Cat Buddies

Do you have any cat friends? You can make animal friends without knowing it by being a true animal lover. I'm a true animal lover, and I have nine cat friends. Number one is my cat, Thumper. Two and three are cats named Pepsi and Kaya. They are long haired, twin, tortoiseshell crossed cats. Unfortunately, Pepsi died years ago from some sort of cancer, I think. Number four is a cat I met by strolling around my neighborhood during the summer. I call her Belly. She is a tan coloured tabby cat with blackish stripes. Now she only comes to see me if I have ID, a certain pair of flip-flops. Number five and six are twin cats as well. The girl I call Lucy and the boy I call Romeo. They look sort of like Thumper, but smaller. I met them while biking in a culdesac during the fall, but they are hard to be friendly with them because they are little scardy cats. Number seven is a cat that I met yesterday (Friday, May 28, 2010). She is a long haired, sweet, tabby cat. I call her Charlette. Number eight is a gray cat that I call Ashley. I met her the same way I met Lucy and Romeo. Number nine is another gray cat that used to be mine until she got lost outside and never came back named Dusty. She was a small, gray cat with white chest and paws. Although she was cute she was a little fierce and a little too playful. If you want to know how to make cat friends be friendly, blink slowly (cats find this calming) and never stare (cats use this to threaten each other), and always make sure the cat is ok with you petting it or carrying it. Have fun!

Purring

No one knows exactly how cats purr. All we know is that it comes from deep inside a the chest. I think it has a little extra thing on their vocal cord that vibrates when the cat needs it. Cats are able to meow and other things while purring, so I think that there is a something inside their chest that, first, makes scientists believe that there is something in the chest that makes a cat purr, and second, has a little tube or something that makes a cat able to meow while purring. That's only what the research I did on my cat concluded to. No one really knows for sure, bu scientists are trying to figure it out. We definitely know that purring is used to comfort the cat and to show a sign of happiness. :)

THUMPER'S FIRST MEOW!!!!!!!!

Manx cats are usually the quiet type. Thumper is a Manx, but today, she meowed! It was a soft little love meow, with a lot of cute in it! Now she's making little squeak like sounds when she is startled. It all started when I was thinking what to write in this blog, then she meowed to get my attention, i think, and there it was. HER FIRST MEOW! Thumper has the cutest little meow. I can't wait to hear it again!

Tongue

A cat's tongue is very rough. Do you want to know why? Well, their tongue is made of little micro spike-like things. This is great to scrape meat off bones and grooming themselves. That's why it feels so rough when the cat licks you. Their tongue is also made to make a cup shape. We can't make our tongue shaped like a little cup, and that is why we drink differently than cats. Cats scoop up the water, put it in their mouths, and swallow it. To a cat it's easy, to us we might say "Oh man, I spilled!"

Food And Treats

Cats rarely like any food, they are usually picky. Some like dry food, some like wet. I recommend wet food, however, it can be costly. Dry food is cheaper. Actually, both is good for cats as long as it contains nutrients and other healthy things. Any food you feed your cat has to NOT have ANY grains, corn, wheat, or gluten. Don't feed your cat sugary sweets either, cats don't have a sweet tooth. They can only taste bitter, sour, etc. If you want to teach your cat tricks you have to get the right type of treat. The best kind is probably the treats called Temptations. It's filled with meat (cats are carnivores) and nutrients, it's also practically irresistible to cats! Thumper, my cat, loves them! Just remember to feed your cat everyday, give it love and fresh water, and to make it healthy!

ANSWERED QUESTIONS

A very good question by catlover: Does a cat's tail have bones or is it muscle?
Answer: A cat's tail has bones, but has muscle moving it (most people know that). However, it is not all muscle.

Eyes

Some people wonder why cats' eyes seem to shine or glow in photos. That's because their eyes aren't made like ours. Their eyes have a special thing in the back of the eyes that causes light to reflect. The flashes from our cameras hits the cat's eye, if they don't blink, and we see the cat's eyes glow. One thing is for sure, i don't know why our eyes are red in photos.

Skeleton

A cat's skeleton is what most people think it looks like. The spine runs from the skull to the pelvis (hip) which is connected to the spine-like tail. As for a cat with a cat with no tail, the pelvis wouldn't be attached to a tail. As for a cat with a short tail, it would be the same thing but shorter. A cat's ribs would have 26 in all but 13 on each side. The shoulder blade is very much like ours but on a cat. The humerus, connected to the shoulder blade, will move down toward the stomach while the lower arm (the ulna and radius) along with the rest of leg (wrist and paw). The skull is an oval shape if the cat is looking down. The hind leg is connected to the pelvis and works just like the front leg except the humerus is the femur, the ulna is the fibula, the radius is the tibia, and it bends the opposite way. In all a long tailed house cat would have 244 bones. That's 40 more bones than a person. WOW!

Toys

There are many cat toys. They all have different shapes and sizes. Laser pens are, for some reason, a great toy. Cats love to chase the laser! Strings are not good toys for kittens. Only let mature cats play with string. There are fuzzy toys too. Thumper loves fuzzy toys, she attacks them, holds them, and then grooms them!!

Petting

Cats love to be petted! They will do anything to get petted. When they do they will purr, they will lick you, but how many cats arch their back as high as a hill? THUMPER DOES! Even when i walk in the room, up goes her back. Do you know why cats loved people petting them? Well, that's because our nails feel like their mom's rough tongue licking them. It's a soothing thing to cats. They were taken away from their family, if that happened to you would need a memory or soothing thing too.

Carpets

There are many things cats can do on the carpet. If they're not potty-trained they might go on the carpet. They will push their claws in and out on almost any soft fabric. This is called kneading. Although there are many things for a cat to do on the carpet, there is one weird thing that i think is a very unique carpet habit. Thumper rolls over and drags herself across! Weird right? It looks soooo weird. Her big, white belly stretches out, it's so hard to resist tickling!

Water

Thumper's breed, Manx, likes water! One day, when we were renovating the bathroom, we couldn't find her. We were looking all over the place, but then we found her playing in the toilet! For some reason Manx cats like water. They will play with water and even take baths. Water won't work as a punishment, they will just enjoy it. :)

Who Thumper Is

Do you have a cat? I do. Before I tell you about many things to do with cats, I have to introduce my cat. My cat is named Thumper. She is a Manx crossed with something else that I don't know of. Thumper was rescued by C.A.R.E.S. , so she is very timid. Also, she is a DSH (domestic short hair), and 2 and a half years old. You will see more in her pictures.