De facto Cat

Scent is a valuable communication tool for your cat. Scent is your cat’s calling card and helps navigate dates, times and locations of other cats. Cats have scent glands on their paws pads, their cheeks, lips, forehead, flanks, tail and there are also two little anal glands on each side of the rectum that release a very strong-smelling liquid to mark the cat’s stool as it passes through. I would like to thank Pam Johnson-Bennet for her professional insight on the science behind cat scents.

How Cats Use Scent

Scent is used to identify members of the same colony, define territory, create familiarity, announce reproductive status, learn more about unfamiliar cats in the environment, self-soothe, bond with another, or as a form of aggression.

The scent glands around the face are identified as friendly or low-intensity. These are used when a cat is marking familiar objects he considers part of his turf, or when he’s depositing scent as a bonding gesture such as when head bunting. You’re also probably very familiar with the sight of your cat cheek-rubbing on objects in the home. This is a comforting behavior  that reflects a sense of security and familiarity with the environment.

I am looking at my cat, Keke and wondering what role her hair plays in the complexity of her sensory behavior. I think I will wrote another post about the ways in which her hair reacts to environmental stimuli. Look for this in the weeks to come.

 

What’s the association between black cats and Halloween.

It doesn’t help that I am not a fan of halloween or things that go bump in the night. I am however, curious about what started the fascination of associating black cats and the mysterious holiday.

Black cats have long served as objects of superstition. In Medieval France and Spain, black cats were associated with witches and thought to bring bad luck and curses to people whose paths they crossed from left to right. However,  black cats have actually served as symbols of good luck in numerous cultures.  They are often believed to bring affluence to any house they occupied in the British Islands. And in  anchient Japan and Egypt, black cats were worshipped as sacred.

How did black cats come to be associated with Halloween in the United States? It seems to have started with the Puritan Pilgrims. They came to America with strong feelings of distrust about anything associated with magic and sorcery, including  and especially black cats. Before long cats had become cemented in popular legend right alongside witches. Decorators use them as a Halloween symbol, both alongside witches and independently, to add a frightful, unnerving ambience to their front steps, their green eyes spooking trick-or-treaters.

If you’re really feeling inspired about receiving Halloween treats this year, consider adopting a black cat from an animal shelter or rescue service. Studies have shown that black cats are much less likely to be adopted compared with other fur colors. By adopting a black cat, you may rescue an animal who may otherwise not have found a loving owner.  You may need to go a day before or after the holiday because some shelters will not adopt-out a black cate on Halloween. Malicious owners have been known to use them just for the ambiance and then discard or return them in worst shape