Missy's Corner

Recently, I got an e-mail from Belly's adoptive mother saying "this is random but I was curious as to if any of your cats had any Maine coon cat gene in them? I am the owner of Pippin (Belly) and  he is quite massive for only being about a couple months old!"  Since Kitty and her mates were strays, we can only guess about the kittens' genetic makeup, but that question definitely got Mister and I thinking, "What could be in our babies genes?!"  On their vet records, Monkey, Savannah, and Kitty are all listed as "DSH"or Domestic Short Hair tabbies.  This "breed" along with the Domestic Medium Hair and the Domestic Long Hair are the nice umbrella terms for all cats that do not fit into a recognized Cat Fanciers Breed.  Luckily, Mister and I just started Tivo-ing a show on Animal Planet called "Cats 101," which goes through four or five different cat breeds an episode; so we decided to do some educated guessing on our cats lineage.  Little did I know just how many cat breeds there are, and most have come into existence within the last 50 years. *Just a little note, all the links in this post are to "Cats 101" videos about the breeds.*


There are some breeds that in my opinion, are absolutely ugly looking - the Exotic, the Scottish Fold, and the Sphynx are just a few- and some that are elegant looking.  There are even breeds of cats that have "curly" hair called Selkirk and Cornish Rexes, one being long haired and the other short haired, respectively. But instead of focusing on what Savvy and Monkey are not, lets get to what they possibly could be!

Let's start with Kitty because she is an easy one, an American Short Hair.  The American Short Hair cat is a long, lean, and powerfully built cat that was used as rodent exterminators on the early voyages to America.  It can be recognized by its round head, rounded ears, and short coat that comes in eighty different colors and patterns.

Next up in the game of "What's in a cat?" is Monkey;  I have "narrowed" down the possibilities to two breeds, the Somali and Maine Coon cats.  Maine Coons are known for their sheer size.  Males can weigh anywhere between 15 and 25 pounds and can reach a length of 40 inches including the tail!  The looks on people's faces when Mister or I tell someone that we have a 8 month old cat that weighs over 10 pounds is astounding.  They are also know for having tufts of fur between their toes used to keep their feet warm while walking on snow.  The Maine Coon breed is known to have above-average intelligence which makes them relatively easy to train, which I have found to be true!  I have taken up the task of training Monkey and Savannah to recognize their names and while Monkey took to it instantly, Savannah is still having trouble.  Meanwhile, the Somali cat is also known as the Fox cat, and has a really bushy tail.  The breed also features a black stripe that runs down the cat's back, large tufted ears, and a full ruff.  Their coats are ticked, which mean one strand of hair usually has up to four color variations from light to dark, and are also know to have dark rims around their eyes that make the cat look like its wearing eye-liner, as well as white patches on their chins and muzzles. Below are side by side pictures of a Somali on the left and a sleeping Monkey on the right.  See the similarity?  Also below are pictures of his Maine Coon traits, the tufted feet and length (that is an 18 inch ruler he is delightfully chewing on!).



Miss Savvy on the other hand was almost as easy as her mother to figure out, but like Monkey shows traits from more than one breed, Abyssinian, Bombay, and a hint of Havana Brown.   The Abyssinian breed is supposedly one of the oldest cat breeds known to man.  While the origins of the breed are hazy, representations of the cat can be found all over ancient Egypt.  They have broad, wedge-shaped heads and almond-shaped eyes that come in gold, green, hazel, or copper.   The Abyssinian coat is medium-length with three or four-colored ticked bands.  While the breed doesn't come in an all black color, there is a Silver Abyssinian that is considered a separate group; the undercoat is always a white color and the markings can come other colors, one being black! The breed is also known to be formidable hunters and can play with toys for hours (or in Savannah's case, until she "kills" them!)  The Bombay has a very unique voice and has almost 200 vocal tones, unlike a dog who has 90.  They are heat-seekers and are often called "Velcro cats" because they love to sleep on top of, next to, or under the covers with their people.  As for the Havana Brown in Savannah, every now and then, in the right light, I can see that her coat also reflects brown.


And there you have it folks! Those are the breeds that Mister and I believe make up our mutts! The Abyssinian, American Short Hair, Bombay, Havana Brown, Maine Coon, and Somali are all mixed up to make beautiful babies. Who knows, I found a website that does DNA testing on cats for $39 a test; maybe it would be interesting to find out if I'm really correct with my guessing!  Till next time ya'll!

Boy did 2009 go by fast and this year came plenty of new experiences!   I never, ever thought I'd be living in a house with one cat let alone three, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.  There is nothing more enjoyable then rolling over in the middle of the night, only to find you are boxed in on all sides by sleeping kittens, and you'll just have to get used to the fetal position; or abruptly awoken to the feeling of teeth in your toes or claws snatching your feet!  Despite all these obnoxious signs of devotion, I love each cat in their own special way.

I knew my mister Monkey was unique from the start.  His curiosity and cuddliness drew Mister and I to contemplate keeping him; but once that little kitten climbed up onto the couch just to sleep on Mister's lap, we knew he had all ready chosen us!  From then on Monkey has grown into a curious little bugger that always seems to find my hair ties (he must have a super duper tracking device somewhere because he finds them even when I hide them!).  He's even adopted a couple of new nicknames like Bunny, since he's always bunny hopping around the bed, all 10 pounds of him; Buddy, since he'll never leave your side, and "Purrs on Contact" because it just takes one pet to get his motor going!

Savannah was a different story.  The only girl in the bunch, I figured she would be the first to be adopted out.  With that sweet looking demeanor and beautiful colors I was very surprised when she was the last one of the litter left.  At first I was a little apprehensive about keeping her, because that would mean three cats instead of two (more food, more toys, more attention, more money).  Don't get me wrong though, there definitely was a part of me that wanted to hang on to her because it was so hard to watch all the others leave.  In the end, Monkey had really bonded with her and over the last eight months, she has bonded to me and Mister as well.  I don't think I could imagine my life without the savvy little girl.  I enjoy the conversations she and I have: "FOOD!" "Play with me!" "Rub my belly!" "Get up so I can sit in your warm spot on the couch then give you the "What did I do wrong?" look!"  I also love our tender little moments during the night; she has take to sleeping behind my back and sometimes sniffing my face.  Savannah turned out to be a resilient, lovable, mischievous terror, that I absolutely adore.


Kitty was all ready special because she allowed us to take care of her before and after she brought those precious babies into the world.  I know that becoming an indoor cat has stressed her out at times, but now she seems to be relaxing and almost regressing in age!  I love the sounds of her chasing Monkey and Savannah around the house, or coming into the bedroom to see her asleep in the bed.  I'm starting to get jealous though, it seems she's really taken a liking to Mister!

Of course, we have had some setback with cat ownership.  For instance, toilet paper will always be a toy and  automatic isn't really efficient.  When we got back from our last trip, Mister and I started thinking about investing in an automatic litter box cleaner; some other cat owners we know love theirs and it sounded like a nice way to make box cleaning easy.  Two weeks ago, we finally bought a Littermaid box that was supposed to clean every hour or so by running a rake through the litter and dumping the dumps into a little container.  The first problem we had, was trying to understand the directions to put the thing together!  They kept making reference to "five black tabs," that should have been covered if the system was assembled right, but we couldn't find them.  Then, the stupid thing wouldn't stop running!  So, I Googled the system for some trouble-shooting options and got it to stop by pressing a little button seven times; not five or ten, because I tried both, but seven!  After that, once the automatic system kicked in an hour later and scared the living day lights out of the cats and still continuously ran!  We gave it our best, but we are back to doing things by hand.  With that little adventure, we also decided against switching to an "automatic" water system.

Lately, Mister and I have been honing Savvy's hunting skills by using a toy bird we bought to try and get the feral kittens interested in meeting us.  We tied the chirping bird to a long string so we could throw it away from us to get the feral cats' attention.  Since we had no luck, the toy went into storage and didn't come out again till last week.  Now, Savannah can't get enough of it!  She enjoys stalking it while hiding under our bed, while Monkey enjoys playing with the string; even Kitty got into the action!  Mister and I have to be careful to make sure Savannah doesn't see where the bird gets put when we are done playing with it; one time I hid it in Mister's top drawer and she tried to get into the dresser once I left the room!

Well this is it, the last Missy's Corner post of 2009!  Hopefully, everyone will get it just before January and 2010 role through.  I figured the best way to finish out the year would be with an "all kittens" post.  When I started this blog shortly after we were blessed with these little guys, I really didn't think it would last!  In all honesty, I don't think Mister thought it would last!  But I enjoy writing updates about Monkey, Savannah, Kitty, Mister, and Me, as well as other things and may this blog continue to bring smiles to faces everywhere in 2010!

P.S. Don't forget to check out the new addition to my blogging.  With that new template program I learned how to add a menu bar and (with Mister's help) I was able to create a new site devoted to my art work!  I hope you enjoy and have a very happy new year!