Cat - Color Me Siamese

Siamese cats are known for their brilliant blue eyes and their unique color pattern. In the United States, Siamese cats come in four colors, or points. Siamese coloring includes only the seal point, the chocolate point, the blue point and the lilac point. Any cat with coloring other than seal, chocolate, blue or lilac is considered a Colorpoint Shorthair. Colorpoint Shorthairs include the lovely flame point, the lynx point and the torti point. In Britain, all color variations are considered Siamese. All Siamese cats are descended from the seal point, which is the dominant color. The breed standard for the seal point is a fawn to cream body and dark brown, almost black points. The points are the muzzle, ears, legs and paws and tail. Pads are the same color as the points. As the cats age, the body darkens as well, so that younger cats have much lighter bodies than older adults. Kittens are born completely white. The coloring of the Siamese is the result of a genetic defect. The gene that regulates melatonin does not work at body temperature in these cats. When areas of the body cool below body temperature, the gene works and these parts of the body acquire color. Hence the points are the extremities and face, which tend to be cooler than other areas. This is also why the back of the cat darkens slowly over the years, but the belly remains lighter colored. The chocolate point is actually a variation of the seal point. It was, however, the blue point Siamese that was next recognized by the Cat Fancier's Association (CFA) in the United States. The blue point is a dilute color of the seal point Siamese. The body is grayish white, which shades to white on the belly and the points are deep blue. The pads and nose leather are slate gray. The chocolate point differs from the Seal point in that the body is ivory with no shading and the points are a deep chocolate brown. Nose leather and paw pads are defined as cinnamon pink. The lilac point was the last of the Siamese colors to be identified by the CFA. This cat is the dilute coloring of the chocolate point. Body is glacial white with no shading. The points are frosty gray with a pinkish tone. Nose leather and paw pads are lavender pink. The similarity of coloring in the chocolate point and seal point can make the differences in these cats hard to spot for the novice. This is also true of the blue point and lilac point. A good breeder can determine the exact coloring much more easily. Color is often determined on kittens by checking on the color of the pads. No matter what the coloring, a Siamese is a delightful cat to have around. They are intelligent and affectionate cats. Siamese cats can be trainable and are often described as dog like. No other cat has captured the hearts and minds of so many cat fanciers. Bonnie Koenig lives with her chocolate point Siamese, Cheysuli. Together they work on their website, http://www.mysiamese.com Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bonnie_Koenig Cat - Mildcats - How to Save Cats, Improve your Life and Theirs Arizona State University`s Mildcats program saves abandoned cats on campus and gets them ready for adoption by seeing to their health needs and neutering them and getting all the necessary shots. Mildcats is served by faculty, staff and students, who give generously of their time and resources for the love of cats. Wild cats are not put up for adoption. They are trapped, neutered and released. This practice serves to reduce the wild population because the released cats return to their roles in the wild population where their interaction with the other cats does not produce offspring. I got two cats from Mildcats. If you want to see them, pictures are posted on this website: freewebs.com/krikokriko/index.htm Mildcats is only one of many such organizations of cat lovers who hate to see them killed because of over-population. A national clearing house exists too. You can find a unit near you which will help you find a pet to adopt: adopt-a-cat.1-800-save-a-pet.com When you get a cat as a pet you should be sure that it is neutered. The world has more cats than can be taken care of. It is generally in the best interest of your cat to keep it indoors at all times. That prevents diseases and attacks which could lead to its death. Some people de-claw their cats. This is considered inhumane by most advocates of cat care. It is like cutting off the first digits of your fingers. It is painful and leaves the cat defenseless. It is cruel to do this just for your own convenience. There is a product called soft-paws which is essentially plastic fingernails or claws which are glued on. They last about a month. Some people prefer that to clipping the points of the claws regularly. I clip my cats` claws just before feeding them their canned food for the day. When I pick up the clippers, they come-a-runnin`. It is easy to find all sorts of information on cat care on the internet and at the library and bookstore. Consider saving a cat today, or at least contributing to those wonderful organizations saving cats everywhere.

Cat - Mildcats - How to Save Cats, Improve your Life and Theirs

Arizona State University`s Mildcats program saves abandoned cats on campus and gets them ready for adoption by seeing to their health needs and neutering them and getting all the necessary shots. Mildcats is served by faculty, staff and students, who give generously of their time and resources for the love of cats. Wild cats are not put up for adoption. They are trapped, neutered and released. This practice serves to reduce the wild population because the released cats return to their roles in the wild population where their interaction with the other cats does not produce offspring. I got two cats from Mildcats. If you want to see them, pictures are posted on this website: freewebs.com/krikokriko/index.htm Mildcats is only one of many such organizations of cat lovers who hate to see them killed because of over-population. A national clearing house exists too. You can find a unit near you which will help you find a pet to adopt: adopt-a-cat.1-800-save-a-pet.com When you get a cat as a pet you should be sure that it is neutered. The world has more cats than can be taken care of. It is generally in the best interest of your cat to keep it indoors at all times. That prevents diseases and attacks which could lead to its death. Some people de-claw their cats. This is considered inhumane by most advocates of cat care. It is like cutting off the first digits of your fingers. It is painful and leaves the cat defenseless. It is cruel to do this just for your own convenience. There is a product called soft-paws which is essentially plastic fingernails or claws which are glued on. They last about a month. Some people prefer that to clipping the points of the claws regularly. I clip my cats` claws just before feeding them their canned food for the day. When I pick up the clippers, they come-a-runnin`. It is easy to find all sorts of information on cat care on the internet and at the library and bookstore. Consider saving a cat today, or at least contributing to those wonderful organizations saving cats everywhere. Jack Wilson is a writer and artist from Los Angeles and Phoenix. http://www.geocities.com/galimatio/jackwilson.html Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jack_Wilson Cat - The Cat in the Hat: History Trivia for Party Games The Cat in the Hat is the perfect book for a rainy day party read. "The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house. All that cold, cold, wet day." Written by Dr. Seuss, the story was the first of many tales concerning the title character, The Cat in the Hat. The familiar story tells the tale of Sally and Conrad who are left at home while their mother is in 2A. The children are unable to go outside to play due to the fact that it is raining. The Cat in the Hat knocks on their door out of the blue and they let him and his side kicks, Thing 1 and Thing 2 in. At first the kids are amused with the antics of the Cat and his friends, but then things begin to get out of hand and the children recognize that things are going very badly. The book was published by Random House in 1957 and became a cornerstone in their ""Beginner Books" series. Dr. Seuss wrote it specifically with a restricted vocabulary of just over 200 words so that children would have an easier time of reading this book on their own. The Cat in the Hat is one of the best children's books ever written for one basic reason; it's fun! Kids of all ages know and love the story of The Cat in the Hat and therefore it is a perfect idea for a party theme. Whether you are planning a birthday party, or a rainy-day play date, The Cat in the Hat is an easy theme to plan around. Invitations can be written in Seuss-like rhymes while other party accessories are easily obtained an online party accessory specialist. Oh the thinks you can think and the fun there will be, when you take my advice and have a Cat in the Hat party!

Cat - The Cat in the Hat: History Trivia for Party Games

The Cat in the Hat is the perfect book for a rainy day party read. "The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house. All that cold, cold, wet day." Written by Dr. Seuss, the story was the first of many tales concerning the title character, The Cat in the Hat. The familiar story tells the tale of Sally and Conrad who are left at home while their mother is in 2A. The children are unable to go outside to play due to the fact that it is raining. The Cat in the Hat knocks on their door out of the blue and they let him and his side kicks, Thing 1 and Thing 2 in. At first the kids are amused with the antics of the Cat and his friends, but then things begin to get out of hand and the children recognize that things are going very badly. The book was published by Random House in 1957 and became a cornerstone in their ""Beginner Books" series. Dr. Seuss wrote it specifically with a restricted vocabulary of just over 200 words so that children would have an easier time of reading this book on their own. The Cat in the Hat is one of the best children's books ever written for one basic reason; it's fun! Kids of all ages know and love the story of The Cat in the Hat and therefore it is a perfect idea for a party theme. Whether you are planning a birthday party, or a rainy-day play date, The Cat in the Hat is an easy theme to plan around. Invitations can be written in Seuss-like rhymes while other party accessories are easily obtained an online party accessory specialist. Oh the thinks you can think and the fun there will be, when you take my advice and have a Cat in the Hat party! Mrs. Party... Gail Leino is the internet's leading authority on selecting the best possible party supplies (http://partysupplieshut.com), using proper etiquette, and living a healthy life while also teaching organizational skills and fun facts. The Party Supplies Hut has lots of party ideas with hundreds of free coloring sheets, printable games, and free birthday party activities. Over 100 adorable Party Themes (PartyThemeShop.com) to fit your birthday celebration, holiday event, or "just because" parties is at the Party Theme Shop. Party themes include cartoon characters, sports, movie, TV shows, luau, western, holidays, and unique crazy fun theme ideas. Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gail_Leino Cat - How To Make Your Pet's Bad Behavior Extinct Like a Dodo We all know that Consequences can be used to train new behaviours and reduce existing behaviours. But what about non-consequences? Extinction is the process of not reinforcing a previously reinforced behaviour. It involves identifying what the reinforcer is for a target behaviour and removing it. For a dog who likes to 'counter-surf', i.e check out the kitchen counters looking for food, the reinforcer is easy to identify - FOOD. To solve that sort of problem we need to use extinction. Whenever there is food on the counter, the dog must be doing something else or must be otherwise unable to come into the kitchen. He might be in a crate, or outside, or the kitchen door may be shut, or my favourite - we trained our dog to lie quietly in a designated area and shared a little of the food to reinforce this more acceptable behaviour instead. That way we both got what we wanted and our dog learned a better way to behave in the kitchen. When we're not cooking, or unable to supervise our dog, we must leave kitchen counters clean. We put away any food, and maybe even wipe the benches clean. That way, when our dog comes to check out the kitchen counter he will find nothing, and therefore the behaviour will not be reinforced. In the short term, the behaviour will get worse. Then it will get better. Then it will go away. Beware the gambler's curse - Variable Schedules of Reinforcement. This is where we forget one time to clean our benches and our dog finds some food. A Variable Schedule of Reinforcement makes behaviour very resistant to extinction, that is why addicted gamblers will spend every last cent on a poker machine that ultimately gobbles up all their money, paying out only occassionally to keep the gambler addicted. You can still extinguish behaviour that is on a Variable Schedule of Reinforcement, but it takes longer to do. A common problem is when family don't follow the rules and leave food out on the bench while the dog is unsupervised. You will need to explain extinction and Variable Schedules of Reinforcement so that they understand how important it is. Often it is simply a lack of understanding or communication that results in lack of co-operation. So how can you apply Extinction to your pet's behavior problem? First - identify the reinforcer. Second - remove it. If you can teach an alternative behavior or provide a more acceptable outlet for the unwanted behavior, then it may speed things up for you. Another example. Many people complain that their dog raids their rubbish bin. The reinforcer in this case is usually scraps of food or something smelly to play with. How do we remove the reinforcer? We could buy a more secure bin with a lid. We could put the bin in a cupboard. We could move the bin to another room and shut the door so that the dog can't access it. Any of these options will work, it depends on what suits you and your lifestyle the best. You may have to make a compromise, but that is just part of owning a pet. The joy and companionship they bring more than outweighs the small inconvenience of compromises like these - more so when you come home to a loving pet who has NOT spilled rubbish all over your yard or eaten tonight's dinner, I'm sure you will agree!

Cat - How To Make Your Pet's Bad Behavior Extinct Like a Dodo

We all know that Consequences can be used to train new behaviours and reduce existing behaviours. But what about non-consequences? Extinction is the process of not reinforcing a previously reinforced behaviour. It involves identifying what the reinforcer is for a target behaviour and removing it. For a dog who likes to 'counter-surf', i.e check out the kitchen counters looking for food, the reinforcer is easy to identify - FOOD. To solve that sort of problem we need to use extinction. Whenever there is food on the counter, the dog must be doing something else or must be otherwise unable to come into the kitchen. He might be in a crate, or outside, or the kitchen door may be shut, or my favourite - we trained our dog to lie quietly in a designated area and shared a little of the food to reinforce this more acceptable behaviour instead. That way we both got what we wanted and our dog learned a better way to behave in the kitchen. When we're not cooking, or unable to supervise our dog, we must leave kitchen counters clean. We put away any food, and maybe even wipe the benches clean. That way, when our dog comes to check out the kitchen counter he will find nothing, and therefore the behaviour will not be reinforced. In the short term, the behaviour will get worse. Then it will get better. Then it will go away. Beware the gambler's curse - Variable Schedules of Reinforcement. This is where we forget one time to clean our benches and our dog finds some food. A Variable Schedule of Reinforcement makes behaviour very resistant to extinction, that is why addicted gamblers will spend every last cent on a poker machine that ultimately gobbles up all their money, paying out only occassionally to keep the gambler addicted. You can still extinguish behaviour that is on a Variable Schedule of Reinforcement, but it takes longer to do. A common problem is when family don't follow the rules and leave food out on the bench while the dog is unsupervised. You will need to explain extinction and Variable Schedules of Reinforcement so that they understand how important it is. Often it is simply a lack of understanding or communication that results in lack of co-operation. So how can you apply Extinction to your pet's behavior problem? First - identify the reinforcer. Second - remove it. If you can teach an alternative behavior or provide a more acceptable outlet for the unwanted behavior, then it may speed things up for you. Another example. Many people complain that their dog raids their rubbish bin. The reinforcer in this case is usually scraps of food or something smelly to play with. How do we remove the reinforcer? We could buy a more secure bin with a lid. We could put the bin in a cupboard. We could move the bin to another room and shut the door so that the dog can't access it. Any of these options will work, it depends on what suits you and your lifestyle the best. You may have to make a compromise, but that is just part of owning a pet. The joy and companionship they bring more than outweighs the small inconvenience of compromises like these - more so when you come home to a loving pet who has NOT spilled rubbish all over your yard or eaten tonight's dinner, I'm sure you will agree! Aidan Bindoff is Editor of http://www.positivepetzine.com, a free resource for people training their own dog. Each edition is packed with helpful tips for training your dog using the latest pet-friendly methods that work fast and don't require a degree in animal behavior to use. Join now, and for a limited time you may download all available back issues (a $29.95 value) for FREE! As Featured On Best Ezines Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Aidan_Bindoff Cat - Pet Steps - Why So Popular As our pets age, it is up to us to make life a little easier for our beloved companion. After all the years of devotion to you, it is only fair that they get the utmost care and sensitivity when some sort of physical ailment limits them from performing once simple activities such as getting into the car or onto their favorite piece of furniture. Of course, as a pet owner, we know you only want the best for your companion, pet steps may be just the answer you are looking for. Your dog or cat should not be forced to forgo the closeness and cuddling that you once enjoyed together. When health, age or size begins to limit these activities and your pet can no longer hop up into your lap or lie beside you on the couch, you can always opt to lift your pet yourself. However, after a while this could cause you considerable pain or injury as well from the constant lifting. Therefore, you should consider pet steps. This not only allows your dog or cat easier access to the areas they love on thier own, but also helps you as well. Just as people have trouble when they age, dogs and cats do as well. Aging takes it toll and they just do not move as they once did. They find it more difficult to hop onto the couch to take a nap with you, climb into your bed to lay with you, get into the windowsill to watch the world, or even hop in the car for those rides they love. Pet steps make these activities easy once again. When it comes to getting pet steps for you cat or dog, you have a wide variety of choices. Most of the pet steps are available with a carpeted surface. This makes the steps more comfortable for you pet to use. Additionally, you can choose the number of steps, from two, three and even more steps, whatever makes it easier on your pet. You can also choose a variety of widths and heights to accommodate a wide variety of pet sizes. You will also need to consider the height of the area. Of course, access to a window sill will be higher than a couch, so you want to keep that in mind. The important thing is that your pet's favorite places are available to him or her once again. To make it even easier for you, you can match your pet steps to your home's interior. This allows your pet steps to blend in with your home d'cor. The wide variety of heights and widths as well as color choices make your pet steps choice easy. Of course, you want pet steps that are sturdy and durable enough to hold up to the weight of your cat or dog. It is vital that the pet steps be able to bear your pet's weight. When you shop for pet steps, one of the first things you should check is that it will support your pet's weight. Pet steps are the logical, loving choice for your injured or aging pet. They allow your pet access to areas that time has robbed them of the ability of accessing. With pet steps, your cat or dog can once again get up on the couch for a cuddle or on the bed for a nap. Pet steps will give your injured or aging pet their life back.