or red (also called orange), while recessive genes, in the right combination, will produce dilute colors that are paler than their dominant counterparts. For example, the color gray, which cat fanciers call blue, is the recessive or dilute form of black. Likewise, a cream-colored cat is a paler shade of dominant red.
Spots and patches: There are many patterns that produce interesting color combinations in cats. A common genetic occurrence referred to as the white spotting factor randomly applies splashes of white to the face, feet, and belly, or, in the case of the calico cat, draws dramatic white patches among intermingling blotches of black and orange. Interestingly, calicos and tortoiseshells, which have a patchwork of black and orange blotches like the calico, but without the white, are nearly always females. The lovely patchwork of black and orange is a sex-linked trait produced by genes carried on the female (XX) chromosomes (page 176).
Colorpoints: The pointed pattern, characterized by darker points on the cat’s face, tail, feet, and ears against a lighter body color, predictably appears in certain purebred cats, such as the Siamese, the Himalayan, the Birman, the Ragdoll, the Balinese, and the Snowshoe. This recessive trait is also known as the Himalayan pattern, named after the Himalayan rabbits that sport the same coloration. It is frequently called the Siamese pattern, too, and while perhaps best known because of Siamese purebreds, the pattern occasionally crops up in random-bred cats as well. Cat fanciers often refer to cats with these markings as colorpoints. The gene that produces the pointed pattern is linked with another trait that produces the blue eye color common in the colorpoint breeds.
Interestingly, pointed kittens are born looking nearly white. Their points gradually darken with age. Cooler temperatures influence the pigmentation and darkening process as well, which, experts say, explains why kittens remain light-colored until they exit their mother’s warm womb. After birth, the extremities normally stay a degree or two cooler than the body’s core, so these furthermost points tend to darken more.
Chapter Two
Acquiring a Cat
What to Consider First
Acquiring a cat or kitten should never be an impulse decision. Important things to consider before you adopt or purchase one include the financial and legal responsibilities of pet ownership, your living and working arrangements, and any friends and family members who may be allergic to cats. You also should try to match the temperament of the cat to your own lifestyle and personality preferences, whenever possible. For example, if you’re considering buying a purebred, would a highly energetic and vocal animal, like a Siamese, drive you crazy? Or would you prefer a quieter, more sedate, passive personality, such as the Persian, as your household companion? Here are some other questions to consider before you get a cat:
Indoor or Outdoor Cat?
First, decide whether you prefer to own a cat that stays indoors all the time or one that goes outside, if you want an outside cat, it makes sense to adopt one that is already accustomed to living outdoors. Some people insist on letting their cats roam freely because they believe that depriving cats of their outdoor freedom is cruel. But most experts agree that cats kept indoors live longer, healthier lives.
Cats that live their lives totally indoors are less likely to be exposed to diseases, plagued by parasites, hit by cars, attacked by dogs, killed by coyotes, bitten by wild animals, caught in wild animal traps, poisoned by pesticides, and harmed by cruel people.
You can also expect to have fewer veterinary bills related to injuries from cat fights and similar mishaps, if you keep your cat indoors. In addition, you will have peace of mind, knowing that your well-cared-for indoor cat has a smaller chance of contracting illness or parasites, such as Lyme disease-carrying ticks, that could affect you or your family.
Keeping your cat indoors will also help ensure that he has the best opportunity to live out his full life expectancy. As long as you provide love and attention, your cat will be quite happy and well adjusted living indoors. If you feel your cat must experience the outdoors, supervise outings in the yard, build an outdoor exercise run, or install a cat flap that provides safe access to a screened-in porch.
Purebred or Mixed-breed Cat?
Many people who consider acquiring a cat as a companion wrestle with the question of whether they should adopt a homeless cat from a shelter or invest in a pedigreed animal whose temperament and appearance are more predictable. To some, this is a real ethical dilemma, given that there are so many unwanted cats destroyed each year simply because there aren’t enough homes to go around for all of them. For every purebred purchased, they reason, a homeless cat loses its chance to be adopted.
Regardless of whether you choose a purebred or a random-bred cat, you are still offering a good home to an animal that can become your valued companion. And aside from the expense of acquisition, the costs of caring for a random-bred versus a purebred cat are virtually the same as far as cat food, veterinary care, and routine vaccinations are concerned.
Ultimately, your choice depends on what you’re really looking for in a cat. Certainly, random-bred cats make just as good companions as purebred felines. Also, the so-called alley cat is much less expensive to acquire. But where mixed-breed cats are purely potluck, purebreds, on the other hand, have a recorded ancestry, called a pedigree. The advantage in knowing a cat’s family history means that certain health factors and other important qualities can be predicted with greater accuracy. In acquiring a kitten with papers, you’ll have a general idea about what he’s going to grow up to look like and about what kind of personality he will possess as an adult.
If your ultimate goal is to show cats, you’ll most certainly want a purebred to register and compete in championship classes. Keep in mind, however, that most major cat shows also have a special household pet category for exhibiting non-pedigreed, random-bred cats. In household pet classes, cats are judged according to their beauty, condition, and personality rather than a written breed standard. Typically, the associations that sponsor household pet divisions require that cats entered in this category be spayed or neutered.
Many cats exhibited in the house-hold pet category have heartwarming stories behind them about being rescued or adopted from shelters. And, no doubt, many seasoned cat show exhibitors got their start showing in this category, learning the rules of the trade along the way.
One Cat or Two?
If your lifestyle and financial situation permit, acquiring two cats can be the perfect solution to the dilemma of whether to invest in a purebred or to adopt a nonpedigreed cat. Why not get one of each, as long as you can afford the double cost of caring for two animals?
Like people, cats can become bored and lonely when forced to stay alone all day while you are away at work. One way to avoid this problem is to get two kittens at the same time, and at about the same age, so they can bond as friends and keep each other company. Besides, two cats are twice as much fun to watch. Once acquainted, the two will romp and play and give each other exercise.
Adult
