Cats as Alarm Clocks

My cats have internal alarm clocks. When mealtimes roll around they feel it is their duty to tell me. Sometimes they sit by their bowls and wait patiently. Sometimes all five cats stare at me. Sometimes they send a representative to remind me that "it.is.time.to.eat.plz.feed.me.now". Because of their system, unless I am not home, my cats are fed promptly on time (although not soon enough for them).

Feline alarm clocks also work well in the morning. The cats will jump across my head over and over until I wake up. Many times I will awake with the disturbing feeling that I am being watched. When I open my eyes, I see that this is true. Five cats will be staring at me; one cat on my pillow, two on my legs, one on my chest peering into my face, and one on my night stand pushing stuff off of it. Daisy will lick me while I am asleep as if she is tasting the giant mouse that will substitute for their meal if breakfast is late.

Most of the time I get the message and get up to take care of them. But I would like to sleep in every once in a while. Why don't cats come with a weekend cancel button?




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Tortie Personality

Baby is my resident tortie (aka "tortoiseshell"). What I didn't know when I got her is that torties have a reputation of having an attitude, or "tortitude". A quick internet search found these words that describe torties: aloof, independent, feisty, unpredictable, and mean. Good thing my cat doesn't cruise the internet. Baby is a sweet, huggable, lap kitty, that loves to spend time with her humans. She nestles with Jack and Simon, and sleeps on my legs at night. But her favorite thing to do is cuddle in my husband's arms like a baby with her belly exposed.

Tortoiseshell cats are not a breed, but a color. The "O" gene which is responsible for the ginger color is found on the X chromosome. A male cat is XY, so he will be ginger if he inherits the "O" gene. Since a female cat has XX she can be ginger if she inherits two "O" genes, or tortie if she inherits only one. Therefore, only females can be torties. (It is very rare to find a male tortie. He would be XXY and sterile.) The patches of a calico cat and brindle pattern of a tortie are caused by a process called X-chromosome inactivation. Some skin cells activate the "O" gene on one chromosome, while other skin cells activate the "o", or black gene, leaving the "O" inactivated. I have seen tortie persians, tortie point siamese, tortie longhairs, and of course short hair torties like my Baby.




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Cat Exercise Wheel

I just found a video showing a cat exercise wheel. I didn't even know these things existed! A search on the internet showed a variety of styles from homemade versions to this expensive sleek model found at www.catwheelcompany.com:






Watch this video to see a cat exercise wheel in action:




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Can My Cat See In The Dark?

Two of the most active times for my cats are early morning and when we go to bed. I know that Simon is playing with his toys, because I hear his distinctive wrooowl after the lights go off. They run like crazy, but I don't hear anyone crashing into stuff. Do they see in the dark?

Cats are crepuscular, which means they are more active during the twilight times, dawn and dusk, which is also the times when mice and other prey are active. Like humans, cat retinas have two types of receptor cells; cones and rods. Cones are sensitive to color, and rods pick up light and dark. Cats have few, if any, cones for red, so they can't detect that color. They also have many more rods than human retinas, so cat eyes can collect more light than we can. Color is not as important at low light, and the increased amount of rods allow the cats to detect movement better as the patterns of light and dark change. Cats also have a layer behind the retina called the tapetum lucidum (Latin for "bright carpet") that reflects light back to the retina. This is what makes cats' eyes glow in headlights or flash photos. Check out Daisy's laser eyes:



Cats can't see in total darkness. But they do have several adaptations that help them see clearly in light much lower than we would need.

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