Cats

[Chiaki]

I've taught my friends cat to play fetch with little balled up pieces of paper, its so cute! I can even make him slide into the side of the washing machine when we play

 

My own cat on the other hand will hardly play with her laser pointer any more!

[Cavedragon49990]

Does anyone have a cat that attempts to steal meatballs out of spaghetti? Because Widget did that tonight.

 

~Cavey

[TikindiDragon]

Haze - Yup, she's tortie. Dead giveaway is actualy this picture. The toes on her left fore-paw are *obviously* cream. I take it she's not a show kitten?

[hazeh]

Obviously cream? Not sure I follow. x3

 

Nope, not a show kitty. We adopted her from the shelter, and I don't know the first thing about showing cats...

[TikindiDragon]

Obviously cream? Not sure I follow. x3

 

Nope, not a show kitty. We adopted her from the shelter, and I don't know the first thing about showing cats...

Lol, just as well.

 

Cream is the red-variant that you get on blues and lilacs, rather than the real red/ginger colour you're probably used to. Those very pale (and not at all blue) toes are cream, which is a clear indicator she's a tortie. I'd bet you a penny to a pound that if you look at the paw pads of that foot that some or all of them are pink - that's also a sign she's a tortie.

[hazeh]

. _.

o _o

0 _0

O _O

 

Holy jeez. They are! x _x That's cool...

 

So what exactly do I call her coloration? As a Siamese she's a Lilac Point, but if she's got some Tortie (which, if I'm not mistaken, is not a breed but a coloring, right?), what exactly is that called?

[TikindiDragon]

. _.

o _o

0 _0

O _O

 

Holy jeez. They are! x _x That's cool...

 

So what exactly do I call her coloration? As a Siamese she's a Lilac Point, but if she's got some Tortie (which, if I'm not mistaken, is not a breed but a coloring, right?), what exactly is that called?

That's the effect of the red gene If her face had a lot of cream on it part of her nose leather would also be pink.

 

If I'm honest I'd say from those pictures that she doesn't actualy look lilac to me - the colour looks a bit dark and cool. If I was registering her as a pedigree myself it would probably be as a Blue Tortie Point. Although, as I'm only looking at photos, it's perfectly possible she *is* lilac, which would therefore make her a Lilac Tortie Point.

 

And yes - tortie is a colour, not a breed.

 

Edited to add: The gene that causes the siamese restriction of colour to the points is recessive - so she must have got that from both parents. Chances are she's a pure-bred siamese, but most shelters I know and have worked with won't home 'pedigree' cats, and the pedigree normally goes in the shredder if they arrive with one.

Edited June 17, 2011 by TikindiDragon

[hazeh]

Huh. I went and looked up pictures of those variations, and you're right. She does look more Blue than Lilac.

 

Well, in American shelters, things can get a bit wonky. I got a purebred Snowshoe from the city, and she had just had kittens. ^^; That's interesting that she may be a purebred Siamese, although I thought Siamese were strictly point colorings. Wouldn't she have to have some other breed in there to make up for the tortie coloration?

 

Edit: We don't know Maddy's story prior to her life at the shelter. She was the only kitten of her litter there, though, so I'm not sure. Lyra (my Snowshoe) was found as a stray, although I suspect her owner might have gotten rid of her for her mental issues (either that or she developed that after becoming a stray), or she might have escaped from her breeder.

 

Editedit: Ahahaha, I just looked at my kitten again, and she has a spot of pink on her nose x3'

 

Editeditedit: Oh, by the way, do you think she's going to have that long face and giant ears that I've seen in a lot of the Siamese pictures?

Edited June 17, 2011 by Shiny Hazard Sign

[7Deadly$ins]

If I'm not mistaken there are different kinds of Siamese and so not all of them have the exaggeratedly long ears and such.

 

The vet identified my boy as a flamepoint Siamese (though I dislike calling any cat without papers a "breed"). He doesn't have the ears going on.

[LeopardDragon]

I think it depends..there are the "modern Siamese" those with the huge ears and uber svelt bodies, and there are the "traditional siamese" which aren't as extreme looking, I think.

Edited June 17, 2011 by LeopardDragon

[CYDA LUVA83]

I need some honest facts and opinions here.

 

 

Is it rare for a cat to get nerve paralysis? Do they get it at all? Can they survive from it if they do get it?

[TikindiDragon]

Huh. I went and looked up pictures of those variations, and you're right. She does look more Blue than Lilac.

 

Well, in American shelters, things can get a bit wonky. I got a purebred Snowshoe from the city, and she had just had kittens. ^^; That's interesting that she may be a purebred Siamese, although I thought Siamese were strictly point colorings. Wouldn't she have to have some other breed in there to make up for the tortie coloration?

 

Edit: We don't know Maddy's story prior to her life at the shelter. She was the only kitten of her litter there, though, so I'm not sure. Lyra (my Snowshoe) was found as a stray, although I suspect her owner might have gotten rid of her for her mental issues (either that or she developed that after becoming a stray), or she might have escaped from her breeder.

 

Editedit: Ahahaha, I just looked at my kitten again, and she has a spot of pink on her nose x3'

 

Editeditedit: Oh, by the way, do you think she's going to have that long face and giant ears that I've seen in a lot of the Siamese pictures?

No - siamese is the name of that colour point restriction (and incidently the breed). Pretty much every colour found in a non-colour point cat can be found in the siamese (although not Abbyssinian-style ticked tabbys, or any of the various silver or smoke colours). Many of the colour types - like the torties and tabbies - were introduced by out-crossing to solid type cats, but that happened quite a long time back pedigree-wise so a cat with those markings would still be considered a pure-bred siamese.

 

The "long face and giant ears" is the look of a show cat, and what many breeders of siamese are aiming for (there are the Old Style siamese breeders as well, who aim for a shorter, rounder head. They're currently trying to get themselves recognised as a seperate breed because under current breed standards they're, well, very bad show cats). Yours in not a show cat, so she's never going to have that really 'type-y' look. Her ears won't get proportionaly any bigger compared to the rest of her than they are now, thought the face may lengthen out a bit as she gets older.

 

For comparison here is Imperial Grand Champion Shermese Almost Armani (a Seal Point) as a kitten:

and again as an adult stud cat:

 

Edit: typos

Edited June 17, 2011 by TikindiDragon

[hazeh]

Oh he's pretty o3o Thank you, now I'm certain she won't look like that.

What kinds of siamese do you breed? And as a totally random question, is it possible to bred for Siamesev with different colored eyes? I believe the only ones I've seen have blue eyes, including my own.

[dragon_mando]

So I'm wondering a few things about my kitten I picked up almost a month ago now from the shelter. All I know about his history is that he's a little bit over three months, is almost finished with his shots, is neutered, and is a shorthair tabby.

 

Would anyone have any idea of how to identify any major breed influences? I have pictures and can describe some things I couldn't get photos of.

Face

Belly

Sitting

Proportions (blurry)

 

I feel kinda stupid because I don't even know the exact name for his particular colour mix

 

His eyes are a sort of bronze with deep green around the pupils

Pads are solid black, as are his lips

Personality-wise, he's very talkative, making lots of different meows and purrs in response even to me talking to him. He's very energetic and spends most of the day playing acrobat with his toys. He especially loves anything that makes him have to jump. He'll leap as high as my hips and even my waist after a toy.

 

He's very social, too, as I took him to Gay Pride last weekend and seemed to absolutely love all the attention. He also likes water, often hopping in the shower with me.

 

edit: In the belly photo, I *am* wearing shorts, they're just pulled up to be less distracting from the kitty

Edited June 17, 2011 by dragon_mando

[TikindiDragon]

Oh he's pretty o3o Thank you, now I'm certain she won't look like that.

What kinds of siamese do you breed? And as a totally random question, is it possible to bred for Siamesev with different colored eyes? I believe the only ones I've seen have blue eyes, including my own.

Blue is the only eye colour acceptable in the siamese - and it should idealy be that sapphire blue you could see on Marney. Orientals have green and amber eye colours, though.

 

Marney's Dam is actualy one of ours - Tikindi By Design - who was a blue point. Our foundation queen was (this is a mouthful, btw) a Caramel Tortie Tabby Point. Which has resulted in us breeding pretty much every colour siamese come in except Cinnamon and Fawn. We're not breeding at the moment, though. There's been a massive amount of upheaval, I can't really do the breeding end of things in my flat and Mum actualy isn't really healthy enough to keep breeding at hers either. If/when I'm in a big enough house I may pick breeding under the Tikindi prefix back up, but for the time being there won't be any more kittens I'm having to content myself with Stewarding at shows.

 

Edit: Mando - his colour is what's known as a Brown Mackrel Tabby. As to breed.... he's what we'd call a Heinz 57, or Common-or-Garden Moggy. Officialy known as a Domestic Shorthair. Unlike with dogs, mixed breed cats (unless one or both parents really were full-pedigree animals) tend to look a little... generic, as it were. The cat that lives with us in the flat is a mog, and there's nothing wrong with that at all!

Edited June 17, 2011 by TikindiDragon

[ZanGetsuFuhma]

I have four cats, myself. Two of which are mixed breeds with nothing special about them (also the only two I don't have pictures of, for some reason). One is light grey, the other is pitch black.

 

My personal cat (Flame-Point Himalayan):

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad174/L...ra/P1240076.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad174/L...ra/P1240612.jpg

 

The only place he lets anybody pet him is on the top of the head, and even then only for about a minute tops. I'm the only one that can do anything else. He paws the door when I'm gone waiting for me to return home every day. :3

 

My cat and my brother's cat (Ragamuffin):

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad174/L...ra/P1240614.jpg

 

Most content cat ever. He can be asleep on the couch, you can pick him up, tote him around, and drop him anywhere else in the house and he'll just go back to sleep where you put him. My mom actually used him as a mop the other day when he was laying in the kitchen. He doesn't care about anything. He will also lay in your lap whenever you sit down. It takes like five minutes of constantly picking him up and moving him before he finally gets the picture that you don't want him to lay there.

 

I had another dozen or so pictures, but I don't know where they went. :/

[dragon_mando]

Never crossed my mind that it would be an issue, I was just curious ^-^ All of the cats I've owned were unknown mixes

[TikindiDragon]

Never crossed my mind that it would be an issue, I was just curious ^-^ All of the cats I've owned were unknown mixes

Cool I've known some people who got a little... odd when I told them their cat was a moggy, so I wanted to be careful.

[hazeh]

So, would the light white-blue not be wanted in a show cat? Not that I'm going to show, just curious x3 His eyes are amazing, anyways. And I want to see a picture of that Queen you told us about... >>

 

Oh, and is Lyra (the Snowshoe) a Seal point or a Chocolate point? I'm not sure how to tell the two apart...

 

And I think it'd be flipping awesome to have a green-eyed Siamese-pointed cat |D Like, Lynx point would be so cool...

[TikindiDragon]

So, would the light white-blue not be wanted in a show cat? Not that I'm going to show, just curious x3 His eyes are amazing, anyways. And I want to see a picture of that Queen you told us about... >>

 

Oh, and is Lyra (the Snowshoe) a Seal point or a Chocolate point? I'm not sure how to tell the two apart...

 

And I think it'd be flipping awesome to have a green-eyed Siamese-pointed cat |D Like, Lynx point would be so cool...

Eyes that light would be a with-holding fault in a show cat, yes. Although you couldn't actualy show yours anyway, as most cats that come through a rescue won't be registered as 'yours' with the appropriate pedigree registration body.

 

You could, however, show her as a pedigree pet if you wanted (if they have those classes in the States...). Pedigree pets are judged the same way as the non-pedigrees, and not against a breed standard, so she'd be in with a shot at winning (depending on class, obviously) if you fancied having a go at showing

 

Lyra is a Seal Point. Waaaaaay too dark to be Chocolate. Pretty girl, though.

 

I do keep forgetting you guys use a slightly different naming system to the one we use. For clarification Tabby Point = Lynx point, and Caramel = Taupe. I confess I have no idea which of the 3 red (Red, Cream and Apricot) variations you're talking about when you say 'Flame Point' though...

[dragon_mando]

Cool I've known some people who got a little... odd when I told them their cat was a moggy, so I wanted to be careful.

That's sad =/ mutts, dog or cat, are always the best unless you want to show or breed, in my experience.

[hazeh]

I think it'd be fun to show cats, but I don't know if Maddy would be cut out for that certain thing Lyra sure wouldn't be, she's too fat x3 I don't know the first thing about cat showing or training. What's a Pedigree pet? And don't show cats have to be eligible for breeding? o_O

Flame points are Red Points.

 

And when we first got Lyra, she was so incredibly light, I'm sure she could have been called a chocolate. But over the years she's darkened so much She has this cute dark stripe down her back.

 

 

[TikindiDragon]

I think it'd be fun to show cats, but I don't know if Maddy would be cut out for that certain thing Lyra sure wouldn't be, she's too fat x3 I don't know the first thing about cat showing or training. What's a Pedigree pet? And don't show cats have to be eligible for breeding? o_O

Flame points are Red Points.

 

And when we first got Lyra, she was so incredibly light, I'm sure she could have been called a chocolate. But over the years she's darkened so much She has this cute dark stripe down her back.

No, that's dogs. You can show altered cats to your hearts content - they have their own classes, and their own title structure. Largely because keeping entire male cats is a somewhat specialist stud owner thing - they make too much of a smell for the average person to want to keep them. Makes more sense to me, too, if I'm honest, than the whole insistance on show animals being entire you find in the dog world.

 

A pedigree pet is just that - a pedigree animal that's not full show quality and kept as someone's much loved pet. In the UK they can enter classes like 'Nicest Temprement' or 'Nicest Coat'. They're basicaly never judged against the standard of points, so it doesn't matter if they were show quality or not.

 

All pointed cats will darken down as they get older, so any seal-point kitten will look lighter than a seal point adult, and a chocolate point will again be lighter than either.

 

Edited to add: Yeah, for a general pet a Moggy/Mutt is normally the best. It's only if you want to show, breed or have specific temprement requirements that you need to start looking at pedigrees.

Edited June 17, 2011 by TikindiDragon

[7Deadly$ins]

@Tikindi - if I recall correctly "flamepoint" is red. Apparently even in the states it isn't a Siamese coloration but many people are calling it that because it is a coloration in Himalayans or something.

[hazeh]

Hm. I always thought pedigree was some special certificate that showed bloodlines and all that jazz x3 Cool, perhaps I will look into showing Maddy. Got any tips? |D I don't even know if there are cat shows here in California, but I guess I'll have to do some research.