Heidi Chronicles: Where Are Those Silly Raccoons Anyhow?

Linda,

The info I read online about our feral program indicated that they also tag the ear of cats in the feral TNR program. I'm not sure what they mean by 'tag the ear'. It's probably the same thing that is done in your area. I was expecting to see some kind of tag on Kitty's ear, but I don't see anything. When I picked her up from the SPCA they told me they had tattooed her tummy.

I suspect that since I was adopting her and since they didn't find her to be truly feral (i.e., totally wild and terrified to be indoors and to be handled) they didn't treat/mark Kitty as a feral. As they found when working with her, if someone catches her they will be able to look at her tummy (not to mention checking the micro chip) whereas with truly wild cats there isn't much hope of getting that close to them without anesthetizing them 1st. Consequently, with ferals tagging the ear makes sense. That's how I see it anyhow.

Awwwwh, Susan (9kittymom),

What a great success story Missy Mau is.

Kitty is getting better about letting me look at her tummy w/o arguing (too much). The other day I held her upright and slightly back to look at the tattoo again. Holding her that way was a 1st for me, and she did well. (Previously, I had gotten a quick look when she rolled over on the bathroom floor while rubbing up on me.)

orchidfancy,

That was smart of Mama raccoon. They are very intelligent creatures. I'm sure she found your house to be a nice, warm, safe place to raise a family - just as you do. Glad your DH was able to fix the damage.

Last night the kittens refused to be touched. It was weird. It was like they went 'home' the night before, thought it over, and said, "Hmm. The human touched me very gently and didn't hurt me at all. Well, I'm certainly not going to stand still for that again!" So last night they ran back a foot or so and adamantly refused to let me get close to them. I fed them and ignored the behavior thinking that better than putting up a fuss.

This afternoon when I got home all was well once more. I held a can of Surf and Turf from the holistic pet food store in my hand. When the tabby came up to eat it, I reached down with the other hand and stroked her back. She didn't react, so I continued to pet her for most of the time she was eating. I stroked her back, stroked the top of her head, scratched behind her ears (and I actually think she liked that as she pushed her head against my hand ever so slightly the way cats do), scratched the top of her head. I even ran my fingers down the side of her face/cheeks scratching gently as she ate - with no reaction from her.

I did a little scratchy move (gently) on her back just behind the shoulders. She did react to that a little at 1st, as though she might get scared and then relaxed once she realized I wasn't hurting her. I think at 1st she may have mistook that particular move as possibly an attempt to grab her by the fur and pick her up. She quickly relaxed once she saw that my 'scritching' her fur that way had nothing to do with trying to grab her.

I also rubbed my hand down either side of her body. Since she was so willing to allow me to touch and rub her and was mostly very relaxed about it, I figured I would take advantage of the opportunity to just try to get her used to feeling hands all over her.

All of this went extremely well until I took my hand off of her entirely and just put it down in front of her face. After everything else I had done, that simple move frightened her, and she quickly ran away. I was able to call her back to the food and make up. It seems she is ok with being touched all over - at least in all exposed areas - but is afraid of the hand when she sees it coming toward her. In other words, if I reach from overhead or from behind her, I can pet her at great length. It's not as if she doesn't know it's me. Trust me, from my prior experience with her I'm quite sure she knows every move I make almost before I make it.

Anyhow, the image of a human hand coming towards her (from the front where she can actually see it) is so ingrained in her mind now as a threat that I guess it will take longer for her to get beyond that. I guess it must be a little like when you go to the dentist and he/she is careful to snake that arm around your head to get that needle in your mouth without letting you actually see it. So, in a similar vein, I can pet her at length as long as I'm careful not to show her the hand.

I also petted the black one, scratched behind his ears, etc although not nearly as much as I did the tabby. She is just much more willing to come to me now than the black one is.

Oh, and on the subject of the 'black' kitten, today for the very 1st time I made an amazing discovery. The kitten is not black. It's a very unusual and quite lovely dark chocolate color when viewed in daylight. Until very recently I never saw the kittens until after dark and even then they kept their distance. In the dark he/she always appeared black, but now I see that is not the case at all. It is actually a kind of warm, dark chocolate color. The coat is a solid dark brown all over except on the top of the head and one ear where there appears to be some slight mottling with a slightly lighter shade of dark brown - although I guess it's possible the kitten had something on its fur, but given that cats are so fastidious about cleanliness that seems unlikely.

Today when I stopped by the pet store on the way home I picked up 2 more plush toys, both with catnip since the kittens seem particularly fond of the stuff. I got a small furry, fluffy thing with catnip in what looks like a tea bag to stuff inside of it. I haven't given them that yet. I also got something called Spicy Micey: http://www.beastiebands.com/marinatedmice.html

As indicated at the link provided, the spicy micey is a container of organic cat nip and 4 tiny, red plush mice. This afternoon when I fed the kittens, I gave them one of the mice, bits of cat nip still clinging all over it. Even though the kittens were hungry, the little black (or rather chocolate) kitty grabbed the mouse and started playing with it right away. He ran some 15-20 ft down the walkway batting the mouse this way and that. Just trying to show them all the fun stuff humans can provide. : )

When I went out just now the kittens were nestled together - oh, so sweet - on the rug I left on one side of the porch (behind the porch column where it's protected from wind and out of view of the street). It seems lately, since they are becoming less afraid of me, they are using the rug instead of sleeping in the pine straw. As I mentioned before that is a very nice rug - which I really need to bring back inside. It's a bath rug, 100% Egyptian cotton, ultra plush and thick, with fibers some 2-3in long and shaggy. I recall having to bite the back of my hand and struggle with the price when I bought them. You would think that rug would be more comfy than pine straw. Sadly, though, I really need to bring it back inside. I have a 'shag' bath mat, probably man made fibers, not so pricey that I need to give them instead. Hope they won't mind too much.

I had grabbed the mat in a hurry that night when looking for something to use to cover Kitty in the trap. It rained that morning before I got out there to get her, so the rug was soaked - as she would have been w/o it. I left it because I didn't want to deal with the soaking wet rug at the time, so I left it to deal with later - one of my personal vices.

Anyhow, as I mentioned the other day, now that the kittens are getting more comfortable w/me, they don't bother to run away when I come out the door (and they are lying together there on the rug). Even that seems an obvious step forward for us, and I love seeing them snuggled together that way. (Maybe I'll try to get a pic of that one night soon.) Tonight Widget and I went out and came back, and the kittens remained in their bed beside the door.

Which reminds me. All along and especially when the kittens were alone out there w/o their mother, it has been comforting to see how they always stick together. Always. When you see one, you see the other, and they never argue or get cross with each other. It's so sweet to watch, and when they were alone it was good to know that they had each other. It would be nice if they would stay that way, but I'm guess as they get older they will eventually become more independent and less willing to share.

The Spicey Micey are a big hit with the gang here, also. They're somewhat less fun for people indoors - I tend to find catnip shreds all over the bed after the toys have been handed out - but the cats enjoy them so much that it's worth it.

In many parts of the country, neuter/spay clinics mark the ears of feral cats after surgery by clipping the tip off one ear. This sounds horrible, but since it's done under anesthesia, the cats aren't bothered by it. They clip just the rounded tip of the ear, so it is visually noticeable. That way, if a feral cat is later trapped again, they can release him or her in good conscience, knowing he/she has already been altered. This may be what your clinic meant by tagging the ear; I can't think of any way you could put an external tag on a cat's ear without posing a real hazard of it catching on stuff and causing injury.

I wonder if you're kitties might be getting to the age when the female could get pregnant? They look pretty big in the photos. Hopefully you get them caught before you have another litter. Glad they are getting used to being touched. The chocolate black guy sounds like he is about the color of my Sadie. She looks black until she is in the sun and then has brown underneath. I think she is part Burmese because of the shape of her head and the way she is built. Small but heavy for her size. Like a little brick. Here is a photo of a dark Burmese. Maybe your Mama cat is half Burmese? http://www.picsearch.com/info.cgi?q=Burmese%20Cat&id=sISoSyirCti2KTVDbfy2lZZNSsmfvikwQwLnWfRVyhc&start=61

Here is Sadie. You can't really see the chocolate color here, but it's there.

Now you have done it. Made me realize I am not very observant! My BLACK cat,Puddy Tat,is laying beside me in the sun as I read the posts. She also has the undercoat of chocolate plain as day. Mostly on her head,and upper shoulders and back. The undercoat of the rest is more gray. That chocolate is quite beautiful though. I've had her for 4 years and may have noticed it but it didn't sink in.

Ruth,

I guess the 'crumbs' from those Spicy Micey would be problematic indoors esp in the bed.

I was thinking that's probably what they meant by 'tagging'. Pinning an object, no matter how small, to a cat's ear just didn't seem right. I was just surprised they didn't clip Kitty's ear. Do you think that's because she is tame enough for them to check her tummy tattoo, or because she is no longer homeless and/or has a chip?

Susan,

I can see hints of chocolate in the photo. Not sure about Kitty's parentage. Imagine she might have all manner of breeds mixed in her background somewhere.

I do worry about this to an extent. I really don't think the kittens are big enough yet though. Although in the photos you can see that the kittens aren't tiny babies, there really isn't much size info available. By that I mean there isn't anything else in the pics against which to gauge their size. They are actually considerably smaller than their mom. The tabby is a smidgen larger than the other, and even she looks way too small to bare even one baby. I do realize I need to act soon, but I was hoping to 'steal' a little time to get them used to being handled as that would really help them with getting a new home.

Hi Judy,

Interesting, isn't it, how sometime we overlook the most obvious things?

With the black kitten, however, I'm not talking about the undercoat. When viewed in daylight, his/her entire coat is a very definite dark chocolate color. Previously, I had only seen the kittens at night and at a distance. Under those conditions, he/she appeared black. The photos of the kitten were also taken outside in the dark and at a distance of several feet.

Susan,

I'll think about taking the kittens to be fixed soon. I just wanted to get closer to them 1st. I feel a little comforted by the fact that (1) I don't see Tom hanging around or hear any shenanigans out there, (2) the Mom is still treating them like kids, and most of all (3) now I know that even if the worst happens I can still rush her off for 'fixing'. Of course, I would prefer not to do it that way, but I am comforted by the knowledge that it's a last ditch option.

The last few nights I've been sitting down right on the mat outside the front door while I feed the cats (with the outside light on so passersby walking their dogs on the sidewalk can see me there and wonder what a strange person I must be - doesn't everyone sit on the mat outside their front doors at night?). The 1st night I left the dish in its normal place a foot or so away. The next night I pulled it 1/2 way to me. Last night I put the dish right up against my legs which were folded in front of me "Indian" style.

Each night I rubbed and stroked and 'scritched' the kittens every which way as they ate. Oh - and last night I broke out a can of tuna which really drove them wild. Brief aside - you know how I am, right? - but last night as I opened the tuna can, I recalled for the 1st time in a decades how my Mom always used to drain the last drop of liquid from the tuna (opened for our sandwiches) and pour it in a bowl for the cat who absolutely loved the stuff. Mom was from the "never waste anything generation, back when the term recycling was redundant". Anyhow, before I gave them the actual tuna, I poured the liquid over their dried food. Next time I think I'll save the liquid for a separate meal, since it caused them to eat the dry food with such zeal the actual tuna (for 'dessert') seemed almost unnecessary.

Tonight, BTW, I put the dish in my lap so the cats had to get really, really close to me to eat. Anyhow, by tonight I had even successfully rubbed the little guys' tummies (with them standing upright). With nothing left to try, tonight I picked them up. I was sitting on the mat outside the door at the time, so I didn't have far to lift them. The tabby didn't seem to mind so much. I was able to lift her to my chest for a minute and pet her before putting her down again. The black kitten was a little less 'tame' about the whole thing. That one struggled a bit, not enough to get out of hand or to scratch me, but enough so that I decided it best to put him/her back down without lifting it to my chest.

We are making progress, slow progress, but progress just the same. Oh, and forgot to mention that the tabby purred the other night when I was scratching behind her ears. : )

Which brings me to tonight's big story...

At times I've thought I should probably have located the discussion of Kitty and her kittens in the Pets. Perhaps some of you may have figured the same. I didn't, in part, because in my world it's very difficult to find the line between pets and wildlife since I think all of the animals are my pets.

Lately, the cats have been eating a LOT. I've not been accustomed to cats for some time now, but even I knew something had to be wrong. There just didn't seem any way a cat and 2 kittens could eat as much as they do. I don't care if they are making up for hard times. I haven't seen Tom around lately, but even if you assume he is eating, too, the math just doesn't make sense.

Basically, the cats show up outside when I come home from work. No matter how much food I give them, even if I fill a 3 cup dish to the rim, when I return a little while later the dish is always empty and Kitty is sitting at the door waiting for the next opportunity to tell me she is hungry. If I refill the dish, the whole scene repeats. I come back later to find an empty dish and hungry cats. confused

As you may know I've been feeding them at the front door - even though I know that's not a great idea. The dish is a foot or less from the front door and right under the outside light, so I can easily sneak a peak through those narrow side windows to see who is eating and how much food is left. Anyhow, I've been kidding Kitty lately telling her I know she must be throwing parties out there and inviting all the neighborhood cats.

So there I was tonight sitting on the mat, feet folded in front of me, back against the front door, dish in my lap, cats huddled around me eating when suddenly Kitty backed away, looked across the yard into the darkness and let out a definite growl/snarl. My vision blocked by shrubs, I had no idea what she was looking at, but she sounded very serious. I caught sight of the edges of some dark fur and thought of Tom, but the fur didn't look quite right, and, anyhow, Kitty has never seemed so war-like around Tom in the past.

And that's when I looked up again to see a raccoon sneaking up on the other side of the hedges.

Uh oh,sounds like its time to start feeding the raccoons again!

You're going to be kept busy, running from the front yard, feeding the kitties, and then to the back yard to feed the raccoons... We sure don't want Gladys to see you feeding them on your front porch!!

Judy,

Yep! That's exactly what I was thinking.

Marylyn,

Uh-oh. I didn't think about THAT!

OMG! No, we sure don't want to get Gladys involved with the raccoons, feeding or otherwise. Next thing you know she'll be getting animal control to trap them, fix them, tag them, and return them. Kidding, on that last part.

Thanks for bringing this up. I definitely don't want to encourage the raccoons to come to the front yard, much less the front door. I had always been under the impression that the front yard was off limits to them. Heck, before the cats came along, I even left a garbage bag or two tucked in that corner of the front "porch" overnight where it was out of view of the street but definitely available to any marauding critters. I knew I shouldn't do that, and I didn't plan it, but sometimes I would stick the bag out there while in a major cleaning whirlwind expecting to come back later and take it to the proper receptacle. Then I would either forget about it entirely until I went out the next morning, or I would remember it while in bed and just about to drift off to sleep.

Tonight when I saw that masked face on the other side of the shrub, naturally, I spoke to it, "Heidi, Heidi. It's ok, Heidi". In the dark and with the sweet olive between us, I couldn't tell who it was, but I gather the raccoon wasn't expecting to hang out with me. I didn't actually see it leave, but I didn't see it anymore after that, and the cat quickly resumed eating and acting normal, so I gather the raccoon left ASAP when I spoke to it.

I mentioned the above to show that I really needed to hear your 'warning'. Clearly, my 1st instinct had been to call the raccoon up to the porch to 'play' - right there in clear view of the sidewalk where Gladys walks her dog just 2 car lengths (or less) away.

And Gladys isn't the only nosy neighbor either. There is a guy, retired w/nothing to do but worry about HOA issues, a few doors down. He walks his dog by here, too, and, like Gladys, keeps in constant touch with the HOA reporting anything he doesn't like. Tonight around 8:30PM I was sitting on that mat outside the front door (improperly attired, nothing showing, just lacking proper support for some things) feeding the cats when all of a sudden I looked up and there he was just standing in the middle of the sidewalk directly in front of my house staring at me. He didn't even have the decency to pretend to be walking the dog. He had the dog with him, but when I looked up he was clearly standing on the sidewalk directly in front of me and looking on as though the cats and I were a sporting event. Yep, I definitely need to redirect the raccoon(s) back to their territory.

I need to reopen the buffet 'tout de suite' before the whole gang gets to thinking it has been relocated to the front door. OMG, Can you just imagine that image, the whole gang gathered around the front door...?

Oh good grief no, you certainly don't want the raccoons coming to the front yard for their buffet: much much too risky for all concerned, most especially the coons. I was wondering where they were; if memory serves, the buffet is usually in operation around Valentine's Day each year. Wise move on Kitty's part, BTW, to back off when she saw the raccoon; and that bodes well for the possibility of separate dining areas for kitties and wildlife. The idea of twenty or more raccoons showing up in the front yard is just too awful to contemplate; I have no doubt that the neighbors would immediately call the cops or animal control, or both.

Just FYI, female cats can become pregnant when as young as four months; it doesn't happen often, but it does happen, especially in warm climates and among outdoor cats. And while Tom may not be around, cats definitely do not have a taboo against incest. You've made huge progress in taming the kittens, and the SPCA should be able to take them the rest of the way. I'd give priority to getting the kittens to the SPCA before the tabby "comes of age," and before the SPCA is innundated with spring kittens. Time permitting, of course....like you have a lot of that to spare, lol.

The SPCA may have assumed that since you were investing major bucks in Kitty and planning to adopt her, she would be an indoor kitty; that's the only reason I can think of for them not clipping her ear. While her tattoo and microchip certainly identify her as a spayed and owned cat, if she were trapped by someone with no knowledge of her background, the assumption could be made that she is feral (unless her behavior clearly indicated otherwise). Given the lack of know-how exhibited by animal control in their conversations with you, I wouldn't confidently assume that they'd know the difference or check for signs of ownership.

The solid chocolate color in cats is to-die-for gorgeous and fairly rare. It is generally thought to have entered the mixed breed population via the Siamese. Siamese and Persians being the oldest, most popular and numerous of the breeds, their genes have long since entered the mixed breed population. In my shelter days, we sometimes had feral cats come in with color restricted to the "points" (ears, face, legs and tail) just like Siamese; their body type, of course, was nothing like the purebred Siamese, but the coloring was unmistakable. Seal point is the best-known Siamese color (a very deep brown that appears almost black); if a cat carries the gene for dilute color, seal point becomes chocolate point, a lovely milk chocolate brown. When that gene appears in a mixed breed cat's DNA, but without the recessive gene that limits coloring to the points, you get a solid chocolate cat.

And Susan, you're on target in suggesting a similarity to Burmese coloring. The Burmese breed originated with one cat imported to England from Burma, a cat with distinctive and unusual solid coloring of rich dark brown. Since it takes more than one cat to start a breed, they crossed this original female with Siamese, figuring the brown of their points was the closest color to the solid brown girl's. Kittens with coloring restricted to the points were neutered and spayed; the solid color ones, and those with body type most like the original girl's, were used to create ongoing generations. Over time, the other Siamese colors (chocolate, blue and lilac) also appeared in the kittens; this is why Burmese now come in four colors, though the colors are given different names in Burms than in Siamese (the original Burmese color, for example, is called sable).

Enough on cat genetics; I'm probably strange in finding it fascinating to learn how people start out with one animal, and then try to create a breed from one source. Especially since genetics was much less well understood then. Hopefully we'll soon have raccoon kits to talk about!

Hi Ruth,

I love to learn new things, so I found your post quite interesting. As always, I hated to see the end rushing towards me.

I had both seal point and chocolate point Siamese cats, BTW. I think my Himalayan may have been a blue point. His points were a dark, smoky gray, a blue gray, and while my Siamese had blue eyes, the Himalayan had the most astounding and beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen. His eyes were the color of the sky in late spring, a light, cool, bright blue, a color that defies description.

Ok, point taken, you guys, I'll work on getting the kittens fixed. I was afraid if I took the cats in w/o handling them 1st, they, being particularly frightened at the time, might appear too wild (esp given their age) and the SPCA folks might not try to work with them. I was hoping if I could handle them some they would have a better chance of being seen as adoptable (with a little work). Now that I have been able to rub them all over their bodies and even pick them up briefly, I feel much better about the SPCA folks being able to tame them and find homes for them.

Although I realize that solid black cats are popular with some people, when I realized the kitten is actually chocolate colored I was hopeful that his fairly unique coloring would help to insure him a home by making him stand out from the crowd. From what you said about the color, it sounds like his coloring will probably work to his favor. His bright green eyes (which are darker and greener than Kitty's) really stand out against his dark, chocolate brown fur.

The little tabby kitten is also very cute. Maybe it's just that they are kittens. All kittens are adorable after all. The tabby kitten looks a lot like the mother but not identical. Her coat is more of a cool gray whereas Kitty's coat is more of a brownish gray. I think much of Kitty's undercoat is brown/beige. Also the kitten's pattern is different. I don't know if she will grow out of it, but right now she has spots (more like a leopard or jaguar) rather than tiger stripes. Wikipedia has a page showing the full range of tabby patterns. It shows the spotted pattern of the kitten's coat as a 'legitimate' tabby option suggesting her coat may stay that way as she grows up. The spots are small and are arranged in lines such that they may be mistaken for strips when viewed from a distance, but they are actually distinctly separate spots. This is especially noticeable when viewing her back from overhead. The spots on the back are farther apart and more clearly visible and are beginning to break out of the stripe pattern, so it is easier to recognize the spots from this angle.

Oops. I just wanted to tell you I enjoyed the post. I had better be getting to sleep now.

Thanks, Cheryl; I worry that I bore people senseless when I go off on a tangent....

I fully understand your wanting to work with the kittens for a while, and the work you've done has paid big dividends. You can now honestly tell the SPCA that you can pet both kittens all over their body, and even briefly pick them up. That will go far to help them see beyond the initial fear reaction when they find themselves indoors, and encourage to keep up your good work. The boy's chocolate color will definitely work in his favor. I find black animals beautiful; have had both black cats and black dogs, our current rescue Shar Pei being a black neutered male. But sadly, they are usually the last animals adopted at shelters. Perhaps it's the less than wonderful lighting with which most shelters are cursed in the animal housing areas, but potential adopters just don't seem to see the black animals. Chocolate, on the other hand, is a very unusual color and a definite selling point, as it were.

Tabby cats are divided genetically into three types: classic, mackerel and spotted tabby. The mackerel pattern is the basic standard, found in many of the small wild cats, and thought to be the original pattern in the domestic cat. It basically consists of stripes that run vertically along the cat's side, along with the usual tabby facial stripes, "M" marking on forehead, necklaces, and rings around the front legs. Heaven knows why it's named after a fish... The classic pattern is rarely seen outside of cat shows, since it's the most complex pattern, but it's exquisite when nature does it well. Same facial markings, necklaces, rings around front legs as on all tabbies, but there's a beautiful butterfly-shaped pattern at the shoulder blades and bullseye spots on the flanks. The spotted pattern shows a lot of variation. Again, the same facial markings, necklaces, and usually front leg rings; sometimes the spots appear to be broken vertical lines, indicating a cat who's genetically a mackerel with an incomplete pattern. Truly random spots are quite uncommon in mixed breeds, but are found in show cats of breeds like the Egyptian Mau and Ocicat. Tabby is believed to be the basic color of domestic cats, BTW, since virtually all wild cats have tabby patterns, even if it shows only as a ghost pattern in adults of species like the lion and the black panther. The genes that produce the huge variety of colors and patterns in domestic cats are almost all recessive genes: solid color, bicolor and tricolor, pointed color, etc. The tabby is the template from which they're all built, and of course tabbies come in a rainbow of colors.

And yes, both Siamese and Himalayans are supposed to have blue eyes; and there's nothing more striking and gorgeous than the deep rich blue found in some of their eyes. You can really get lost in those eyes. In some dogs, I've seen ice blue eyes that seem a bit chilling and hard; in cats, those deep blue eyes are mysterious but always appealing. Your Himmy boy sounds like a knockout, though the editorial comments on the bed would have been very difficult to live with. He does sound like a blue point; the lilac point has much lighter points, a light sort of mauve-lilac.

I found your "lecture" fascinating, too, Ruth! :-) We have a "blue" tabby (he's actually grey with darker stripes), and a brown tabby - they are brothers from the same litter. The brown tabby is actually mostly white with big brown patches that have dark grey spots that almost look like stripes. I suppose that's the incomplete mackerel pattern from Ruth's description. He's really pretty. He's also a space cadet, which makes him really fun to have around. LOL

Here are the wikipedia pages:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_coat_genetics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabby_cat

Somewhere I had also found a really great diagram showing drawings of the various tabby coat variations shown as flattened 'pelts'. I found this diagram extremely helpful but am having difficulty locating it again. Will post later if I find it.

Marylyn, your brown tabby/white boy sounds like a hoot! And yes, the color names are somewhat whimsical; as you mentioned, blue in most breeds is actually a lovely soft gray.

Cheryl, many years ago I had a book that showed all the cat colors (at least of that time) as pelts; it was super helpful when I was learning the colors, but the book is long since out of print and I haven't seen the colors represented that way since. Kind of a shame, since it was much easier to "see" them that way than in photos.

Do you remember the title of the book, or the author? You never know, it may just be for sale on ebay, or a used book store somewhere.
One of our gray tabbies has orange spots on her head and back. I named her Carrot Top, lol.

That's a good point, KyWoods. I did check on eBay a couple times back in my shelter days, when I badly wanted the book for training purposes, but it wasn't there. Should continue checking from time to time, as things for sale change constantly there. The title was simply "The Book of the Cat", and there are several books out in the world with that title, and unfortunately I've long since forgotten the author(s).

When posting above I was afraid some might take offense to the term 'pelt', but it was the only way to do justice to the drawings as that is how they were presented. Glad to see everyone understood. For determining coat pattern esp among types with many subtle variations, I found those pelt drawings more useful than all of the descriptions and even photos I've ever seen.

It now appears as though Wikipedia has taken that drawing down for some reason, perhaps due to a copyright issue since it looked like a professional rendering. I had bookmarked the page. Now, not only do I not find the link on Wikipedia nor can I locate the page via the search tool, but my bookmark renders an error page. Bummer. I wish I had copied the page now instead of relying on the bookmark.

Ruth, it is good to know that another version of the pelt page exists out there somewhere even if we can't find it for now.

Ruth,

I enjoyed your posts about the cat colors. I enjoy almost anything with a scientific flair and have always found genetics quite interesting. In my head, I've been carrying around the horse version of your cat coat info and have always been most fascinated by the genetics of the palomino.

You rarely see a palomino except in pictures. Some may recall the Roy Rodger's horse was a palomino. I think Flicka (movie My Friend Flicka) was also. But it is rare to see on in real life. In a lifetime of riding, showing, and attending various horse related events, I've seen exactly 1. Palominos are rare because of the coat genetics involved.

Crossing 2 palominos will gives a 50:50 chance of getting a palomino foal. Palominos can also be obtained by crossing a 'white' female with a bay male. This gives a 1 in 4 chance of getting the palomino result if I recall correctly. There are 3 types of horse coats typically referred to as white. Only one of these is the correct type to produce a palomino foal. Grey horses age to white or near white. Then, of course, there are albinos. Lastly, there is a sort of 'dirty' white, a pale cream color often referred to as white. This latter 'white' is the one that produces the palomino because they posses the 'cream gene'.

Bays are shades of brown or red brown with black points (like Siamese cats): mane, tail, muzzle, lower legs, ears, etc. The cream gene 'turns' red and brown coats golden yellow and black points white or cream thus rendering the palomino. Apparently, this is a recessive gene, however, as this only happens on rare occasion.

Sadly, it has been a long time and I've forgotten many of the finer points of this discussion, but as a youth I was always amazed at how a 'white' horse and a bay horse could result in a golden yellow horse with snow white mane and tail.

We had a palomino named...wait for it.....'Goldie'

Goldie had a foal, and he was some shade of brown...it's been so long I can't remember what the 'official' color was...

Hi melody,

Oh! Wow! You had a palomino?! I'm jealous. Was Goldie that gorgeous gold color? Hey, as for those obvious names, I can't say anything my black horse was named Midnight (that's original, right?) and I called him Blackie about 1/2 of the time.

As a kid I had this unusual situation in which I had free riding privileges of all of the horses on the property of a neighbor. I had to ride my bike about 2 miles to get there, but as a kid that was nothing. The property belonged to this wonderful older couple who called me their adopted grandchild - even though they had a dozen or more grands of their own and I had a full set of living grandparents at the time. The horses belonged to one of their sons, a doctor who lived in the city but kept his horses out there in the rural area where his parents (and I) lived.

The doctor had about 5 kids, so he bought horses for all of them and for himself, a nice group of 6 or so horses. The doctor also let his friends keep their horses there. And I, lucky kid that I was, had permission to ride any of them any time I wanted. I always wanted a horse of my own. I didn't get that until I grew up, but this setup was surely the next best thing. They had a nice big barn, all kinds of tack, and 10-12 horses, various kinds. And my adopted grandfather said they were "all mine".

Anyhow, at one point the doctor bought a palomino, something 5 gaited. It wasn't that gorgeous golden color (like I imagine 'Goldie' was). This one was more of a light yellow color with white mane and tail, white blazed face, and 4 white socks, pretty, but not as striking as the gold ones. I can't recall the horses name now - maybe it will come to me later. That horse was pretty much crazy though. If a leaf blew in front of you on a trail, there would be this scramble after which you would be standing on the trail with the horse wrapped around you hugging you for dear life in Scooby-Doo fashion, trembling, and pointing at the leaf with one foot. Ok, I exaggerate. Actually, the horse would rear up, spin around, and try to take off running, the usual spooky horse stuff. It's just that this silly horse hit the panic button any time anything moved around him. He wasn't so much fun to ride unless you enjoyed trying to calm him down over and over. I only rode him for one reason, his gaits. Of his 2 extra gates one was a pace. Ouch! At high speed that was a killer, but he could also slow it down and pace so slow it was almost as if he went into suspended animation with 2 feet in the air. It was the most amazing gate, so smooth you could sit it with ease, and so prissy that as he went from one side to the other his entire body (and rider) shifted very gently but decidedly from side to side like the exaggerated stride of a very prissy woman. So that was my one palomino experience.

That the foal would have been some shade of brown makes sense. From a genetic standpoint, palominos are chestnuts (which means shades of brown including red brown) with the cream gene (or allele) turned on. Do you know if she was bred to another palomino? Even if the other horse was a palomino, the foal had a 50:50 chance of being a chestnut.

I'm still jealous. : )

Last night the tabby kitten beat the heck out of me. Hey, it's a process. What can I say? Some days it goes well. Some days not so much. It was my fault. I got in a hurry. Somebody said I needed to hurry up... : D

Anyhow, when I touched her, she ran. I tried to stop her. Not good. I was just testing to see if she could take care of herself, you know, if Kitty had trained her well. She did good, BTW. I tried to hold on, but I eventually lost the battle. Now from the wrists down I look like I got in it with a tiger.

This afternoon when I got home the cats came running to the steps. It was daylight but extremely overcast. Even without any direct sunlight, the 'black' kitten was clearly quite brown. Yep, that one is very much misnamed. Oh, and it is a boy. I saw the package clearly while he was playing with the new Marinated Mice (same company as Spicy Micey) I got him. I sure wish I'd had the camera. I tossed him the mouse while he was just sitting on the walkway. OMG! He grabbed that thing and went nuts. He rolled on the concrete kicking it with his hind feet, threw it in the air, chased it, batted it about, jumped, ran, rolled some more all the way down the walkway - while the others were eating even. He eventually came back to eat but that mouse held his interest for quite some time. (Just FYI, those marinated mice look like just the thing for the indoor cats. They are stored with pelleted, compressed catnip, so while they still drive the cat crazy, they don't have catnip bits all over them. Something to consider.)

Today while I was sitting right beside the dish as the cats were eating, I discovered something new about the chocolate cat. You have to get right up on him to see it, but he actually has the tabby pattern imposed over the dk brown coat. It's like shades of brown, and the shades are so close that the pattern only emerges at very close range and then only if you are staring at him - like those 3D pictures where the image only shows up if you look at it just right. The pattern is easiest to see on his tail where a few dk chocolate rings are easy to see on the milk chocolate tail.

That's when I realized that his coloring is the inverse of Siamese. His coat is the color of dk, semi-sweet chocolate, Hershey's Special Dark, if you will. Then at the points (face, ears, top of head, bottom of legs, feet, tail) he fades to a warm, milk chocolate color. Oh, and his tummy is a gorgeous milk chocolate truffle color, lightest of all. And all of this with bright, med green eyes. He's a cutie actually. Very shy, but cute. I need to get that little boy to the SPCA soon. I think he is going to be very popular.

It has been over 4 decades, so I'm fuzzy on things...and being a young kid, I was probably not informed about the genetics involved. Goldie was the real gold with 3 white stockings and a blaze, a good natured bomb-proof kids horse. She liked orange Push-up popsicles. We rode either bare backed or with a western saddle. Dad wouldn't buy us a saddle until we could stick on without one. Pegasus (I was about 9...) had 4 white stockings and a blaze.

Pegasus (I'm sure he eventually received a real name) went back to the original owner when he was old enough, as that was part of the deal. I'm guessing Goldie was elderly, but I do not know her age, I know that she eventually went to some younger cousins a couple of counties over.

Now in my late teen years, I had a succession of quarter horses and one racking mare. Streak, the black and white paint,(racking) was convinced that every tree, fencepost, creekbank or shadow was put on earth to tear her throat out. We road for pleasure and down country roads, across neighbors farms and wherever we wanted, and Streak clearly didn't enjoy it. We found her a home with a nice safe paddock and ring where she was more comfortable.

Ruth,

I forgot to tell you...remember when I said they had moved the SPCA? The built a nice, big, new building. It's a big improvement over the small, crowded, dark, depressing place they were at for so many, many years. (Referring here to your comment about how some animals don't show well in those dark, dreary places.)

Whereas the old building was so tiny that if more than 2 people showed up at once they had to stand all scrunched together in front of the entrance and try to find somewhere to move to when anyone needed to come or go. It was very uncomfortable, and, honestly, I left once when I could no longer tolerate people walking on me to get in/out. The new building has a spacious open lobby area with skylights and built-in benches with upholstered seats and room for a crowd, heck even a party. Throughout the lobby area these columnar cages are built into the building's architecture. They are large cylinders that go from floor to ceiling where they connect to skylights to give the animals showcased in them access to natural light. They are not narrow. They are quite spacious. When I was there they had kittens in one and a floppy eared bunny in another. These things don't look like cages. They showcase the animals nicely because there are no bars of any kind, just clear acrylic. Inside there is a raised bottom, about side table height. Then they add climbing material or cover appropriate to the animal, sturdy artificial limbs, etc.

Unlike the other place where you can't wait to get out because it's so depressing, this one is a nice place to visit. it's inviting and the atmosphere is positive and upbeat. I think that alone will entice people to stay longer. I didn't go to the area with the majority of the animals, but the ones in the lobby area looked cute, adorable, and inviting instead of sad and depressing the way they always looked in the old place. Heck, I found myself, or at least my inner child, wanting the floppy eared bunny. At the old place all I ever really wanted was to escape.

melody,

Sounds like you had a great childhood. I'm even more jealous. Your Dad's idea of not getting you a saddle until you could stay on without one was smart. I'm sure you have a great seat as a result. I started out riding with a western saddle for many years as a kid, and I learned some bad habits. Years later, however, I was lucky enough to have a teacher (English, dressage) who had been part of a former Olympic team. She was tough but good. She made me trot around the ring in 30min increments over and over on an English saddle with no girth. Sometimes I had to post, other times I had to sit the trot, a fast trot not a slow, western jog. Sometimes I had to stand on the stirrups in a position called 3-point (you touch the horse at ankle, knee, and thigh only) with my hands stretched straight out at my sides (as though I were simulating an airplane) for 30 minutes while the horse trotted. All of this with no girth was intended to insure I had a good seat and was not depending on the saddle for support. The slightest shift of my weight would cause the saddle to turn and me and the saddle to end up on the ground - and that happened more than a few times while I was learning to do it right. Later I had to do all of these things w/o stirrups or a girth. She was ruthless.

Goldie sounds beautiful. The classic palomino. I love the name Pegasus. It is no unusual and evokes such imagery. I hope they kept it.

As a kid I mostly road the same way you described, for pleasure and with Western tack. We lived out in the boonies back then. It was 30miles from anywhere and most people didn't even know the place existed. The couple who 'adopted' me had 1000's of acres on all sides of their house. I could ride and ride and ride without ever seeing a house or car or person. I mostly rode alone back then. The Dr and his kids were into showing both English and Western. They also did some steeplechase type events. The Dr had money, so they had lots of tack of all types. It was a good experience for me, a chance to 'have' things I could never have otherwise afforded.

They had lots of fields where I rode and trails through the forest. Because they showed, they also had a ring for training and such. I rode in there sometimes if I was unsure of the horse, but mostly I road in the open fields and trails. Because the Dr and his kids lived so far away - about 45min to an hour away, they mostly rode on spring/summer weekends. They let me ride the horses whenever I wanted year round because it helped to keep the horses exercised and accustomed to being ridden since at times they might not see the horses for 6mo or so in winter. (That was farther inland, so it was noticeably colder there in winter.)

When I grew up and got out on my own, I got my 1st of a succession of horses. I started Western because that was what I knew but then started moving more and more toward English which is what I now prefer. As an adult I took a lot of lessons (English), did dressage, rode English even on trail rides, and eventually ended up performing as part of a 4-8 person drill team doing choreographed moves to music. The latter was my favorite of all of the riding I did. It was both challenging and fun, exhilarating as well as thrilling. The effort to keep my horse moving at the proper gait at all times and match his stride exactly to that of the horse beside us all the while keeping the two of us in line with the pair on the other side of the arena required every ounce of skill I could manage.

Now I'm jealous, lol! I fell in love with horses as a kid when a neighbor had them, and wanted one for the longest time. When we finally moved here to the country, I got all excited, thinking I'd finally get my wish. I even took riding lessons that I paid for myself. Alas, my parents made it clear that they were not interested in horses, nor in clearing trees from their land.

KyWoods,

I loved horses, too, as a kid. I wanted one more than anything else in the world. I wanted to ride them or brush them or just be with them. I just could not imagine my life w/o them. Like you, my parents were very clear. There would be "NO HORSES at our house".

(My utmost apologies, ahead of time, to all those who don't care to hear about anything remotely connected to religion. I'm just telling the story as it occurred not trying to change anyone's beliefs.) Anyhow, when I was 9, seeing that I was not going to get a horse any other way, I asked God for one - if he could fit it in his plan somehow. Shortly after that, a lady at church, my soon to be adopted grandmother, stopped me one Sunday to ask if I would like to come over and ride some time. She said she had heard that I loved horses and wanted to invite me to ride theirs. And that was that. They faux adopted me and said that as long as they had horses, I had horses. Coincidence? Who knows? Incredible? I think so! I rode their horses from the age of 9 until I left home in my late teens. Later I returned to buy the (then old) horse that had been my favorite when I was a kid. He looked a bit old, but still made a great and very reliable trail horse for years to come.

I have another, perhaps more practical idea to offer, too. When I gave up my job and everything to go back to college, I lived on savings and scholarships, so money was scarce. Money mistakes could end my education forcing me to return to work, so a horse was out of the question. Still, I found a way to ride pricey thoroughbreds and even take lessons for 'free'. 1st, I worked the system. My tuition and books were all paid for; a full time student could take additional classes at no expense; and an agreement between area colleges allowed full time students at one institution to take classes at no cost at other institutions. So I signed up for an Advanced Horsemanship class that one of the area colleges was offering for the 1st time. Classes were held at a local thoroughbred farm.

I loved riding. I loved the class, but I also just loved being there. I loved the smell of the horses and the barns. I loved brushing the horses, anything just to be near them. I asked the teacher if I could help her with anything around the stables. I even offered to clean stalls. She didn't take me up on cleaning stalls, but she did put me to work. She could see that I had good, natural horse skills, so we struck up a deal. I would come out on Saturday mornings (early) to round up the horses for lessons. She would post a list of the horses she needed and times. I would get the appropriate horse at he proper time, saddle it, and bring it out for the lesson. When I delivered the horse for the next lesson, I would take the prior horse back to its stall, unsaddle it, and, if not needed again that day, turn it out to pasture. This freed the instructor up from having to catch and saddle horses between lessons and allowed her to schedule lessons back to back, squeezing more lessons into her day. In return, I was allowed to saddle and ride any of the horses anytime she wasn't giving lessons. I also earned 'free' lesson hours. As time went on I got additional 'duties'. I helped with lessons and trail rides, tallied scores for horse shows and jumping events, etc all in exchange for lessons and riding time.

I should add that the Saturday lessons for which I saddled horses and with which I later helped out started early in the AM and ended around noon due to the heat, so it wasn't an 8hr day. It didn't matter to me though. I enjoyed every minute I was there. Nothing I did with horses was work to me. Every minute around them was fun. It didn't matter if I rode them or brushed them or saddled them. It was all pleasant to me.

I mention my volunteer 'gig' at the stables to demonstrate that it really is true "where there's a will, there's a way". I think we, myself very much included, limit ourselves 99% or more of the time. We just accept that we can't have things or do things because the obvious path isn't available to us, but, in truth, there are innumerable other paths open to anyone who really wants something enough. We just have to find them - but they are there.

Oh boy, Cheryl, I'm glad you're not seriously hurt but bet you're very sore. I'm not surprised the tabby kitten reacted that way - brief picking up is very very different from restraint - but hope your arms aren't totally gored. Getting those kittens to tolerate restraint will be a very long-term project, and realistically there are likely limits to how much of it they'll ever be able to tolerate. This won't inhibit their chances of adoption to most families, though I'd be careful about adopting kittens like them to families with young kids, who think cats can be picked up and carted around like their stuffed animals, lol. The boy's color sounds intriguing; the ghost tabby markings are found on many dark-colored cats, but the variation in chocolate shades sounds just gorgeous.

I'm really jealous of all you folks who got to grow up around horses. I too dreamed of horses as a kid, but my very typical suburban family wasn't all that much into animals. Heck, I was nine or ten before I was allowed to have my first cat; and as I've probably mentioned, those childhood cats were all by decree indoor/outdoor cats, and as a result had sadly short lifespans.

I've never seen many palominos, even in photos; other than Roy Rodgers', lol. Never understood the genetic reason for their rarity; now it makes sense. And I never knew/noticed that bays have darker coloring at the points. Is their color pattern thermally influenced, like it is in Siamese? The darker Siamese/Himmy coloring is limited to the points because these are the coolest parts of the body. If the cat runs a fever, stray white hairs will appear in the points, especially on the face (called "fever ticking"), because the body is much warmer. And if the cat is shaved, as for a spay, the fur grows in darker at the incision area because that area has been cooler while hairless. It's a fascinating phenomenon.

That's a great story about how you got to enjoy horses.
When the weather was nice, a friend and I would walk up and down the rural road where he lives, and feed carrots to the neighbors' horses. Some of them got so used to us, they'd come trotting across the field when they saw us with our big bad of carrots. It was fun, and we got to pet them, too. I love horse noses--they are sooo soft!

when Charlie was a little guy... we used to call it "a linda blair move"
his head would be on a swivel and bite like the dickens. thank fully he grew out of it.