Articles about cats on the official Pro Plan website

What to do if a cat’s tail or paw is broken, dislocated or other injuries

The appearance of a furry pet in the house is a joy. But in return for the pleasant emotions that animals give, they expect love and care from their owners. First of all, about your health. Parasites are a common problem that pose a health risk to pets and all family members. From this article you will learn what types of parasites are found in cats and what preventive measures are needed to protect them.

About cats and cats

Alexander Meshcheryakov “Trinity Option - Science” No. 24(318), December 1, 2022

Alexander Meshcheryakov with his four-month-old cat Nyusha. Photo from personal archive

By the way, I love cats for their beauty, independence and uselessness in an apartment household. This love is pure - it does not bring benefits and does not imply reciprocity. Love for a dog is feminine, cozy, a priori shared, doomed to be reciprocated, secretless.

My American friend Linda Docherty, a cheerful and rich descendant of German Jews who escaped from the Nazis, somehow certified me not as a Christian, but as a “pagan.” She readily confirmed this: “I know. You're a cat-worshipper." Linda knew what she was talking about. In old age, her aunt, who was a big cat lover, fell away from the church: when asked directly whether she would be able to see her beloved cats in heaven, the pastor answered negatively. “And why the hell do I need such a paradise?” - Auntie was indignant and stopped going to church. That's it, Orthodox.

***

Once upon a time I had a cat named Ushanya. Everyone liked him. So a drunken mechanic came in and, looking at Ushanya, said with a faint expression: “I wish he could have some valerian now!” Ushanya looked at him condemningly, for he had not drunk a single gram. The mechanic couldn’t cope with the job - he had to call another one, not so friendly and more sober. He said to the cat, “Scatter!” and promptly eliminated the leak.

Wushanya was gray and scholarly. I proved this with an absolutely honest experiment. I left one paper bow for the cat game blank, and wrote “mouse” on the other. He tied both of them to exactly the same ropes and began to move them one by one in front of the cat’s nose. The result of the experiment was amazing: the first bow left Wushan completely indifferent, but he chased the second one with frenzy! And this went on for more than a day or two.

Unfortunately, however, the reading skill of cats, unlike people, is not inherited, and therefore numerous children of Ushan grew up completely illiterate.

***

Once upon a time, two cats happened to be in my house. Mother's name was Shunka. When I adopted her as a kitten, I thought she was a future cat and named her after the famous ancient Chinese Emperor Shun. However, it soon became clear that the cat turned out to be a cat, and then they had to attach a suffix to the name - it turned out to be Shunka. As befits cats, she became pregnant at the dacha and gave birth. I gave the rest of the kittens into good hands, but I decided to keep the black Liska - she was painfully beautiful. But she turned out to have a bad character, she grew up and began to offend her mother: she would arch her back, hiss and hit Shunka in the face. To reduce her aggression, I decided to sterilize Liska.

This was a long time ago; private veterinarians had just appeared who could be called to your home. Let me, I think, take advantage of the fruits of democracy and progress. I call the clinic, a gentle female voice promises that their highly qualified specialists will do everything in the best possible way.

For some reason I thought there would be two veterinarians, but only one arrived. A prominent man with hairy arms. It's okay, I think it'll work out. Call me Gavrila. He asks: “Have you equipped a place for the operation?” The dining table did not satisfy him - it was too low for his height. Under Gavrila’s guidance, I empty the contents from the bookshelf, place the shelf on the table, and drive four nails into the back to tie my Liska. Gavrila sits on a chair nearby, smokes and commands: this carnation is too small, but this one is too big. The thought is stirring: what if now he forces me to do the operation myself? No, Gavrila injected the cat himself. We wait. Liska seemed to have fallen asleep, and Gavrila shaved her stomach. The appearance of an animal without fur is much more defenseless than that of a recidivist with a shaved head. Gavrila touches the bluish skin with a scalpel and twitches. I injected again. With the same result. I added a cube - it doesn’t take it. “Not a cat, but a beast! - speaks. “Maybe then we’ll sterilize the other one?” I refused.

"That's seven thousand." - "For what?" - “What about anesthesia? Besides, by the way, I came here by taxi.” I called the next day. “Not dead? Here's a healthy one! The other one would have died already. From such and such a dose! Maybe we can at least sterilize the second one? With discount?"

He called three more times with his special offer. Then he stopped. But the problem remained: Liska slept through it, but her character did not improve. But then there was a nice girl who liked Liska so much that she terrorized her parents, and I was relieved to give Liska to them. And she felt good in her new home. She lived for herself and was no longer mischievous.

***

Shunka was a flighty lady, every summer she acquired a new gentleman. I also hung out with outright rednecks. Here, for example, Mishka has a tattered face, red skin, and an insolent look. From the neighboring dacha cooperative "Stalkonstruktsiya". He had the appropriate habits - you want to stick a cigarette in your mustache. He disappeared at night at parties, and during the day he came to see me. He will enter the room like a master, where I am typing on the computer keys, sit down, and yawn. He’s about to say: “And here, by the way, I have the right to living space.” But his children turned out to be excellent.

***

The Japanese consider themselves special people. In addition, their cats are also special. I had to live for some time in the Koishikawa district of Tokyo. Due to the time difference, I woke up early there. I made tea and went out onto the balcony to combine business with pleasure, that is, to smoke. He sipped bitter tea, inhaled and exhaled bitter smoke. And now I see from the height of my third floor how five cats emerge from the morning half-dark, one after another. They march not anyhow - not in a herd, but in a slender single file. They walk with concentration and without looking around. They seem to be walking slowly, but clearly on business. I never found out what it was - they disappeared around the bend.

Russian cats walk on their own and are cool when it comes to discipline. In this they are no different from their owners. But the Japanese learned from the Japanese. The difference, you see, is huge.

***

The stray cats in Koishikawa are of completely normal, Russian size. But they don’t keep normal dogs here—only lap mongrels. The mongrels walk on a leash. They mince along the smooth asphalt and look around cautiously. Still would! Here is a cat walking importantly along the roadway. You can immediately see who is the boss in this alley. In other countries, cats run away as fast as they can when they see a dog. But here it’s the other way around: seeing a cat, the mongrel clings to the owner’s feet and asks to be held. But the cat is not interested in this whim of the dog breed; he generally does not regard this pug as a dog, and its owner as a person. He waddles about his business. He has a powerful patron - a fishmonger who stinks of the ocean, who even today will give him a full bowl of scraps. In the depths of his soul, the cat calls the fishmonger “Mr. Susi,” and the fishmonger, in turn, calls the cat in the same way, but loudly.

What you need to know about cat health? Self-monitoring and preventive examination

For the loving owner of a domestic cat, nothing is more important than its health. Owners often perceive their pet as a full-fledged member of the family and are ready to make every effort to maintain its well-being. To prevent possible troubles and reduce health risks, it is important to adhere to several rules, which we outline below.

How to monitor your kitten's health yourself

A kitten's health is very fragile, so it is extremely important to monitor it carefully. To be sure that your pet is not sick, make it a rule to conduct an external examination at least 2 times a month. It is most convenient to combine such examinations with routine hygiene procedures: nail trimming, combing, treatment for ectoparasites (for example, fleas and ticks), etc. How to properly conduct such an inspection and what to pay attention to?

Pet - cat

We have a wonderful creature at home - the cat Timosha. We picked him up on the street as a little kitten. And now he is a big red cat, very kind, affectionate and inquisitive. He's interesting to watch. In the process of observations, I realized that I knew very little about cats, their life activity, behavior, and I wanted to learn as many facts as possible from the life of these amazing animals that have been living next to humans for several millennia.

Cats are the most common mammals on Earth. There are domesticated and wild representatives of this group. From a zoological point of view, the domestic cat is a mammal of the cat family, in which there are 2 subfamilies, 4 genera and about 36 species. It is known that representatives of both subfamilies, 3 genera and 12 species live in Russia. In Russian, the word "cat" means the female of this subspecies. The male cat is called a cat, and the baby cat is called a kitten.

The ancestors of modern cats first appeared about 10 million years ago, but they were completely wild and did not interact with people. When people started farming, their crops attracted mice and birds, which in turn attracted cats.

For 10,000 years, cats have been valued by humans, including their ability to hunt rodents and other household pests.

The first people to domesticate cats were the ancient Egyptians. The earliest evidence of domestication is an image of a cat wearing a collar, found in one of the tombs of the Egyptian pharaohs. And from 1600 BC. e. The cat began to be often depicted in sculptures, paintings and hieroglyphs, which indicates that it was widespread in Egypt. For the Egyptians, the cat was sacred and personified the deity - Bast or Bastet - the goddess of joy, fun and love, female beauty, fertility and hearth, who was depicted as a cat or a woman with the head of a cat.

The cat can move completely silently, thanks to pads equipped with tactile receptors.

The cat's ear rotates 180 degrees. A cat has 32 muscles in each ear, and they use twelve or more muscles to control the ear. A cat's body consists of 517 muscles.

Domestic cats can run at a speed of 50 km/hour.

Cats sleep 16–18 hours a day. They lick themselves for another 2–2.5 hours.

Most cats are left-handed.

Cats can distinguish colors and see excellently in low light conditions. But in absolute darkness, as many people think, cats cannot see.

They can perceive ultrasonic signals. Cats owe their fine hearing to their special hunting nature. They have a highly developed sense of smell.

Cats are well oriented in tastes, distinguish between sour, bitter and salty, as they have a good sense of smell and developed taste buds on the tongue. Cats are carnivores, usually eating only meat foods to which their digestive tract is adapted.

Cats are very clean animals. They wash themselves by licking their fur at least ten times a day. Cleanliness is instinctive in all cats: cleanliness of the body is necessary when hunting so that the prey cannot smell a hidden predator. Cats often love to lick their relatives and humans.

Cats always groom their claws. Under normal conditions, too long claws are worn down when climbing trees and running, and in captivity a cat can sharpen its claws on improvised objects or chew them off.

Domestic cats use many different sounds to communicate, including several different types of meows, purrs, hisses, howls, whistles, grunts and others. Kittens make a thin squeak at birth, but kittens are known to usually call their mother using ultrasonic signals. Domestic cats may purr, which usually means the animal is happy. Cats often purr among their relatives: for example, when a cat meets her kittens. When scared and aggressive, cats may snort, hiss and sometimes howl. In this case, the animal usually arches its back and tail, its fur stands on end, and its ears are pressed to its head. Some cats are capable of producing a threatening, dog-like growl that is a sign of extreme anger and irritation.

The tail is also an important means of expression in cats: a calm tail curled around the body or held high signifies a peaceful mood. A cat may twitch the tip of its tail when excited or interested. When angry, a cat's tail begins to beat.

Domestic cats are often called perfect predators. As a species that adapts very easily to a changing environment and has good eyesight, domestic cats are skilled hunters. Until now, cats are considered the best means of controlling rodents. Thanks to their psychic qualities, these animals can concentrate, wait for hours for prey at the mink, and then attack with lightning speed and precision.

At home, cats love to play with small objects: balls, balls of thread, sticks, crumpled paper, special toys for cats. Cats are often attracted to dangling and suspended objects, as they have the ability to move in the air, which imitates the cat's hunting of birds. Kittens are especially prone to play. By playing with their brothers and sisters, as well as with “inanimate” objects, they practice the movements necessary for hunting: they learn to stalk, sneak, jump and strike with their paws.

I learned a lot of new and interesting things about cats and I hope that this knowledge will help me better understand our pet.

Literature:

1. Yu. K. Shkolnik “Animals. Complete encyclopedia", Moscow, "Eksmo" 2010 - 256 p.

2. A. A. Pleshakov “From earth to sky: atlas - guide”, Moscow, “Enlightenment”, 2011 - 222 p.

3. A. A. Pleshakov “Green Pages”, Moscow, “Enlightenment”, 2010. - 223s.

4. Children's encyclopedia “I explore the world”, Moscow “AST” 2000 - 542 p.