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.

 What a time over the last couple of days: up all night at the emergency veterinarian and all day at the vets. Nya was going back and forth to her litter box every five minutes to pee and only doing a dribble each time. We noticed this at bed time. We figured she needed immediate attention so after a phone call, it was off to the emergency clinic for animals. They tried unsuccessfully to get a urine sample. Her bladder was empty. So, they told us to call the vets when they open. We were able to get an appointment at lunch time, so between appointments I had a fitful sleep. The veterinarian at the vets was able to get a urine sample and confirm that Nya had a bladder infection. She was prescribed some antibiotics and a pain killer. Nya doesn't like the cat carrier. The only time she meows is in the cat carrier. She is the quietest cat in the world. The doctor said that Nya was a good girl. She said some cats want to take her arm off. Nya was very gentle the whole time and sought comfort from us while we played the waiting game. So, after two days, Nya is feeling better. When she finishes her prescriptions I have to collect a urine sample and take it in. We were given a kit for this procedure; real easy to do. I'll let you know how that went next post.

 Cats that are strangers to each other are rarely friendly unless the female is ready to mate. If the cats are neutered then mating is out of the question. When one cat meats another strange cat a fight could break out after some caterwauling that will quickly get you off your sofa or wake you in the middle of the night. We do our best to keep an eye on our timid feline when we let her out for a short time. She doesn't appreciate an orange tom coming around. She has no use for him since she's fixed. She stays in close proximity to her home in contrast to the tom cat who wanders all over our neighborhood. My wife has spoken to the owners of the orange nemesis but they are determined to let their cat roam all day and night. One night he was at our back door in a cold windy rain storm. Our cat's caterwauling woke us up. There was nothing that we could do to help the poor thing because if we let him in, our own cat would be upset and we would not get any sleep. The only thing I hope is that the Orange Guy would have taken refuge under our shed. Therefore, the moral of the story: keep your feline friends close.

Kittens are blind at birth, but the touch receptors in their noses are already developed. Rubbing noses with their mother may help them feel secure. My cat likes to touch its nose to my finger when I stretch my hand towards her. I wonder what she's saying.

There are more than 20 muscles in each ear to help cats rotate their ears in many directions enabling them to easily find the source of a sound. A cat may be ignoring you, but their ears give them away. Feline hearing is five times greater than us humans.

The gene that results in the orange, tortoise-shell coat pattern of a calico cat is linked to the cat's gender, which is usually female, but occasionally it will be a male. My mother-in-law had a male calico. She named it Tootsie after the movie.

Cats step with both left legs then both right legs when they walk or run, and they always walk on their toes making them quiet hunters.

Never give chocolate, anything with onions in it like gravy, anything with garlic in it like hamburger to your cat. These things are poisonous to them.

What you can do is give them lots of love and feed them a healthy diet. Talk to your local veterinarian about what's best to feed your cat. Different cats may have different needs based on age or health problems, etc. Most of all enjoy your cat.

 Our feline friends love their humans as much as we love them. We show it by: keeping them safe, feeding them, snuggling, caressing, understanding them as best as we can, playing with them and providing a clean toilet. This is not an exhaustive list by any means. Cats will show their love in may ways such as: sleeping on our laps and purring, rubbing against you to say you're theirs, giving us a slow blink, even the position of their tail is telling you something. Cats love it when you talk to them in a sweet voice, which our furry bundle seems to find it comforting. When your cat gives you a slow blink remember to give a slow blink back. It says, "I love you too." Every cat has its own personality, so you can likely expect variations on the theme. A senior cat will react differently from a kitten. A nervous cat will behave differently from a confident one. Each one has its own quirks that you get to know and identify with your own cat. So, let's enjoy loving and learning something new each day. I also have another blog at alongredemptionroad.blogspot.com for you to check out if you so wish.

It's sometimes difficult to understand what a cat is communicating. It must think that we are quite stupid in not being able to comprehend its language. The language of a feline is very different from human language. Cats mostly talk with body language. The shape and position of the tail for instance. If the tail is down, the cat may be indicating disapproval. If the tail is pointed straight up, it may be a happy cat. We had a cat who would go out the back door, scratch at the front door, and with its tail pointed straight up, go through the house and straight out the back door. I could never figure out why it did that but I'm sure he thought it was funny. That was Simon. He used to do lambie pie too. If I picked up a stick in the garden and I held it toward him, he would walk along with me wherever I went with his tail pointing straight up. My wife thought it was marvelous. I don't know why he did that for me, but he seemed to enjoy it as much as me. I could tell by the position of the tail. So, as you can see a cat's tail is very useful in communication. Something that us humans lack, obviously. Maybe if we had tails, we would be better at communicating with each other and with our friend, the cat.

 I will talk about my cat, Nya again and how she points. When she wanted to play with a string she would go to the kitchen closet and stare at the door until I opened it and get out the string. I would say, "string, Nya?" This way I taught her to understand the word string. When she points with her eyes at her cat dish I know she wants to be fed. I say, "crunchies Nya?" So, I give her some crunchies. I also give her some soft stuff. She doesn't know that word though. She doesn't meow. That's kind of interesting because Nya means "meow" in Japanese. She makes other interesting sounds which are impossible to type with any degree of accuracy. She points at a lot of things with her eyes. Since she makes very few sounds, this is one of the major ways she communicates with us, and makes it easy to teach her to understand some words. Some of the things she points at with her eyes are: the back door, up the bedroom stairs, down the basement stairs, and my lap. She'll look at my lap until I pick her up and let her purr in my arms. Sometimes if she's looking at me, I'll look at my lap until she comes near so that I can pick her up. More on communication with Nya next time.

 Well, I'm back after a long hiatus. I will try to post something weekly. Thanks for all your moral support. I have been able to teach our cat, Nya, a few words. Of coarse she knows her name, but besides that I have been able to teach her the word crunchies. She knows I'm talking about feeding her because she gets really excited when she looks at me and goes to her dish. Although, in typical cat fashion, she will ignore me if she's not interested in food. 

She also knows the word birdies. I taught her this with my computer. Nya likes to watch bird videos with me. I would associate the word birdies with the birds flying around in the videos. She also likes to watch "birdies" out the patio door and the front window. Her ears perk up and her eyes widen when I say the word birdies. She will turn and look at me like I said the magic word. If my laptop is handy, Nya will point to it with her eyes.

 Every time I let Nya out I would say the word "out". Now she may go to the door if I say, "Out". Unless she's sleeping, she may respond in this way. I'm now teaching her the word "by". When I'm going out the door I say, "By Nya". So far there is no response but I'm working on it.

Wee, I hope you liked my return to the blog. May you and your cat be a match made in heaven.