Cats are different from other animals by some biological features. For example, cats are aggressive to rodents, are well adapted to environmental conditions, are not very sensitive to electric shock. So getting these animals under the "short circuit" does not necessarily end in their deaths. Some time after her release from the current cat comes to life.

 

In a normal body temperature of adult cats ranging from 38.0 to 39,5 ° C, kittens, these indicators are higher.

 

cat already at a young age should be taught to measure the temperature.

Cat fight

Thermometer, vaselined or any fat, being careful not to cause the animal pain, is introduced into the anus to 1/2-1/3 of its length. Accustom the cat to it at an early age, we can continue for 10 days by recording the temperature readings to establish her individual temperature.

 

pulse is measured by pressing a finger on the femoral artery, located on the inside of the thigh, as well as heart palpitations, usually is 100-120 beats per minute.

 

The respiratory rate is 20-30 in young cats up to 40 breaths per minute. Do not be alarmed if your favorite is breathing with his mouth open. This is likely due to the excitation of an animal or a higher ambient temperature. So your cat normalizes the heat transfer.

 

In animals older noticeable relevant traits, such as loss of teeth, hair, etc. The life span of a cat in the average, as already mentioned, from 10 to 12 years, but some animals live to 20 years. Determine the age of cats is difficult, as signs of grinding teeth, change the lens, the coat color is not changing, like a dog.

 

Cats also distinguished feature in the pairing of mature individuals. At 15 months, the cat grows and is able to reproduce. Pairing, as in other animals, occurs during the hunting females, but the hunting period in cats and short "given to" male cat with some difficulty. Only his long courtship leads to success. During the peak of female sexual arousal is not opposed to the SADC and coitus. Feature in this type of animal is the cat, being on the back of the female, all four limbs (claws) is fixed in one position, and the teeth on the mating period, firmly grasp the scruff of the cat. Another feature - the privacy of individuals.

 

Wild cats give offspring a year, and home - more often, bringing up to 5-6 kittens.

 

The biological characteristics of domestic cats should also include their vision. Cats have binocular vision. Their eyes are large, unblinking. To look directly at what interests them, they turn their heads. The eyes are arranged so that they may refract at night the light beam emanating from any source. Perhaps anyone knows how to glow in the dark eyes of cats. In the inner corner of the eye can see nictitating membrane, or third eyelid, which serves to cleanse the cornea from dust, protect your eyes from injury, or when driving in the chaparral.

 

The eyes of cats are located so that their field of view superimposed on each other, giving a stereoscopic image (in contrast to animals, the eyes are located on either side of the head and record two different images). The angle of each eye, about 205 °, and they are able to accurately measure the distance to any object that is important for the calculation of the jump, especially when hunting.

 

in the cat's eyes are not so many colors of receptors, both in the eyes of man. Until recently it was believed that cats monochromatic vision, ie, they perceive their environment in a black and white. But now established that the cat still distinguish colors.

 

Cats or worse still see close objects clearly. If they do not notice the place to quietly dropped a toy, it is hard to find, while searching for food under the nose lying rely more on smell. In bright light, they too may find themselves in a quandary, because the iris eyes narrowed, leaving only a thin slit, and the flow of light through the lens decreases.

 

Shade gives the cat a huge advantage. Iris of the eye is opened up to as long as the pupil will not be quite round, letting the maximum amount of light. This allows her to see in conditions that we would be called outer darkness. But in the dark cat still can not see.

 

What can we read into the cat's eyes? When it comes time feeding your cat, take a look into her eyes. If she is hungry, then at the moment of her food bowl with dilated pupils. Vertical slits turn into dark circles, which accurately reads the expectation of the animal. Careful studies have shown that only a fraction of a second area of �€‹�€‹the cat's pupils will increase by 4-5 times.

 More often, change the size of the pupils depends on the light. The more light enters the eye, the stronger the pupils shrink - to vertical slits, and when the light - are expanding, becoming dark round "puddles". This happens throughout the day, when the animal goes from light to shadow and back at the lighted space.

 

The distance to the object of observation also affects the eyes cats: the closer it is, the more narrow eyes, and when the object is far away, the size of the pupil is almost unchanged. This change is very often overlooked, considering that the whole thing again in the light.

 

There is also two totally different types of mood changes, in which pupils cats is greatly enhanced. If you notice a sudden dilation of the pupils cats without any change in the illumination and regardless of the distance to an object, it means that at the moment the animal is experiencing severe emotional distress. It can be as enjoyable as, for example, in the case of the bowl with a favorite food, or unpleasant, when there is a large figure of an aggressive enemy. In both cases, pupils increased in comparison to their normal size as if in an attempt to increase the flow of information about the object of interest.

 

In addition to changing the size of the pupils of the mood may signal just how wide open or, conversely, how densely covered with eyes. In tense cat eyes are fully open, and this condition is always observed in the presence of strangers, which the cat does not trust. If her eyes half closed, it means total relaxation.

 

Fully cat's eyes are closed only in two cases: when the animal is asleep or in absolute peace. When two cats are fighting, then the losing battle turns away from winning and turning a blind eye. This is mainly a protective effect, an attempt to save the eye, but also a way to unwind and. The winner also considers such action as a sign of surrender.

 

It is important for a cat and a long look with eyes wide open. It is a visual signal that indicates aggressiveness. In other words, when looking at a cat in his usual manner, she takes it as a threat. But we like to watch the animals, to admire them. The solution is simple: to look at the cat in those moments when she looks at you. So by making a minor trade-off can improve the relationship with the home favorite, but the cat will feel much calmer and more confident.

 

As the vision of cats is very strong, and the eyeball is constantly at work, it is always abundantly washed with tears, which stands for a lot of these animals.

 

It is interesting that nature has given no lacrimal glands of all animals, but only those that live on land, and therefore it was necessary for them to preserve the delicate, sensitive to dehydration of the cornea damaging effects of dry air, dust, wind, etc. creatures that live in aquatic environments, such a protective device is not necessary.

 About cats, we often say that they sleep, eat, sleep, eat and sleep again. Indeed, adult cats sleep up to 16 hours a day. And this is one of their biological features. "Their ability to sleep just delighted - with envy said Dr. Clare, the owner of the clinic for small animals in the town of Crawley Sussex. - Every step they perform with care, do not miss anything. First, choose a safe place higher above the ground, is that it is warm, soft and preferably would include a corner. Then construct a comfortable nest of pillows (or someone else's knee). Then, stretch, stretching with each muscle to its limit, and relax. And finally, settle down on prepared place.'s no wonder that after such training they fall asleep easily and quickly "(Nepomniaschy N. Cat. - Moscow, 1991).

 

Cats mostly dormant singular, "cat" nap. After all, they are predators, they do not have the herd instinct. Cat guards, catches, eats and sleeps. She need not do anything else but that.

 

Many owners consider the period of sleep as a kind of oblivion, which is immersed in their pet to be awake again. His eyes closed, body still, he purrs, and obviously, his brain a rest. This view of the sleeping cats, as well as on human sleep, people are held for millennia. And only in the XX century, armed with advanced equipment, the researchers looked at everything else! It was found that mammalian sleep - it's quite an active part in their lives. Studies have shown that some cells of the brain are asleep, others - are awake. This means that the brain never shuts down, even when the cat sleeps.

 In adult cats the first phase of sleep lasts about 20 - 30 minutes, the second extends for 5-7 minutes until the moment of awakening. Long a dream thus comprises several successive phases.

 

But this average. In adult cats, these phases vary greatly in length. During the life of the phase relationship also varies greatly. A newborn kitten sleeps 12 hours a day, and the second phase - the only kind of his dream. Only at the age of 1 month it is added and the first phase. Aging is a cat sleep less than younger people. They are not so active and more often just resting and not sleeping.

 

living conditions also affect the duration of sleep. Street and yard cats must defend their territory, hunt and breed. A dream they have less time. A neutered cats are well-maintained home less stressful lives than their wild relatives, here and sleep harder.

 

cat, sleep deprivation, become irritable, her appetite, but the greatly increased activity. This happens infrequently. Apparently, cats do not suffer from insomnia. Sleepiness also comes unexpectedly out of the warm weather or over-eating. In addition, it may precede the disease. However, if the cat sleeps for an hour a day more, the landlord is unlikely to notice. Even with the high temperature cat sometimes sleeps comfortably lounging or sitting erect and motionless as the sphinx.

 

Another feature of the biological cat is a highly developed sense of touch. The skin is covered with cat's sensitive "tactile spots": mustache, eyebrows, long wrist hairs on the inside of the front feet.

 

Whiskers cat grow at right angles from the follicle, which have many endings. Because, as a cat moves his mustache, it seems that she on something thinking. Indeed, before jumping it determines wind speed and direction, correcting posture, force jump.

 

When a cat holds the teeth in the caught prey, she draws a mustache and forth as it were "entangled" of his victim. This is controlled by the reliability and success of the hunt, and then safely release the mouse the cat out of the teeth, knowing that she will not be able to run away.

 

mustache - a kind of indicator of emotional state, they are of different shape: short, long, bristly, and sometimes non-existent (depending on the breed).

 

feature of the cat - it was her mobile ears. The cat has always included "locators" perceives sound in a wide range - from 30 F to 45 or even 60 thousand G. kittens cat talks in the ultrasonic range, determining, from which a sound, hear the footsteps of the master and can "calculate" it gait, even when he was just approaching the house, etc.

 

How neatly a cat walking on fences, trees, twigs! And helping her in the sense of balance, the body which is located in the inner ear. In the event of a cat is able to adjust body position so that landed on their feet. This ability of our pets have inherited from their ancestors.

 

Cats have an amazing sense of touch. They love to be petted on wool, and sometimes themselves looking for this affection, but if you stroke too much or the wrong way, it will cause the animal a sense of frustration and in turn be lent out his teeth and claws. Sensitive hairs located on their feet, allow your cat to navigate in space, do not run into various obstacles. Many saw as a cat shakes his paw, he stepped into the water or mud.

 

Another feature of cats is their dislike for sweets. Cats, like humans, perceive the four basic tastes: sour, bitter, salty and sweet. Taste receptors are located on the tip, sides and back of the tongue. The most pronounced reaction to cats sour, bitter (back of tongue), as well as salt (tongue). On the perception of sweet, until recently, conventional wisdom that it is unequivocally negative. But this is to some extent refuted by scientists. Described that a hungry cat, having a choice between regular milk and lightly sweetened, prefers food without additives. Hence, the perception still exists, although the sweet cat and loves.

 

is specific to cats and their ability to produce specific chemical substances - enzymes. For example, if a cat rubs against the feet of the master or any object, then this is not emphasized its commitment, as we often believe or request. Cat leaves a characteristic odor, as if warning other neighbors, that "the place is busy, do not meddle here".

 

It is known that cats, like dogs, they mark specific locations using the urine, giving to other cats know when the last survey was carried out possessions. This label also shows the other animals of the route of the cat.

 

Cats have an excellent sense of smell, which manifests itself in communication with each animal, with males marking their territory. But if the fine sense of smell and good taste is not enough, the cats have resorted to an improved method - a combination of taste and smell. When airborne chemicals (ie, with deals smell) fall into the mouth, the cat pulls the tongue to the palate, directing air in a narrow cartilaginous tube length of about half an inch, which is located in the sky and opens just behind the front teeth. This tube, "Jacobson organ," as the cat helps to concentrate the smell and taste it for flavor. Some of the smells in some way influence the behavior of cats such as sensing the smell of urine female "in heat", the cat dies, and cranes his neck, his mouth open, namorschivaet upper lip. This situation helps him pick up as much air into the hole Jacobson organ, so you better all the smell out-rasprobovat. Cats are able to retain a portion of air in the cavity Jacobson organ, without interrupting normal breathing. Such a grimace in response to certain odors is a reaction Flem. It can be observed in the deer and horses, in which it is easier to notice, because it is the larger animals, and also often respond well.

 

Although the reaction Flem often seen in cats that react to the smell of urine cats females, it manifests itself in the fairer sex of cat, and like a sterilized and unsterilized in animals. Similarly, many cats respond to catnip scent (kotovik cat). Some substance in this plant is 50 percent of cats intoxicated state, and they are marking time on it, rub, roll on the ground as before mating, and myaukaya coming in great excitement. It is not excluded that the smell of the plants like the smell of females in the same period. There is also a hypothesis that the catnip effect on the sensitivity of the skin on his chin and head and stimulates the glands located there, and what makes a cat rubbing his head. Again, although the non-castrated male cats reaction to a brighter (they just fall into ecstasy), and other cats obviously enjoy the psychedelic state, which makes them a plant. So put some catnip inside cat toys. In humans, a similar biochemical reaction is not catnip, but marijuana or LSD, but it is important that the cat "drug" is not addictive and has no harmful effects.