and silky soft coat. Ragdolls were developed by American breeder Ann Baker in the 1960s. They are best known for their docile and placid temperament, and affectionate nature. The name 'Ragdoll' is derived from the tendency of individuals from the original breeding stock to go limp and relaxed when picked up.
A litter box, sometimes called a sandbox, cat box, litter tray, cat pan, potty, pot or litter pan, is an indoor feces and urine collection box for cats, as well as rabbits, ferrets, miniature pigs, small dogs, and other pets that instinctively or through training will make use of such a repository. They are provided for pets that are permitted free roam of a home but who cannot or do not always go outside to excrete their metabolic waste. Many owners of these animals prefer not to let them roam outside for fear that they might succumb to outdoor dangers, whilst others prevent outdoor visits in order to avoid the potentially negative effect on local wildlife of cats. These outdoor dangers include weather, wildlife, traffic or diseases such as the feline immunodeficiency virus.
The European Shorthair, called the European in FIFe and WCF, is a cat breed originating in Sweden. The term has also been used as an elaborate way of referring to common domestic cats of Europe, causing some confusion as the pedigree cats of this breed also should resemble the typical domestic cats of Europe. In WCF a similar breed is known as Celtic Shorthair and was at a time considered the same breed, but this breed has some difference from the Europeans, and the WCF now register true Europeans under this breed name instead of under Celtic Shorthair.
A dewclaw is a digit – vestigial in some animals – on the foot of many mammals, birds, and reptiles. It commonly grows higher on the leg than the rest of the foot, such that in digitigrade or unguligrade species it does not make contact with the ground when the animal is standing. The name refers to the dewclaw's alleged tendency to brush dew away from the grass. On dogs and cats the dewclaws are on the inside of the front legs, similarly to a human's thumb, which shares evolutionary homology. Although many animals have dewclaws, other similar species do not, such as horses, giraffes and the African wild dog.
The phalanges are digital bones in the hands and feet of most vertebrates. In primates, the thumbs and big toes have two phalanges while the other digits have three phalanges. The phalanges are classed as long bones.
Onychectomy, popularly known as declawing, is an operation to remove an animal's claws surgically by means of the amputation of all or part of the distal phalanges, or end bones, of the animal's toes. Because the claw develops from germinal tissue within the third phalanx, amputation of the bone is necessary to fully remove the claw. The terms "onychectomy" and "declawing" imply mere claw removal, but a more appropriate description would be phalangectomy, excision of toe bone.
A polydactyl cat is a cat with a congenital physical anomaly called polydactyly, which causes the cat to be born with more than the usual number of toes on one or more of its paws. Cats with this genetically inherited trait are most commonly found along the East Coast of North America and in South West England and Wales.
Kneading is a behavior frequently observed in domestic cats where, when a cat feels at ease, it may push out and pull in its front paws against a surface such as furniture or carpet, often alternating between right and left limbs. Each stroke is accompanied by a grasping motion of the claws as if the cat were kneading dough. It can also be referred to as Baking.
Sunrise is the sixth and final book in Erin Hunter's Warriors: Power of Three children's fantasy novel series. HarperCollins published it on 21 April 2009. The plot follows Jayfeather, Hollyleaf, and Lionblaze on their quest to find Ashfur's true murderer. It was originally to be titled "Cruel Season", though this was changed because HarperCollins, the series' publisher, felt it was too dark a name.