by Nomi Berger
 
Have you ever wondered how many of their legendary nine lives cats use up when they fall from extraordinary heights?
 
Have you ever wondered how they, more often than not, manage to land safely on their feet?
 
Known as the righting reflex, this innate ability to reorient their bodies during a fall has been observed in kittens as young as the age of three weeks, and this gravity-defying skill is fully developed by the time they’re seven weeks old.
 
Historically, cats falling from greater heights (five stories and more) suffer less severe injuries than those falling from only a few stories. This longer free fall allows them more time to right themselves and position their bodies correctly so that by the time they reach the ground, their feet will touch down first.
 
Visualize a kitty falling in slow motion. She starts shifting her balance the instant her flight begins. First, her body determines which side should be up, guided by her eyes and ears. A cat’s inner ear’s vestibular system acts as her balance and orientation compass, alerting her to where her body is in relation to the ground. She then begins rotating her head until she’s facing the proper way and can see precisely where she’s going to land.
 
Secondly, her spine follows as she arches her back. Possessing a unique skeletal structure, a cat’s spine has no collarbone and an unusually flexible backbone with 30 vertebrae – unlike humans who have 24 – and it’s the suppleness of this backbone that enables her to correct her course during her fall. And since a cat has a low body-volume-to-weight ratio, much like a flying squirrel, she’s able to slow her velocity when falling by expanding her body size which, in turn, creates air resistance.
 
Thirdly, she positions her front feet under her, followed by her hind legs, with her front paws placed close to her face to protect it from the impact of landing on the ground. More like a parachute and less like an airplane, she relaxes her falling body and spreads it out in preparation for landing, ensuring her leg joints bear the impact of her weight.
 
Several years ago, a cat who fell a staggering 32 stories from a high-rise apartment to land on the concrete sidewalk was released from a veterinary clinic after 48 hours with only a chipped tooth and a minor lung puncture!

by Nomi Berger
 
Did you know that cats are capable of making more than 100 sounds?
 
Did you know that every year veterinary behaviorists discover even more sounds as they attempt to decipher exactly what those sounds and combinations of sounds mean?
 
Curious about the most common sounds that kitties make? Consider the following:
 
Short mew: Not only can it serve as a feline’s greeting, but it’s also similar to a person’s asking a question. Examples: When you hear a short mew, your kitty may be asking, “Are you concerned about me?” or “Could you please pick me up to get me away from the dog?”
 
Rapid-fire meow: Often, when a cat’s excited or craves attention, she’ll emit this rapid-fire meow. While its most common meaning is “I’m hungry, paw-lease feed me now!”, it may also be a sign of concern, discomfort or distress.
 
Chirping or chattering: As part of a cat’s natural hunting instinct, she’ll usually emit this familiar sound when she’s sitting in front of a window staring at the birds, chipmunks or squirrels outside. The reasons: she’s excited because she sees them as potential prey or she’s frustrated because she can’t get to them.
 
Long plaintive meows: These usually indicate worry, annoyance or an objection on the part of your cat. Tending to be more repetitive in nature, they mean that your kitty REALLY wants something specific – from waking you up in the morning because she’s hungry to demanding an immediate release from the room she’s in.
 
Growling: Announcing the potential start of a fight, it’s a cat-to-cat sound that literally means, “back off.” Consider this as a warning sign that your kitty is extremely agitated and requires some space.
 
Purring: While people generally think that a purring cat signifies contentment and happiness, in some instances, it can be a sign that your cat’s uncomfortable or in pain and is purring as a way to soothe herself.
 
Hissing: Unprovoked cats will often hiss at other animals and people when they’re either threatened, frightened or in pain.
 
Trilling: While most cat sounds are made with their mouths open, trilling is one sound that cats make with their mouths closed. Not only is trilling used by mother cats to get their kittens to pay attention to them or follow them, veterinary behaviorists see it as a positive, happy and friendly greeting.
 
Yowling: Outdoor, intact females in heat will often emit this sound in a seductive attempt to lure tomcats their way. Yowling can also signify that a major cat fight is about to start or that a particular cat is in great pain.

by Nomi Berger
 
Meow about the marvels of engineering!
 
Presenting the miraculous and multi-faceted cat tongue.
 
Every element of a cat – including her tongue – has, through evolution, been designed for utmost efficiency.
 
One of the main reasons for this enviable efficiency derives from the fact that a feline tongue feels like sandpaper. Unlike the papillae (tiny surface bumps) on a human tongue, hers are barb shaped, made from keratin and face backwards. These minute spine-like structures assist her in grooming as well as in drinking water and eating food.
 
Think of your cat’s tongue as the world’s smallest de-tangling hairbrush. Studies have shown that her tongue moves in several directions during her fastidious grooming process as she removes parasites from her skin, spreads her body oils around, and increases her blood circulation. Whenever her tongue “hits a snag”, it pulls on the “hooks”, causing them to rotate, enabling her to penetrate that snag even further.
 
Then there’s the drama behind her drinking! Whereas dogs utilize their tongues like ladles to drink, cats don’t. A cat uses the tip of her tongue to bring the water from her bowl to her mouth (her scoop-shaped papillae act as petite cups to hold it) creating a continuous column upwards with both accuracy and speed. More remarkable still is her ability to know precisely when to close her mouth before that gravity-defying motion stops.
 
Curious as to why your cat likes licking you? Pussycats lick their people partly because they consider them members of their feline family and partly because they see them as their own purr-sonal property. A ritual learned at birth from their kitty mothers, licking both keeps the family clean and bonds them more closely together. Maturing kittens and grown cats use licking to establish their territory by leaving their scent on it, and like their mothers before them, they also use licking as part of a social, bonding protocol – from licking each other in a multi-cat household to licking their pet parents.
 
Because cats are notorious for using their tongues to explore their environment, always ensure that your home is feline friendly and scrupulously safe. Too many vets have seen what seems like the most innocuous of items wrapped around the tongues of too many curious kitties – including elastics, yarn and all things stringy, human hair, shredding blankets and unraveling rugs. And since their passion for play triggers their instinctual prey drive, they will gleefully proceed, tongue first, to pounce on whatever thin and tempting “toy” beckons them close, closer, closest.
 
Cleaning products pose the same problem for your purr-ecious puss as inappropriate playthings. Not only are they toxic if she drinks them but should some of the liquid get on her fur and she tries to lick off, it can cause burns and ulcers on her tongue once inside her mouth. 

by Nomi Berger
 
Did you know?
 
1. Cats have dominant paws: While studies differ as to what percentage of cats are right, left or ambidextrous, they all show that our feline friends do indeed have paw preferences, particularly when it involves performing difficult tasks. One Irish study even correlated gender with paw dominance, indicating that males prefer using their right paw and females their left. Curious about your own kitty’s paw-reference? Present her with a challenging task such as plucking tasty treats from a hard-to-reach place. For the most accurate reading, repeat this task at least 75 times. Won’t YOUR kitty be paw-leased?
 
2. Cats tiptoe: Cats are digitigrades, i.e., they navigate their world on their toes. Why? In the wild, it improves their chances both at survival and at finding food by increasing their speed and lengthening their stride. They’re also much quieter on their toes, making it more difficult for their prey to detect them.
 
3. Cat paws are extremely sensitive: Paw pads contain a high concentration of nerve receptors, allowing cats to feel texture, pressure and even vibrations. In the wild, this sensitivity helps them evaluate the energy and proximity of their prey. In domesticated cats, however, this sensitivity makes many of them resistant to having their paws rubbed too often, if at all. The pads are also very sensitive to temperature and pain, and not being insulated, they can be seriously injured on ragged surfaces and hot or frozen pavement.
 
4. Cat paws are flexible: Their front paws’ ability to bend and turn inward makes cats admirably adept at climbing trees while remaining stable as they sink their claws into trunks and branches with ease. While ideal for ascending trees, it’s less than ideal for descending them. Since their front claws face in the wrong direction for a head first descent, and because their front legs and paws are weaker than their more muscular hind legs, cats must back down trees instead.
 
5. Cat paws are shock absorbers: Their pads act as both sound and shock absorbers, cushioning and softening their landings when cats jump as well as when they tread through rough terrain. In the wild, they assist a hungry cat move and hunt comfortably and silently.
 
6. Cat paws are great for grooming: Designed as petite and purr-fect grooming tools, their paws and front legs help cats clean difficult-to-reach areas behind their ears, on their faces and necks and under their chins. This ritual involves licking one of their front paws several times, swiping it across any area they’re unable to lick directly, stopping to lick (thereby moistening) their paw again and repeating the process until every area has been cleaned to their satisfaction.
 
7. Cat paws help cats sweat: Since cats sweat from the bottoms of their paws, this highly effective “cooling” system prevents them from overheating on hot days. But scared and stressed out cats also sweat through their paws. Want proof? Check for moist little paw prints on the examining table the next time you take kitty to the vet.
8. Cats “communicate” through their paws: Whenever cats scratch an object, they’re marking their territory and “transmitting” information about themselves. And thanks to scent glands located between the paw pads on their front and back feet, they’re depositing pheromones containing even more information on those same, scratched surfaces. Some cats will often scratch a specific spot after spraying or urinating.
 
9. Cat paws are “color coded”: Paw pads predictably come in colors that either mirror or match the color of a cat’s coat. Examples: Gray cats usually have gray paw pads, orange cats have pink paw pads, while tuxedo cats often sport black spots on theirs. Why? The pigments that make up the fur are the same as those that color the skin.

by Nomi Berger
 
Why do cats have whiskers? For more reasons than they can count on one paw. Consider then, these seven scintillating snippets about a kitty’s wondrous whiskers.
 
1. They are especially sensitive: Since a cat’s whiskers are rooted more deeply in the skin than ordinary fur, the area around them has a very generous supply of blood and nerves. This makes the whiskers’ tips so sensitive that they can detect the slightest change in the direction of a breeze. On the downside, such hypersensitivity can actually cause your cat pain if you “toy” with them in any way. And because eating from a narrow bowl that presses on her whiskers can also be painful, try putting her food on a plate instead or buy her a wide, flat feeding bowl.
 
2. They aren’t only on her nose: Besides the eight to 12 whiskers your cat has on either side of her nose, she has shorter whiskers above her eyes, on her chin and on the backs of her lower front legs.
 
3. They help her figure out where she’ll fit: Because your cat’s whiskers are usually about as long as she is wide, they assist her in determining the width of various openings and whether or not she can safely and successfully slide her body through them.
 
4. They assist her in effectively hunting prey: Cats are farsighted (they don’t see well up close). This means that when they catch their prey, whether that prey is a live mouse or a favorite feather toy, they need a way to sense their prey is in the proper position for the “fatal” bite. Most crucial for this purpose are the whiskers on the backs of her forelegs and to a lesser degree, those on her chin and the sides of her nose.
 
5. They serve as an emotional barometer: The position of your cat’s whiskers can be an indicator of her mood. If her whiskers are relaxed and sticking out sideways, it means that she’s calm. If they’re pushed forward, it means that she’s alert and excited. If they’re flattened against her cheeks, it means that she’s angry or scared. But to confirm the message her whiskers are sending, examine the position of her ears and tail as well.
 
6. They should never be cut: While your cat sheds a few whiskers from time to time, you should never, ever trim them. She’ll become disoriented, dizzy and confused because she’s no longer receiving the vital navigational signals she needs. Imagine if you were suddenly blindfolded and unable to remove the blindfold for WEEKS! This is precisely how your kitty will feel if you cut her all-important whiskers.
 
7. They can change color: Don’t be surprised or alarmed if you discover a white whisker growing in your kitty’s otherwise solid black fur as she gets older. Like most people, cats will begin going gray with age, but it’s more noticeable in cats whose fur is a dark, solid color as opposed to patterned.

by Nomi Berger

Does spring announce its arrival by the unusual amount of cat hair covering your home?
 
As your kitty trades her heavy winter coat for a light summer one by shedding – a natural and important process -- she’s helping to remove any dead fur that causes skin irritation. On the other hand, no shedding may be a sign of poor diet or an underlying medical issue, while too much shedding that leads to bald patches or a very thin coat warrants a visit to the vet.
 
Although some breeds shed more -- or less -- than other breeds, their exposure to daylight also plays a part in “signaling” their bodies when it’s time for a seasonal shed. And so, if your cat spends a great deal of time outside in the sunshine or lying in direct sunlight inside, she may be more prone to shedding as the days grow longer.
 
Brushing your cat regularly is the best way to manage any excess hair at the source before it starts wafting through your home in tufts or emanating from kitty herself in the form of hairballs. A good indicator of how often you should brush her is the length and thickness of her coat.
 
If your kitty isn’t used to being brushed or quickly becomes fidgety, it’s important to make the process as stress free as possible for her. Begin with brief sessions and reward her with plenty of praise and high value treats. Once she’s more relaxed, increase the duration of the brushing sessions, and by making it a positive bonding experience between the two of you, she’ll appreciate it even more.
 
Always brush WITH the grain in the natural direction that her fur grows. Brushing out knots and mats can be difficult and some may need to be cut out. If your cat is severely matted, it’s advisable to see a groomer or consult your vet before trying to remove the mats yourself.
 
Longhaired cats are best served by starting with a long, stiff shedding rake or comb that reaches down near the skin and dislodges hair from the undercoat while leaving the outer coat almost entirely unaffected. They should then be brushed at least every two days.
 
For shorthaired cats, begin with a bristle brush. This loosens some of the hair trapped near the skin that causes irritation. Shorthaired cats with a double coat require less brushing than longhaired cats, while those with a single coat need even less. Whatever the length of your cat’s hair, ending each session with a slicker brush (its smaller bristles are ideal for grabbing the hair dislodged by the brushing) is
 
 
another way to keep her coat smooth, shiny and sleek.
 
Lint rollers are also an asset, keeping your clothes as hair free as possible when you leave your home while doing the same for anyone entering your home. Consider those around you who might be allergic to cats, and have a lint roller on hand to remove whatever vestiges of your cat’s hair are clinging to you.
 
To keep your environment as hair free as possible, running an air cleaner, particularly one designed to handle pet hair, can help provided you replace the filters regularly. For carpets, some cat owners use a vacuum while others prefer a rubber broom with squeegee bristles. The bristles help clump the hair together in a ball and seem to work better than vacuuming alone. For tiled or wood floors use a damp mop.
 
If your cat has a favorite spot on the furniture, drape it with an easily washed blanket, and if she sleeps in your bed at night, use a duvet cover that you can remove and wash.
 
Now open your windows and welcome spring!

by Nomi Berger
 
While a good deal of time and patience is involved in helping semi-feral cats adjust to domesticity, nothing succeeds more than time and patience, and nothing is a more gratifying experience.
 
Why?
 
Because semi-feral cats who have acclimated well to their new lives are some of the most loving, affectionate and appreciative kitties around.
 
Interested?
 
If so, consider the following five steps to help make your particular “wild child’s” adjustment to indoor living as smooth and swift as paws-ible.
 
1. Prepare a “dedicated” cat room: When you bring your new cat home, ensure her room has such amenities as scratching posts, some toys, food, water and a litter box. Not only should her food bowl and litter box be on opposite sides of the room, it should be quiet and, for the time being, out of bounds for other humans. It should also have some small, safe hiding places, like a cat house or a blanket draped over a chair, but nothing (a bed or sofa) that allows her to hide away from you completely, thereby removing herself from her new environment. Spend time in this room every day to get her accustomed to your presence. Read out loud to her, speak to someone on the phone or simply talk about anything and everything, allowing her to learn the sound of your voice and grow increasingly comfortable with it.
 
2. Win her over with food: Food is key to gaining your new cat’s trust and earning her eventual affection. When you begin, it’s vital to adhere to a regular feeding schedule so that she learns you’re consistently and without fail the sole source of her delicious food supply. Once she’s relaxed enough to eat, start sitting in the room without interfering with either her or the food. This will assure her that she’s safe with you. Special foods such as “chicken in gravy” baby food is also an excellent way to “seduce” her into attempting new things as she acclimatizes herself to her new, domesticated life.
 
3. Avoid direct eye contact: If you find your cat staring at you, do NOT engage. To feral cats, eye contact is considered aggressive. But should you inadvertently find yourself in a “staring contest”, the best thing to do is calmly blink, keeping your eyes closed for a few seconds, and turn your head away. This shows your cat that you hadn’t meant to threaten her, and are taking a submissive role, which, in turn, reinforces her feeling of safety and security.
 
4. Don’t force physical contact: Your cat will come to you once she feels truly safe, something that can be encouraged and enhanced by using that “high value” baby food. Put some on your finger and have her lick it off. This both initiates contact between the two of you and allows her to form a positive association with you. Repeat this over and over until all hesitation on her part ceases. The next step is to try petting her. Start by extending a closed fist while looking away. Allow her to approach you and initiate whatever form of contact feels most comfortable to her.
 
5. Be patient: According to an old axiom, “Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.” And so it is when welcoming an outdoor cat into your home and heart. All felines are famously guarded; semi-ferals even more so. And although your kitty’s adaptation to indoor life may take longer than you may want, once you’ve succeeded – as a team -- yours will be a love unlike any other.

by Nomi Berger

For those pondering the how and why of that phenomenon known as purring, numerous theories abound.
 
As for how: Most experts now believe that purrs are created by the laryngeal and diaphragmatic muscles in combination with a neural oscillator in the brain. A message from the neural oscillator to the laryngeal muscles causes them to vibrate and this movement controls the amount of air passing through. Purring occurs during inhalation and exhalation. Some purrs are so low, they’re felt more than heard, while others are so loud, they can be heard from across the room.
 
As for why, paw-lease peruse the following:
 
1. Newborn kittens and their moms purr to stay safe.
 
Purring is essential to the survival of newborn kittens. Welcomed into the world by the soft vibrations of their mother’s purrs, they may be blind and deaf, but they can feel vibrations. Like homing devices, these purrs guide the newborns to the protective warmth of their mother’s body and to their first meals.
 
Kittens start communicating through purrs to their mother and other siblings when they’re two days old. Unable to meow while they nurse, they manifest their contentment instead by purring, and their mom will purr comfortingly back at them.
 
Springing from the primal need for survival in the wild, the vibrations of a vulnerable mother cat’s purrs when she’s giving birth are less likely than cries or other vocalizations to attract the attention of hungry predators. Purring also releases endorphins, reducing her pain while simultaneously reassuring her newborns.
 
2. Cats purr when they crave attention.
 
Since adoring cat parents lavish their cats with additional cuddles and pets when they purr, cats will often begin to purr when they “want” something – from affection and playtime to food and treats.
 
Luckily, however, theirs is a mutual admiration society! The clever kitties’ sweet, relaxing sounds boost their owners’ moods and lower their blood pressure.
 
3. Cats purr when stressed, in pain or sick because it has healing powers.
 
Studies have found that purrs oscillate at a low frequency of 25 to 150 HZ. This frequency promotes bone healing and eases muscle pain. Clinical trials of people receiving ultrasound treatments have shown that low-frequency intensity ultrasound accelerates the healing of fractures.
 
Some reports also show that cats heal faster than animals who don’t purr because of the endorphins their purring releases – much like those released by a mother cat in labor.
 
4. Cats purr as a form of low-key exercise.
 
Cats are famous for conserving their energy by lounging and napping. And since they purr while they rest, the vibrations from those purrs help to increase the density of their bones. This in turn keeps their bones healthy and strong and prepped for the next opportunity to pounce on their prey – whether it’s another playful kitty or a bouncing laser dot, the feather on a dancing wand toy or their loving owners’ open laps.

by Nomi Berger
 
Does YOUR cat like being lifted up and held? Does she remain in your arms long enough for it to count as a cuddle? Or does she squirm and wriggle and do all she can to escape your embrace?
 
According to some veterinary behaviorists, not all cats are created equal – in terms of cuddling. Whereas some cats view cuddles as cozy cushions of comfort, others see them as stifling sources of suffocation.
 
Most cats enjoy being up high because it affords them a purr-fect ”cat’s eye” view of the world below. But they usually prefer to paw their way to their favorite perch on their own. From a feline perspective, there’s a difference between leaping up onto a kitchen counter, a window ledge or a bookcase and being scooped up from the ground and held by a human. After all, despite their small size, cats ARE descended from large cat royalty, namely the lion, king of beasts, and should be treated with the proper deference and respect.
 
Some cats equate being picked up and held as a form of restraint even if it’s meant as a demonstration of affection. They might have had negative experiences with actually being physically restrained for such procedures as receiving vaccinations, having their temperature taken or having their nails trimmed. Sometimes all it takes is a single mildly negative experience for cats, especially sensitive ones, to be wary of being restrained from then on.
 
In fact, cats may interpret their owners’ well-intentioned efforts to hold them as an actual attack. They may perceive being restrained as a sign that they’re now trapped, that something bad is going to happen to them or that they’re about to be killed or eaten. It’s essential to remember that while cats are predators to smaller prey, they themselves are prey to larger predators.
 
Coupled with this is the fact that being held isn’t a normal form of interaction among cats themselves. They don’t pick each other up and cuddle. Instead, they express their affection by approaching fellow felines politely, then sniffing, licking and rubbing one another.
 
Some cat breeds LOVE being cuddled, such as Ragdolls and Ragamuffins, who are famous for flopping back comfortably when held by their adoring humans. But because each cat is an individual, not all of these so-called cuddly cats enjoy being cuddled.
 
Truly caring pet parents are extremely sensitive to their cherished cats’ preference. By forcing affection on their finicky felines, they run the risk of their kitties becoming increasingly more reluctant to interact with them on any level or even worse, becoming aggressive.
 
From reading your own cat’s signals, then, what kind of cat is she: snuggler or squirmer?

by Nomi Berger
 
Cats with extra toes are called polydactyls, a name derived from two Greek words: “poly” meaning “many” and “daktylos” meaning “digits”. While the majority of cats have 18 toes, with five on both front paws and four on both back paws, it’s not unusual for a large number of cats to have extra toes -- some with as many as eight on a single paw.
 
Polydactyly is a genetic abnormality resulting in the formation of extra toes on one or more paws. Most polydactyl cats have extra toes on their front paws, although some will also have extra toes on their back paws. Passed down from parent cats through a dominant gene, there’s nothing medically wrong with a cat having extra toes, nor does it hurt. In fact, these extra digits can actually be beneficial.
 
Some breeds are more likely than others to have polydactyly. Historically, 40 percent of Maine Coons have had extra toes, a most useful trait in the state of Maine that receives more than 100 inches of snow a year. The extra toes assist Maine Coons’ paws by acting like snowshoes, enabling them to pad about outdoors without falling through the snow as easily.
 
Prized by sailors throughout the world as being symbols of good luck, they were often called “gypsy cats”, while their extra toes made them excellent at catching mice and allowed them to maintain their balance on rough waters.
 
Some polydactyls are called “mitten cats” because they have extra toes on the medial or “thumb” side of their paws. While these toes usually aren’t fully formed and aren’t opposable like human thumbs, some cats have learned to use them in ways similar to the ways we use ours. Many cat owners have been astounded by the ability of their “mitten cats” to open latches or windows thanks to these extra digits.
 
The most famous polydactyls of all are the ones known as “Hemingway Cats”. In the 1930’s, sea captain, Stanley Dexter, gave an extra-toed kitten to writer, Ernest Hemingway. Since the kitten was a descendant of Dexter’s own polydactyl cat, Snowball, Hemingway named his kitty, Snow White. Charmed and fascinated by them, he collected more than 50 cats at his home in Key West, Florida, half of whom had extra toes. He cared deeply about his cats and named each one after a famous person.
 
Today, visitors to the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum can view the colony of between 40 and 50 cats, some of whom are directly descended from Snow White. Half of them still have extra toes. They receive regular veterinary care, including vaccinations and treatments for fleas and other pests, and staying true to the tradition of the writer himself, they are all still named after famous people.