Happy Chinese New Year

We at Bubu's Shelter wanna wish Gong Xi Fa Chai to all chinese out there!!

Cheeck-rubbing

Here's some thing I found and wanna share with you guys. My Panjang and Pendek loves to do this and now I know why they ber-gay-gay-an. Now I know why everyone do this rubbing thingy..

For owners who thought their kitty was independent and aloof, here's some news: Cats are very affectionate and have special ways of showing it. One common way they express their affection takes the form of rubbing their heads and their cheeks against you. But your cat may do an even more special greeting: He may bump against your leg, quickly lifts both front feet off the ground at the same time and puts them down again in a hopping manner. And while he's got both paws up, he may rub his cheek against your leg to signal of his affection.

This behavior is learned in kittenhood during the bonding process with the mother cat. Kittens and their mothers share a complex relationship, forming a close bond shortly after birth. Where human mothers use baby talk and gentle caresses, mother cats, or queens, lower their heads to make face-to-face contact with their kittens. They rub their kittens' heads with their own heads in order to mingle scents.

This allows the kittens to recognize their mother and bond with her. In response, these tiny kittens often raise themselves up to meet her.

This common behavior of rubbing the face and cheeks against people, other cats, or objects is an instinctual behavior that releases facial pheromones, which have been shown to have a calming effect on cats. When cats rub their faces on various objects, they are actually leaving their scent, which is reassuring to the cat and non-offensive to humans. When we rub our cats or they rub up against us, we pick up these scents, too. Then we have a groupscent identification.

If you have more than one cat, you may notice them butting heads and rubbing their cheeks on each other. Only cats that are entirely comfortable with each other will engage in mutual scent marking. This creates a potpourri of familiar scents that help cats to feel relaxed and secure in their home territory.

Cheek-rubbing is not only a means to leave their scent; it also helps create relationships based on physical contact. When your kitty hops up to greet you, you should feel very privileged.

Source - Dr. Jon

Butter with Pills

Cats can be difficult to pill. For some cats, adding a little butter to the medication can make it easier to slide down their throats and hide some of those bitter tastes.

To start - try making pill giving experience fun. Try offering a big treat as a start. You can always resort to opening their mouth and forcing them to take it but many times you can start by making it fun and some cats will actually eat it.

They are unique!

Lisa The Cheras

Camila The Cheras

Calico cats, with their orange, black and white coloration, are almost always female. So are black and orange tortoiseshells. Why?

The answer has to do with genetics. Every cat has 38 pairs of chromosomes; half of the pairs are from the mother, the other half is from the father. Within every chromosome there are thousands of different genes.

Every female cat receives one X chromosome from her mother and one X chromosome from her father, while a male receives one X chromosome from his mother and one Y chromosome from his father. Within the X chromosome is a gene for coat color.

In calicos and tortoiseshells, one X has the black gene; the other X has the orange gene. White coat color is associated with a completely separate gene.

At conception, the kitten is a one-celled organism, which divides until there are millions of cells that make up the final kitten. Each time a cell divides, it passes on its genetic material.

For the sex chromosomes, there is a battle for power. This is especially true for the X chromosome. If two X chromosomes are present, which determines female sex, one X chromosome will become inactivated at some point in fetal development. When this happens, all the cells descended from the activated X chromosome will have the same characteristics, including coat color.

In calicos, if the X-chromosome that is left functioning carries the orange gene, then all the cells descended from it will result in an orange color. The same is true if the functioning X chromosome has the black gene. If both X-chromosomes carry the same color gene, then the calico pattern will not appear.

Since X chromosomes inactivate at various times in each individual cat, color patches vary.

The story is different for male cats. Males have only one X chromosome, and it is never inactivated. Whatever color gene is present on this X chromosome will determine the color of the cat. Males can be calico or tortoiseshell only if they are born with 2 X-chromosomes and a Y (XXY), allowing one X to be inactivated. This genetic defect (XXY) is very rare.

It is difficult to breed specifically for calico or tortoiseshell cats. Breeding an orange cat to a black cat may increase the chances, but it all depends on whether the kitten is female and at what stage during development the X-chromosome becomes inactive. There is no way to predict or force an X chromosome to inactivate at a certain point in development.

Source: Dr.Jon

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!!