Cats Cats and more Cats!

I've taken a good amount of cat pictures at the shelter and I thought I'd make a post to showcase all of them. Like I said before, I've never been much of a cat person but working at the shelter has made me realize how freaking adorable cats are! They are unique and have funny little quirks that make them hilarious and adorable.

Bella the Munchkin recently came in to the shelter and I just HAD to take a picture of her because of her breed, called the Munchkin. They are known to have small round faces and short stubby legs...and I find it absolutely adorable! Bella is truly a little Munchkin with a curious and extroverted personality.

Rascal is an orange medium haired cat that is around 8 years old; a good ol' senior kitty with a calm and mellow personality. Notice anything different about him? Yup, he has one ear missing! I was told that it was because of untreated ear mites that he lost his ear but after some research, I don't think ear mites can cause this (I could be wrong though). My theory is that he was born like that, he was either attacked by dog (happens often), or it could very well be the ear mites. Who knows!

In my previous post I mentioned that Bella was a very popular name, and as you can see in this post...I wasn't kidding! Two more Bella's to add to the list...my goodness. These three are some of my favorite cats because of their sweet personalities and beautiful markings. Bonfe is a classic long haired Tuxedo cat while Bella has the Calico colorings; both refer to the color patterns and not the breed of the cat.

Calico's are mostly white with two other colors, such as orange and black. Tortoise shells, also called Torties, are similar but have no white and are usually mottled in their colors. Tortie and Calico's are both known to be ONLY female and not male. I found this so interesting that only females can have these colorings and not males, so of course I looked more into it. Coat colors are genetically linked to the X-chromosome and the calico and tortie color patterns are mutations on the X chromosome. Females with these colorings have what is called an X-inactivation which enables them to carry the colored mutation.

Some males have been known to have the calico and tortie patterns but it is very rare. Also, if they do it is usually because they have an extra X chromosome (so XXY) and are sterile because of it - this is also known as Klinefelter's Syndrome. 

Side note: In Ancient folklore, Calicos and Torties are believed to bring good luck to their owners!

Cats use their nose to smell their surroundings just like dogs do! They have up to 19 million odor-sensitive cells in their noses versus humans who have only 5 million. Although neither can compare to the impressive 200 million odor-sensitive cells that dogs have!

VIDEO

I wanted to add this video at the end of the post of two cats playing in one of the rooms together. The cat on top of the chair is playing with the one under the blanket and I luckily caught it on video :) I apologize for the poor video quality, I recorded it from my phone. Enjoy!