Meet our September Cat of the Month: Marley!

 

Marley 

 Age: 16 months

Breed: Snowshoe 

Gender: Neutered Male 

Demeanor at the vet: Sweet, maybe a little timid

Last checkup - August 27th: Healthy young adult cat!

Marley is a very energetic, very friendly & snuggly cat! He loves playing & wrestling with his sister Maggy, a small Mountain Tree Feist dog. 

He also loves to play fetch with his toys, and plays with the water in his water fountain. 

Here is a photo of Marley as a 6 month old kitten. So cute!

Notice how his coat has darkened over time. It is very common for cats with colorpoint coats like Siamese, Ragdolls, Himalayans and Snowshoes to experience coat color changes due to changes in their body temperature and the temperature of the environment. The gene that helps create colorpoint coats is a gene that controls temperature-dependent albinism. The cooler the body temperature on average, the darker the coat color, because the albino gene is only turned on by warm temperatures. When the temperature reaches a certain level, the albino gene turns on, which turns OFF the color genes. Ears, face, tail and limbs are cooler than the trunk of the body, so that is where the color genes are allowed to be expressed.

Cats of these breeds that run fevers while they are ill may develop a ticked or spotty mask because the facial hairs that grow in during the fever will be whitish in color in contrast to the darker hairs that grew while the cat was not running a fever. Additionally, these breeds may develop very dark patches over the kidneys as they age, as the kidneys have many blood vessels that circulate while they are healthy. As the cat ages and blood flow in the kidneys may not be as strong, the areas over the kidneys can become darker-furred. Colorpoint breeds that live in northern climes where the winters are colder will develop darker coats than cats of the same breed that live in the south. These cats may even become darker and lighter with the seasons, if they have access to the outdoors.

If you are interested in genetics, read on for further information on the case of the color changing cats:



Messybeast: Colorpoint and Masked Cats

Siamese Cats are Walking Heat Maps

Siamese Cat Genetics

Wikipedia Article on Point Coloration in Various Species

Meet Princess January!

Princess Sabrina

My Fairy Tale:  My fairy tale began the moment I first graced my royal family with my presence.   My mom (the Queen) was in her palace and spotted me as a tiny wild kitten playing outside in the garden.  She ran out to the gate house and told my dad (the King) “there’s a Siamese kitten in the garden!!”.  Well, they both ran outside just in time to see me dashing away.  Mom had always wanted a Siamese kitty so she set out a live-trap every day hoping I would be lured back into their lair.  Well I surprised her…I didn’t come back…for a MONTH!  By this time she had given up hope of ever seeing me again, but one day she looked out the window and there I was sitting ON TOP of the trap.  She thought I was quite the little jester!  So she set the trap with some delightful tuna and went back in the palace.  Three minutes later I was captured and transported in some type of carriage to my new palace.  From that day on I have been the Princess of our palace…and I must say, I was BORN to be a Princess!

My Palace:   My palace is of course quite elaborate….we have 8 cat trees, two kitty pods, two kitty hammocks, one kitty cottage, one bamboo kitty ball bed, and the list goes on.  For dining we eat on Wetnoz Fat Cat dishes and drink from beautiful fountains.  Did I mention the Litter Robot?!  There is also a secret passageway from the hall to the royal kitty room that keeps the guard dogs out.

My Favorite Throne:  Since I pretty much rule the house I like to change my preferred sleeping location depending on my mood.  This week it is in the pink kitty bed, but my usual night time spot is wrapped around the top of my mom’s (the “Queen’s”) head.  I also like any look-out point where I can have full view of my kingdom.

My Loyal Subjects:  As Princess I have many loyal subjects.  There are my four guard dogs who’s sole purpose in life is to project me (though one of the Pomeranians chases me at times), my Ladies-in-waiting which consist of several female kitties who make sure I am clean and comfortable, my suitors which consist of several male kitties all who completely adore me and then there is my Queen and King who confirm for me every day that the world revolves around me.

My Favorite Amusements:  I am a bit of a mouser so I love to play with toy mice.  One time we had real baby mice in the Palace and I got to lick them…yum!  I also like “Da Bird”, my FroliCat laser toy and my Fling-Ama-String.

My Royal Duties:  A Princess needs her beauty rest so sleeping is important to me.  But I also like to chatter at birds outside and chatter for treats and chatter when I don’t like something.  So I suppose you could say I like to “talk” a lot.  I am also tasked with making sure the guard dogs stay in line which often requires me to implement my papping punishment….and I have at times been heard meowing “off with their heads!”  MOL!

My Favorite Fare:  Fancy Feast of course!  I also enjoy tuna, soft cat treats, cheese and any type of meat the royal family may be dining on.

My Titles:  Chewbacca, Chewy, ChewChew, Cheweenie, Weenie, Sasquatch, Sassy Sasquatch, Chupacabra, Sa-Brina-A, Sabrina the Witch, oh and don’t forget my formal title PRINCESS Sabrina!!  Ok, so I must explain the Chewbaka & Sasquach titles…my family says that when I chatter and talk I make sounds like Wookie.  I don’t really know what they are talking about because all I hear when I am talking is sweet music!