Thinking of Feral Cats and Food

Today is both National Feral Cat Day and World Food Day.

As I look at the sweet, hearing-impaired boy who brings joy to each day, I realize that he, too, could easily have been both feral and without food.

If it weren't for the kind people who rescued and fostered him until he could find his forever home.

Today, if you can, donate an hour to a shelter to help socialize cats.
And if you can, donate food to those shelters working so hard to find these sweet kitties a home.

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It's a Giveaway!

Click HERE or on the image below to enter the drawing to win these 3 Hallmark cards, featuring Maxwell & Faraday.

This is a fast one!

The winner will be chosen at midnight TONIGHT and the cards mailed out on Monday!

This giveaway open to everyone, everywhere.

Rat Catcher's Day

Sounds like a national Cat Appreciation Day to me!

Better bone up on my rat-catching skills, though. You know, to impress the Ladies.

Rawwwwwwr!

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White Cats, Star Trek and Deafness

Several weeks ago, some of our blogger friends made comments about blue eyes that had us reaching back to last summer. We located an article we wrote on blue-eyed cats, gave it an update, and posted it last Monday.

As a result, we got some great questions from you. Things like "is my cat an albino?" "what about odd-eyed cats?" and "people expected my white cat to be deaf but he isn't!"

Special thanks to the Kitties Blue at the Cat on My Head, to our Auntie Bernadette at the Creative Cat and Auntie Connie at Tails from the Foster Kittens (who, by the way, is visiting us right now - aren't you jealous?) for their input.

You guys had such cool comments that we decided to go find our Star Trek post from last year and update it!

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Before we go all sci-fi on you and pull out our Doctor Who references, bear with us as we do some science (we'll make it painless. Uh, we hope....)

#1: There are 8 different 
      genes that determine what 
      a cat’s fur will look like. 

Some of them are more basic, while others are what you’d call modifiers. An example of a foundational gene would be the Black Gene. Allie has this gene.

Huh? The girl’s clearly grey, not black. True.

But we’re not dealing with the black color, we’re dealing with the Black Gene – and it has 6 different settings. Take a look at the table below.

A cat with an active black gene fits into one of these categories.  They’re either set on high beam or low beam (full density or dilute), but their coloring can also come in one of 3 different concentrations.

I mentioned modifiers. Some of these 8 genes don't determine the color of your cat. They change or overwrite that color. For example, the boys have the albino gene, which modifies coat color by turning the color off at certain temperatures.

If you want to read more in depth about the 8 different types of genes, click here to read our post from last summer on it. 

#2: The White Gene 
       isn't a color gene. 
       It's a masking gene. 

If a cat has this gene turned on, then the gene’s basically overwriting any color gene your cat has! This gene has three basic settings: low, medium and super-charged.

If the setting’s on low, it’s called a Gloving Gene. Like you’ve probably guessed from its name, it “puts gloves” on a cat - those cool white paw markings you see in some Ragdolls, Himalayans, and of course the Snowshoe cat.

If the setting’s on medium, that’s known as the Spotting Gene. That’s what can give a cat that classic tuxedo look with a white blaze along the nose, and that elegant white bib down the chest.

Genetically "white"? No.
Golden eyes = Spotting gene.
Photo: Incanus Japan

The “S” – or Spotting – Gene is responsible for all other styles of black-and-white coat patterns, too. And the amount of white spotting can vary from just a teensy bit here and there to full-on white.

In fact, often times a cat we think of as a white cat really isn’t. At least, not genetically speaking.

If there’s even one colored hair anywhere on a kitty’s body, then the cat doesn't have the White Masking gene – just a really active Spotting gene instead.

This kitty basically has one big white spot all over his body.

Enough already. Bring on the Tardis. Warp speed please!

Alrighty then! How's this?

Because the White Masking gene is responsible for masking all color everywhere, that means pigment is masked or blocked in the eyes as well. Interestingly enough, this phenomenon causes white cats who have this "W" gene to be deaf.

But not all blue-eyed white cats are deaf, you say. Most are, but not all. Correct!
For those white cats that are not deaf, there is a different gene at play - the Spotting gene we mentioned earlier. So, what makes a white cat with the "W" gene deaf?

Star Trek.

Um. Come again?

Star Trek: the reason white cats are deaf 

Okay, well, maybe we're stretching the truth just a teensy bit.

Here's what's going on:

There is a spiral-shaped cavity in the inner ear called the cochlea.

This is where sound waves are converted to electrical signals and sent to the brain for processing.

In order for those electrical signals to be transmitted upstream to the brain, ion balance needs to be maintained.

(Sounds like some kind of warp drive, doesn't it? 
Like I said, Star Trek. I rest my case. ;-)

We have no idea what ion balance is, and if you figure it out please let us know,
because we're weird like that and love to get our geek on.

Bottom line here is, the thing responsible for maintaining this mysterious ion balance is a thin layer of pigment called melanin that coats the inside of the cochlea.

Blue eyes, by Blue Ridge Kitties

Can you see where we're going with this?

If the White Masking gene blocks the production of all pigment in a cat's body...then that melanin isn't going to be there.

No melanin means no ion balance.

No ion balance means no sound transmission.

No sound transmission means complete deafness.

So there you have it: Star Trek - the reason white cats are deaf.
That's our story and we're stickin' to it!

Odd-eyed Lily by Jason Farmer

But what about odd-eyed cats?  There are occasions where the Spotting gene does invade the cochlea and prevent the melanin layer from developing. But this is fairly uncommon.

In fact, 60-70% of all odd-eyed cats hear just fine, thank you.  Any apparent deafness must be attributed to the fact that the cat is, well, ignoring you.

Shocking, I know.

Oh by the way, our Maxwell’s deafness isn’t caused by that. He’s got plenty of melanin in his ears!

His blue eyes are caused by the albino gene, and while that does turn off pigment in select areas of the coat and eyes, it leaves the melanin in the ears untouched.  If you’d like to find out what caused Maxie’s deafness, you can read about it in 2011’s Less Adoptable series post on deaf cats here.

One last comment and we're done - honest! White cats are not albino cats. There are albinos, but they have the Albino Gene (the basic one, not the temperature-sensitive one) and feature pink pigmented eyes.

And...wait for it... true albino cats are not deaf.  Go figure.

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We sincerely apologize for our Mommy. She is SUCH a geek.




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Sources:

Pleiotropy: University of Richmond
Basic Genetics as Revealed by Cats (U of California at Berkeley)
Hartwell, Sarah. White Cats, Eye Colours and Deafness, Messybeast.com. Retrieved February 2007.

Click these links to read last year's posts for more info on why a Siamese's coat is pointed (and called a temperature-sensitive albino) ...
or the genetics of coat coloring and what causes the striking look of a tuxedo kitty!




 
PetSafe FroliCat Giveaway!

There's still time to enter this very special giveaway - you'll be giving the gift of fun to a shelter pet in the process!

Just click this link here (or the badge to the left, either will get you there) to learn more.

Giveaway is open until 12/31.

Deaf Pet Awareness Week

Each year, the last full week in September is set aside as Deaf Awareness Week. Several organizations such as Petfinder have recently begun to promote deaf pet awareness during this time. This is an important topic for us, so we're reprising our post from last year about it: 




As many of you may already know, our own Maxwell (the handsome cat you see here to the right) came to us completely deaf.

We were actually a bit surprised to learn from Petfinder that some people think deaf pets are less intelligent than hearing animals.

Or that they need some kind of hearing companion to function.

In fact, we've found Maxwell to be the most inquisitive of all our cats. He was the first to discover how to open drawers and cabinet doors (and promptly teach Faraday how to do it too!).

He's always right there when Marty has some kind of home project going on - the more mechanical (or in the image below, electrical!) the better.

As Petfinder says, "deaf pets are just as intelligent as hearing pets. They make great only pets or do well with other animals in the home..."

We could not agree more - and we find it saddening that people might avoid adopting these special animals because of a misconception like this.

(electricity was OFF, and Max
gave out lots of advice!)

We thank Petfinder for bringing the "less adoptable" nature of deaf animals to the forefront this week.

Another thing we'd like to point out is Petfinder's warning: "The only real caveat in adopting a deaf pet is that it should never be allowed to roam freely outdoors unless it is in a securely fenced enclosure, since they cannot hear cars or other dangers approaching."

We can't emphasize this point enough. Maxwell never ever goes out.

And if you need a visual aid as to why, just take a look at how Maxie reacts to the "danger" of an oncoming vacuum cleaner in the video below.

Notice he doesn't react to it at all - until he sees it out of the corner of his eye. Had he been outside, and that been a car - he would not have made it.

Petfinder also debunked the myth that a deaf pet "needs" a hearing companion to function successfully.

"Deaf animals bark, meow, whinny, and make all the regular sounds their hearing counterparts make," Petfinder writes. "They can be taught sign language commands and are fully trainable."

We can attest to that. Maxie functions just fine inside the home, thank you very much!

And he has the very cutest little "meep". True, it's highly unusual sound for such a vocal breed as Siamese. But it's too darned cute!

And yes, they can be taught sign language.

Though we must warn you...in teaching a deaf cat sign language, be prepared for him to ignore you when you say "no" - just like all hearing cats do!

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2013 Update: Many of you already know this, but about the time Maxie turned a year old, he had surgery that partially restored his hearing in one ear (the other will never be restored since he has no eardrum in it!).

We're not sure what he hears and what he doesn't. Maxie's other senses are so highly developed that he'll respond to a garage door opener - feeling its vibration - before either other cat responds to its sound. That, incidentally, is one reason it can be so difficult to diagnose a cat as being deaf in a shelter environment!

The one thing we do know is that the hearing is monaural - and because of that, whatever he does pick up, he can't determine where it's coming from.  Just yesterday I saw him look in every direction but the source of my voice when I called to him.

(Yet another reason to keep him inside all the time: if a cat cannot tell the direction of a potential danger, such as a car.)

If you ever do see photos on this blog of Maxwell outside, it's because I happened to have a camera close by when he managed to make a dash for freedom. I assure you, those photos were taken while we're trying to coax him back out from underneath the bushes then escorting him right back inside, pronto!