Do You Love Cat..? Do You Love Kittens?
What is cat?
The cat (or domestic cat, house cat) is a small carnivorous mammal and a subspecies of the wild cat. The cat is a skilled predator and intelligent animal, known to hunt over 1,000 species for food, and capable of being trained (and learning by itself) to obey simple commands and manipulate simple mechanisms (see cat intelligence). It has lived in close association with humans for 3,500 to 8,000 years, figuring prominently in the mythology and legends of several cultures.
Cats come in dozens of breeds and a variety of colors. Due to mutations, some are hairless and some are tailless. They use more than one hundred vocalizations and types of body language for communication, including calling ("meow" or "miaou"), purring, hissing, growling, chirping, clicking, and grunting. Like horses and other domesticated animals, cats can become feral, living effectively in the wild. Feral cats will often form small feral cat colonies. Animal welfare organizations note that few abandoned cats are able to survive long enough to become feral, most being killed by vehicles, or succumbing to starvation, predators, exposure, or disease.
Legends and myths about the cat exist in many cultures, from the ancient Egyptians and Chinese to the Vikings. They have been both revered and vilified by different cultures.
The trinomial name of the domestic cat is Felis silvestris catus; its closest pre-domesticated ancestor is believed to be the African wild cat, Felis silvestris lybica.
Hygiene
Cats are known for their fastidious cleanliness. They groom themselves by licking their fur, employing their hooked pappilae and saliva. Their saliva is a powerful cleaning agent, but it can provoke allergic reactions in humans. Some people who are allergic to cats—typically manifested by hay fever, asthma or a skin rash —quickly acclimate themselves to a particular animal and live comfortably in the same house with it, while retaining an allergy to cats in general.[citation needed] Many cats also enjoy grooming humans or other cats. Some cats occasionally regurgitate hair balls of fur that have collected in their stomachs as a result of their grooming. Longhair cats are more prone to this than shorthairs. Hairballs can be prevented with certain cat foods and remedies that ease elimination of the hair and regular grooming of the coat with a comb or stiff brush. Cats expend nearly as much fluid grooming as they do urinating.
Indoor cats may be provided a litter box containing sand or similar material (litter). This arrangement serves the same purpose as a toilet for humans. It should be cleaned daily and changed often (depending on the number of cats in a household and the type of litter; clumping litter stays cleaner longer, but has been reported to cause health problems in some cats.) A litterbox is recommended for indoor-outdoor cats as well. Litterboxes may pose a risk of toxoplasmosis transmission to susceptible pregnant women and immuno-compromised individuals. Transmission risk may be reduced by daily litterbox cleaning by someone other than child-bearing women.
In addition, some cats can be toilet trained, eliminating the litterbox and its attendant expense and smell. Training involves two or three weeks of incremental moves, such as moving and elevating the litterbox until it is near the toilet. For a short time, an adapter, such as a bowl or small box, may be used to suspend the litter above the toilet bowl. When training is complete, the cat uses the toilet by perching over the bowl.
Indoor cats will also benefit from being provided with a scratching post so they are less likely to ruin furniture with their claws. Some indoor cats, especially those that were taken as kittens from feral colonies, may not understand the concept of a scratching post, and as such they will ignore it. Nails can be trimmed, as with a small pair of electrical dikes (ie, cutting pliers), but care should always be taken to avoid cutting a vein in the quick of the claw.
The cat (or domestic cat, house cat) is a small carnivorous mammal and a subspecies of the wild cat. The cat is a skilled predator and intelligent animal, known to hunt over 1,000 species for food, and capable of being trained (and learning by itself) to obey simple commands and manipulate simple mechanisms (see cat intelligence). It has lived in close association with humans for 3,500 to 8,000 years, figuring prominently in the mythology and legends of several cultures.
Cats come in dozens of breeds and a variety of colors. Due to mutations, some are hairless and some are tailless. They use more than one hundred vocalizations and types of body language for communication, including calling ("meow" or "miaou"), purring, hissing, growling, chirping, clicking, and grunting. Like horses and other domesticated animals, cats can become feral, living effectively in the wild. Feral cats will often form small feral cat colonies. Animal welfare organizations note that few abandoned cats are able to survive long enough to become feral, most being killed by vehicles, or succumbing to starvation, predators, exposure, or disease.
Legends and myths about the cat exist in many cultures, from the ancient Egyptians and Chinese to the Vikings. They have been both revered and vilified by different cultures.
The trinomial name of the domestic cat is Felis silvestris catus; its closest pre-domesticated ancestor is believed to be the African wild cat, Felis silvestris lybica.
Hygiene
Cats are known for their fastidious cleanliness. They groom themselves by licking their fur, employing their hooked pappilae and saliva. Their saliva is a powerful cleaning agent, but it can provoke allergic reactions in humans. Some people who are allergic to cats—typically manifested by hay fever, asthma or a skin rash —quickly acclimate themselves to a particular animal and live comfortably in the same house with it, while retaining an allergy to cats in general.[citation needed] Many cats also enjoy grooming humans or other cats. Some cats occasionally regurgitate hair balls of fur that have collected in their stomachs as a result of their grooming. Longhair cats are more prone to this than shorthairs. Hairballs can be prevented with certain cat foods and remedies that ease elimination of the hair and regular grooming of the coat with a comb or stiff brush. Cats expend nearly as much fluid grooming as they do urinating.
Indoor cats may be provided a litter box containing sand or similar material (litter). This arrangement serves the same purpose as a toilet for humans. It should be cleaned daily and changed often (depending on the number of cats in a household and the type of litter; clumping litter stays cleaner longer, but has been reported to cause health problems in some cats.) A litterbox is recommended for indoor-outdoor cats as well. Litterboxes may pose a risk of toxoplasmosis transmission to susceptible pregnant women and immuno-compromised individuals. Transmission risk may be reduced by daily litterbox cleaning by someone other than child-bearing women.
In addition, some cats can be toilet trained, eliminating the litterbox and its attendant expense and smell. Training involves two or three weeks of incremental moves, such as moving and elevating the litterbox until it is near the toilet. For a short time, an adapter, such as a bowl or small box, may be used to suspend the litter above the toilet bowl. When training is complete, the cat uses the toilet by perching over the bowl.
Indoor cats will also benefit from being provided with a scratching post so they are less likely to ruin furniture with their claws. Some indoor cats, especially those that were taken as kittens from feral colonies, may not understand the concept of a scratching post, and as such they will ignore it. Nails can be trimmed, as with a small pair of electrical dikes (ie, cutting pliers), but care should always be taken to avoid cutting a vein in the quick of the claw.
posted by herisetiawan @ 9:40 PM
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