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Published: October 10, 2006
While dogs have been enshrined in our culture as "man's best friend," cats have unfortunately been tagged as "the familiars of witches" during certain periods of history.
This reputation has been difficult for members of all cat breeds to shake. Cats by nature project a mysterious and somewhat defiant air. It has even been said that you never really own a cat. Rather, the cat owns you.
However, cats can be as affectionate and loving to their owners as dogs. Some cat breeds were held in such high regard in past ages that they were treated as royalty or adored as gods.
Almost all modern domestic cats are believed to have descended from the African wild cat. Genetics and mutations have separated them throughout the years into the 39 purebred cat breeds currently recognized by the Cat Fanciers' Association, Inc. registry. (CFA also recognizes one provisional and one miscellaneous cat breed.) If a cat is not one of the purebred cat breeds, it is commonly referred to as an "alley cat," or the more refined term, "randombred."
Cats in this all-purpose cat breed are classified as Domestic Longhair and Domestic Shorthair cats. Within these two classifications, cats can be further grouped by physical characteristics such as color pattern and body type, just as they are within purebred cat breeds.
One of the most eye-catching of all the domestic cats is the calico. This cat is a specific type of tortoiseshell cat, or "tortie." Torties have three colors – white, red and black or variations thereof – blended in their coats in a random pattern, much like the shell of the hawksbill sea turtle. In calico cats, those three colors appear in distinctive large squares, or patches. Calicos also have a lot of white in the coat, which does not appear in most torties.
Calicos, like other tricolors, are almost always female, because the gene for the red coloration is carried on the X (female) chromosome in cat breeds. As Barbara French explains in an About.com article called "Torties, Calicos and Tricolor Cats" (http://cats.about.com/od/calicos), a rare mutation sometimes results in a male inheriting two X chromosomes and exhibiting the red coloring. That same mutation almost always causes sterility in the male, however, which is why only the female passes along the genetic code for red.
Because they have a lot of white in their fur, calicos might have blue, gold, copper or green eyes. This eye coloring is characteristic of white cats in other cat breeds. They might also have odd-color eyes, which is when each eye is a different color.
Color differentiation also plays an important role among Siamese cats, one of the most elegant and sought-after cat breeds.
The Siamese cat is believed to have come from cat breeds in Southeast Asia ("Siam" was the former name of Thailand). They are believed to have been the favorites of, and protected by, Siam's royal families for generations before the English brought them to Europe in the 1880s.
The sleek, elongated cream-colored body and face of a Siamese are highlighted with markings called "points." These are the result of a genetic code producing the colors in the lowest-temperature parts of the cat's body. Thus, these markings are most prominent on the face, ears, tail, lower legs and paws. They give the cat its distinctive "face mask" and "stockings."
"Points" come primarily in four colors: chocolate (light brown), seal (black-brown), blue (blue-gray) and lilac (pale gray), although mutations have created other color variations over the years. All Siamese have blue eyes because of their white coats.
Besides being beautiful, Siamese also are one of the noisiest cat breeds. True divas, they crave attention and human companionship. They are vocal in letting their owners know what they want and when they want it. Although cats tend to have independent, "take it or leave it" natures which often confound humans, Siamese as a group are the most affectionate. They are the "lovers" of all the cat breeds.
The popularity of this cat has resulted in many related cat breeds, thanks to cross-breeding. Among the cat breeds able to trace their heritage to Siamese cats are the Balinese, Himalayan and Snowshoe.
Such purebred cat breeds might sell for hundreds of dollars, while calicos and other randombred cats often are given away for free.
But true cat lovers know the experience of sharing a home with cats – be it just a single feline or a kendle of kitties – is priceless.
This reputation has been difficult for members of all cat breeds to shake. Cats by nature project a mysterious and somewhat defiant air. It has even been said that you never really own a cat. Rather, the cat owns you.
However, cats can be as affectionate and loving to their owners as dogs. Some cat breeds were held in such high regard in past ages that they were treated as royalty or adored as gods.
Almost all modern domestic cats are believed to have descended from the African wild cat. Genetics and mutations have separated them throughout the years into the 39 purebred cat breeds currently recognized by the Cat Fanciers' Association, Inc. registry. (CFA also recognizes one provisional and one miscellaneous cat breed.) If a cat is not one of the purebred cat breeds, it is commonly referred to as an "alley cat," or the more refined term, "randombred."
Cats in this all-purpose cat breed are classified as Domestic Longhair and Domestic Shorthair cats. Within these two classifications, cats can be further grouped by physical characteristics such as color pattern and body type, just as they are within purebred cat breeds.
One of the most eye-catching of all the domestic cats is the calico. This cat is a specific type of tortoiseshell cat, or "tortie." Torties have three colors – white, red and black or variations thereof – blended in their coats in a random pattern, much like the shell of the hawksbill sea turtle. In calico cats, those three colors appear in distinctive large squares, or patches. Calicos also have a lot of white in the coat, which does not appear in most torties.
Calicos, like other tricolors, are almost always female, because the gene for the red coloration is carried on the X (female) chromosome in cat breeds. As Barbara French explains in an About.com article called "Torties, Calicos and Tricolor Cats" (http://cats.about.com/od/calicos), a rare mutation sometimes results in a male inheriting two X chromosomes and exhibiting the red coloring. That same mutation almost always causes sterility in the male, however, which is why only the female passes along the genetic code for red.
Because they have a lot of white in their fur, calicos might have blue, gold, copper or green eyes. This eye coloring is characteristic of white cats in other cat breeds. They might also have odd-color eyes, which is when each eye is a different color.
Color differentiation also plays an important role among Siamese cats, one of the most elegant and sought-after cat breeds.
The Siamese cat is believed to have come from cat breeds in Southeast Asia ("Siam" was the former name of Thailand). They are believed to have been the favorites of, and protected by, Siam's royal families for generations before the English brought them to Europe in the 1880s.
The sleek, elongated cream-colored body and face of a Siamese are highlighted with markings called "points." These are the result of a genetic code producing the colors in the lowest-temperature parts of the cat's body. Thus, these markings are most prominent on the face, ears, tail, lower legs and paws. They give the cat its distinctive "face mask" and "stockings."
"Points" come primarily in four colors: chocolate (light brown), seal (black-brown), blue (blue-gray) and lilac (pale gray), although mutations have created other color variations over the years. All Siamese have blue eyes because of their white coats.
Besides being beautiful, Siamese also are one of the noisiest cat breeds. True divas, they crave attention and human companionship. They are vocal in letting their owners know what they want and when they want it. Although cats tend to have independent, "take it or leave it" natures which often confound humans, Siamese as a group are the most affectionate. They are the "lovers" of all the cat breeds.
The popularity of this cat has resulted in many related cat breeds, thanks to cross-breeding. Among the cat breeds able to trace their heritage to Siamese cats are the Balinese, Himalayan and Snowshoe.
Such purebred cat breeds might sell for hundreds of dollars, while calicos and other randombred cats often are given away for free.
But true cat lovers know the experience of sharing a home with cats – be it just a single feline or a kendle of kitties – is priceless.
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