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This page has been archived here as a result of this vote. To revitalize a discussion, copy all of the text (formatting included) to Talk:Cat --GeorgeMoneyTalk Contribs 00:13, 5 May 2006 (UTC)
I am astonished that there is so little mention of the cat's ability to climb trees in this article. There is also a reference (when talking about cat colonies) about cats having little protection from other predators, such as dogs. This, of course is not true. Cats *will* climb trees, their claws are quite suited for it, and it is an excellent escape mechanism. This is noted earlier in the article, so why the claims that cats have a hard time escaping from predators?
They are quite apt at this (although cats that are kept indoors most of their lives are not). It should be mentioned, somewhere, and perhaps with images (I wish I could help in this article with images of this, but I have no cat.. owned or to borrow ;). Clearly it was a means for the wild cat to escape, and again.. the domesticated cat will often do the same if severely threatened. Further, this is likely the reason why a cat has developed a means to right itself during a fall. Trees are a place a cat can fall from.
As well, cats will often climb trees and consume the young of a nested bird. They certainly do not only hunt on the ground, but also pay attention to bird activity, and take advantage of discovered nests. I have watched this behaviour myself, many times. This would be worth noting..
This pic has some serious image problems. It needs to be removed --Fir0002 www 06:47, 2 May 2006 (UTC)
What are the problems you see with the image? It looks appropriate to me. --Ramdrake 13:15, 2 May 2006 (UTC)
This has become rather ludicrous. The only point I was attempting to make was that tuxedo cats are somtimes known as black-and-white cats, but, as Ramdrake pointed out, this picture is about a bicolor cat, and, as such, there should be no text stating 'otherwise known as a tuxedo cat' (as it did originally), or anything else. Therefore, if there are no objections within the next 24 hours, I will remove the bracketed text (and, of course, the brackets!!) leaving the picture to simply state: A Bicolor cat. Sergeant Snopake 21:37, 4 May 2006 (UTC)
I don't mind, especially since the different types of bicolours are already mentioned in the text. Didn't mean to start a war there... Sorry! --Ramdrake 23:02, 4 May 2006 (UTC)
Nor did I. You have my sincerest apology. Sergeant Snopake 21:47, 5 May 2006 (UTC)
Currently, the edit properties are: [edit=autoconfirmed:move=autoconfirmed]. I think we should change it to [edit=autoconfirmed:move=sysop]. We should do move=sysop, because why would any user move the cat article unless some scientist somewhere decided that cats would be called something else. And even if that happens, someone should just get an admin to move it. --GeorgeMoneyTalk Contribs 23:14, 5 May 2006 (UTC)
Wouldn't the "calico" picture more correctly be labeled a tortiseshell or tortiseshell-and-white? My understanding, backed by the calico entry is that calico's are primarily white, while tortiseshell's are primarily black. This one has white paws, so perhaps it's a tortiseshell-and-white? Maybe a pciture of a more classic calico (mostly white) or a more classic tortiseshell (no white) would be best? I know this isn't a matter of life or death. :) Lucky Adrastus 06:07, 6 May 2006 (UTC)
Can someone explain to me what can be put on this page that would be considered vandalism? They're housepets! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.33.228.198 (talk • contribs)
I don't know why someone would want to vandal this page. Most of the vandalism is just nonsense, and it needs to stop. Immediately. Vandalism is wrong and it only brings down Wikipedia's quality. If you want to view the vandalism, go to the history. SilentWind 19:42, 13 June 2006 (UTC)SilentWind
Are black-and-white cats extra crabby? My family has had seven cats in all (two have died), and the only ones that were ever nasty were our black-and-whites - bare in mind that three of our cats (tabbies) were wild before we got them, and the vet thought that they would never be tame. Our first black-and-white was very nice when he was young, then when he was middle aged he became very nasty. By the time he got to about fifteen, he'd gone completely senile, and spent his remaining two years being nice again. Our second black-and-white is so bad that the vet said we had to give him two days notice before we bring her in, so that he can get out of the country. You can imagine what sort of cat she is. The vet also told me that they had never seen a nasty ginger or tabby cat, but they had seen nasty black-and-whites. Have I just been unlucky with my black-and-whites, or is this a trait that many carry? Sergeant Snopake 18:28, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
BTW, my vet isn't just inexperienced, she meant a ginger/tabby cat that was as nasty as our black-and-white female. She'd never known a cat seriously try to kill her like our B&W did. Sergeant Snopake 23:16, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
Should any mention be made (either here or in a separate article) of people eating cats? Horses and dogs both have such a section and I don't see why cats (who have given mankind far fewer contributions than the aforementioned species) should be treated better. 66.133.180.56 03:00, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
kind of cats —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.255.186.161 (talk • contribs)
Of course, it could go in the article under the heading "Urban Legends about Cats;" not only cats in insert-your-own-ethnic-group-you-want-to-insult cuisine, but cats stealing the breath from babies and/or smothering them, etc. On the other hand, I did read an article here just recently that said the government of Vietnam was officially discouraging the eating of cats and snakes, as the rat problem caused by these practices are getting out of hand. I can't offer the article as collaborating evidence, but I'll look into it.
Well, yes, the cats were blamed, but they didn't actually steal the baby's breath--they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The idea of them stealing the baby's breath is an urban legend, just one that has circumstantial evidence surrounding it. I came across a recent article on Reuters about animal rights activists in China trying to shut down restaurants serving dog and cat meat. The article was from Reuters.com: "Animal rights protest shuts restaurant," Monday, June 19, 2006 2:16 AM ET. (I realize that's not proper citation format, but hopefully it's good enough for now.) The article states, "Many Chinese, particularly in the south, believe eating dogs and cats are good warming foods to eat during the winter." Not undeniable proof, of course, but a bit better than, "This one time, a friend of my friend Bob..."--Raulpascal 17:15, 21 June 2006 (UTC)
We need a serious effort to get some inline references here that are NOT web pages, as that seems to be the vast majority of things cited. Cats are not an obscure topic, so I'll get my vet books out and anyone else with printed matter, feel free to help add some more concrete refs. pschemp | talk 21:21, 2 June 2006 (UTC)
"However, the majority of brand-name cat foods are primarily grain based, often containing large amounts of corn or rice and supplemented with meats and minerals and vitamins." i'm guessing this only applies to dried cat food not the tinned stuff which certainly appears to contain big chunks of meat to me, anyone care to confirm? Plugwash 18:20, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
Actually, the tinned stuff has pretty much the same composition as the dry stuff, plus of course something like 50-70% water added. Just go to the site of one of those major brands, and they should list the ingredients for both the dry and the canned stuff (assuming the company you check has both lines). --Ramdrake 18:24, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
As fun as it is to stick Ulysses refrences into everything, it does provide interpretive dispute. The cat in the begining of Chapter 4 of Ulysses is not annoyed. Bloom may be becoming slightly annoyed, but the cat is purring and asking for affection. The onomatopoeia "Mrkgnao" is the sound a cat makes that is between a purr and a meow. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bloomingdedalus (talk • contribs) 22:43, 8 June 2006
This picture
was deleted from the article "Cat". I feel it is a good example of an american shorthair. It should be placed back into the article but I didn't just put it back in case anyone wanted to add a comment to why it is not worthy of being in the article.
http://flickr.com/search/?q=kitty+or+cat+or+puss&m=tags&s=int lots of original cat pictures.
I've never heard a female cat called a "queen", but I have heard them called "Janes" BethEnd 03:11, 23 June 2006 (UTC).
Anybody have thoughts on the move of the cat communication section to its own page (notwithstanding the fact it messes up this page's references and the cat communication page has no reference at the foot of the page while having blind references in the text).
“Domestic cats tend to live longer if they are not permitted to go outdoors…” - In the UK only show cats are kept locked up indoors. My parents kept three cats and sometimes their cats would spend two or three nights in a row outside, particularly in the summer. All three cats lived more than ten years, one of the cats lived twenty-one years.
Most people in the UK view keeping cats indoors, not letting them roam outside independently, as terribly cruel! Of course, if you live in a high rise flat keeping a cat indoors is unavoidable though the cats should be exercised regularly outside on a lead.
As for road traffic, aren't there more roads per square kilometre in the UK than in America? The last time I looked Britain was an overcrowded island and far more urban than the vast empty plains of the United States? I can't believe British cats are any better road crossers than American cats. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 80.41.213.239 (talk • contribs) .
Cats are very independent creatures and cannot easily enjoy a quality of life without getting into a few scrapes. Any minor blemish on a show cat’s coat could prevent that cat from winning a competition To be frank I think keeping and breeding cats for show is cruel anyway. Cats are not made to be wrapped up in cotton wool they are living animals. . Most people in Britain let their pet cats play independently outside and there are not piles of dead cats lying on roadsides or packs of dogs wondering our cities at night feasting on cats that happen to be outside.
As for ticks and fleas there, have you never heard of flea and tick powder?
It is true that cats hunt the local wildlife but unless you live somewhere, such as Australia, where the local wildlife is in endanger of extinction from cat predation I don’t see the problem, the natural world is a very, very cruel place, after all. Wild animals are murdering each other all the time. Anyhow the local wildlife in most cities in Britain and cities in the rest of the world is hardly in a natural state or in balance. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.41.213.239 (talk • contribs)
Many, many studies have been done on this by veterinarians. I will hunt up the references but don't have them right now. The fact is that there are far less dangers to a cat that lives indoors than to one that spends part or most of its time outdoors. Cats that are raised indoors prefer it, it is not cruel to keep them inside, instead it is a matter of how they were raised. Since you have admitted that keeping cats for show is "cruel", it is clear where your biases lay. Cats have different personalities, and some cats enjoy doing that. Some cats prefer the indoors and won't go outdoors. There is nothing wrong with people who want to protect the welfare of their animals. Yes the world is a cruel place, but the logic in making it easier for your pet to be killed is flawed. pschemp | talk 00:32, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
Despite the seemingly quite bitter dispute above, I was pleased to find the article itself was free from any wild acusations supporting or debunking either side. Well done! I came across a good debate on these issues a while back, from a cat magizine. If I remember their locations, I shall return to suggest their inclusion. The main difference seems to lie in the difference in US and European habits, which is normally atributed to the greater presense of natural preditors in the USA. LinaMishima 19:25, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
How long can a cat live fully? My Aunt and Uncle has a cat who is 19 years old!
I'm getting a bit tired of seeing the phrase "because the domestication of the cat is fairly recent", as the cat was one the the first three or four domesticated animals. One wouldn't refer to the horse as a "recently domesticated animal", but it was domesticated several (roughly four) millenia after the cat. The cat does retain some atavistic predatory behavior, but this doesn't mean it is any less of a "domestic" animal. --Ramdrake 23:46, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Does anyone know how often it is that a mother will have just one kitten in a litter? Sergeant Snopake 15:10, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
It's relatively rare(<10%), depends on the mother's size and age, and unfortunately is off-topic for this talk page. --Ramdrake 15:17, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
The article contains the following sentence:
I removed this sentence (as dubious) but I was reverted by Ramdrake. My wife is a PHD in anatomy, and according to her and a colleague of hers who specializes in comparative anatomy, the cat does have a small thin clavicle (i.e. collarbone), as do most (all?) other four-legged animals. The supplied links simply says:
The link doesn't say anything about other four-legged animals, so I'm wondering whether this is actually true. And while the link does say that cats do not have "rigid collarbones", it is unclear to me if that is supposed to mean that cats have no collarbones at all (since I assume all bones are rigid) or simply that cats have collarbones that are non-rigid. This needs to be cleared up, with appropriate citations.
Paul August ☎ 21:43, 18 July 2006 (UTC)
Sorry if I did a blanket revert of the addition the first time, but the initial wording was:
Does anyone have a citation that supports the discussion on laser pointers? The sentence "the fact that the cat cannot physically touch the laser dot no matter how hard it tries and that it cannot understand this concept can lead to even normally calm cats becoming very agitated and even severely stressed" sounds a little anthropomorphic to me. My cat seems to enjoy the laser pointer without ill effect.
That cat's something I can't explain.
Aren't cats the most hygienic animal? --DrBat 18:53, 30 July 2006 (UTC)
I have to cats there names are zoey and boo. Out of all my frineds cats there have been 10 zoeys so Zoey is a very common name I would suppose. Many of my friends have a cat named Freckles but thats not a very common name. Cats have all diffrent names and theres is no telling which name is the most common.
Melissa
There is no source marked for the following statement: "Feral cats living in modern urban environments often live only two years, or less.". Such a strongly worded statement seems to me to deserve a citation of a source to back it up. Not arguing over the figure, although I'm not sure about it. I'd rather just have a good reference found. LinaMishima 18:51, 31 July 2006 (UTC)