The Manx cat originated on the Isle of Man of the west coast of England. These cats generally have an ordinary appearance except for one fact: it has no tail or an extremely short one. There is a misconception that that Manx cats have difficulty jumping and climbing; but this is not the case. The absence of a tail does not seem to hamper this feline's mobility at all. It is believed that a small mutation began in the cats genes about four centuries ago on the Isle of Man. As the cats continued to breed, there began to be more tailless cats than ones with tales. These felines did not escape the attention of cat fanciers around the world. Breeders began to be bread them in the 1800's and they started to appear at cat shows in the USA and Europe in the late 1800's. There are two Manx varieties: the shorthair and the semi-longhair. The short-haired Manx has a double coat that feels very soft and thick, because the soft short undercoat pushes up the medium long top coat. Common Manx colors are red, black and blue, possibly with tabby markings, also with white markings and pure white. The eyes can be green or yellow and shades of yellow-green. White cats may have blue eyes or odd colored eyes. Information taken from the Encyclopaedia of Cats by Esther J. J. Verhoef-VerHallen. © 1998

 The Exotic is the short-haired variant of the Persian Cat. This breed is a good choice for people who like Persian type cats but are not prepared to put in the significant amount of time required to care for their coat. All the colors found in the Persian occur in the Exotic. The first Exotic was bred in the USA. A breeder who kept American Shorthairs and Persians mated an American Shorthair tom with a Persian longhair queen. What resulted was a Persian in type with a the father's short fur coat. Word got around of these kittens and it was decided to start a breeding program to establish the short-haired coat in the Persian type. The coat of the Exotic is soft and dense. It shouldn't lie flat but always stand out from the body slightly. The hair is slightly longer than a British Shorthair's Because the Exotic is a short-haired Persian, the breed comes in all the colors of a Persian Longhair. Exotics can be white, black, blue, red, cream, chocolate and lilac. Then there's the parti-colors depending on the amount of white in the coat and the type of markings. Vans are predominantly white with two spots of color on the head and a spot on the tail. Harlequins are like the Vans but with additional spots on the body. The Bi-color is one third white and another color. The is usually a white inverted "V" on the forehead. The Tri-color has two colors plus white. Tortoiseshell or Tortie Cats have different colors in their coat but no white. There are four different tabby patterns: ticked, mackerel, spotted and classic. Tabbies may be black, red, cream, blue, chocolate, or lilac. This info was taken from Encyclopaedia of Cats by Esther J. J. Verhoef- Verhallen ⓒ 1998

 American Shorthairs are thought to have been brought to North America from Europe. They were used on ships to control the vermin population on those long voyages. As they were brought to the new world they spread across the continent being put to use on farms. Excavations and research have caused the scientists to conclude that there were no indigenous house cats in North America before the fifteenth century. This breed is very popular in the United States. They include, the Black Tortie, and the Red Silver Classic Tabby and natural colors such a black, red, blue, and cream with or without tabby and or white markings. They can have a silver undercoat and also be pure white. The eye color depends on the coat color and can be copper or green. The source of this info is from Encyclopaedia of Cats by Esther J. J. Verhoef Verhallen.

 European Shorthairs were bred in Scandinavia from short-haired farm cats without the influence of the Persian longhair. European Shorthairs look a lot like the ordinary domestic cat we see every day in Europe and North America. The coat of this feline lies flat and doesn't stand out at all. Colors of their fur coat are black, red, blue and cream that may be with or without tabby or white markings and all white. The color of the eyes correspond to the coat color and may be yellow, green or orange. All white cats may have blue or odd color eyes. Nya is not a European Shorthair because her fur does not lie flat even though she is very soft and silky. Information was taken from Encyclopaedia of Cats by Esther J. J.  Verhoef-Verhallen, 1998.

 1st of May and spring is here. We're getting out in the backyard more which means less time for writing. I thought that I would talk about the Shorthair breed of cat. The British Shorthair started in Great Britain around the end of the 1800's as a breed that was developed from breeds that came from many oriental countries and the middle east. Ordinary domestic shorthairs from Britain were crossed with Persians to get the British Shorthair. The British shorthairs' coats come in a great many colors, patterns and markings. Parti-colors are colored cats with white areas on the coat. I think Nya is very close to being a Blue and White Bi-color British Shorthair according to the picture of one I've seen. There are other colors in this breed: Black and White Bi-Color; Black Tortie and White Tri-color; Blue Tortie; Tabbies; the Silver; the Cameo; and the Chinchilla. The Silver, the Cameo and the Chinchilla colors all depend on the amount of pigment in their hair since part of their hairs have no pigment. The information of the British shorthair breed was taken from Encyclopaedia of Cats by Esther J.J. Verhoef-Verhallen 1998.

 Like most cats, our Nya is a loner. Mostly, cats are only friendly with other cats that they live with if they are neutered and spayed. There is a neighbor's cat that comes around from another street that they let roam. Aside from that, it is well looked after. It comes to our yard very often to hunt birds and check us out. One night at two in the morning Nya started caterwauling. Raury, that neighbor's tom cat was at the patio door. We soon got Nya away from the door and to our bed. We talked to that person about their cat roaming and she said that she was told to let the out, "It was the best thing for it." Any cat that we ever had, and all told we had almost twenty of them over the years, were kept inside at night, were always home when we went out, and we never let them wander far. Just entice them with food they like and in they come. Cats like to feel safe, and they know home is the safest place, if you love them. I read online that you can keep cats away from your property by putting down lemon and/or orange peels. Felines don't like citrus fruits and neither do rats or mice as I've also read online. Bird feeders attract all three. The bird feeders have come down for the spring and summer so I'm hoping the rat takes a hike.

 Nya has improved substantially. After 10 days of antibiotics, I got a urine sample by cleaning out her litter box and washing it. The vets gave me a sampling kit including a little bit of non-absorbent litter, a syringe, some instructions, and a collection bottle. So, I put the non-absorbent litter in the litter box and Nya peed in it eventually. I sucked up the urine and put it in the collection bottle, put a label on it (my idea), and put it in the fridge until I can take it to the vets. I'll soon find out the results of the urinalysis, but I trust that it will be normal because Nya seems normal. She finished her run of antibiotics today. Pushing a pill down her throat everyday was a two person job. My wife holding her, while I opened her mouth and pushed the pill to back of her throat. I timed the urine sample with the arrival of the new bag of pretty litter, so once I cleaned up the litter box after the urine sample, Nya got a fresh refill. I'm so glad she is all better. It's so nice to have a happy cat.