4. Cats are muscle machines that require intensive care. Cats have more than five hundred muscles, while much larger human beings have only six hundred and fifty. The larger muscles in cats serve to drive the powerful back legs, yet the cat also has a good deal of "beef" in its neck and front legs, needed for catching prey. Apart from these voluntary muscles, which obey the commands of the brain, there are numerous involuntary muscles that are responsible for the regulation of the internal organs. After sleep or after a relatively long period of inactivity, cats therefore "stretch" themselves thoroughly to prevent any possible muscular damage.
5. The well-known way in which cats clean themselves is not merely performed to satisfy the dictates of hygiene. The cat rubs and licks itself repeatedly not only to remove dust, dirt, and the remains of meals, but to stimulate glands under the skin that keep the coat silky and make it waterresistant. In addition, by means of his tongue the cat assimilates tiny amounts of the life-essential vitamin A, which is created on the fur by the action of sunlight. A cat's "obsessive cleaning" also serves as a method of adjusting body temperature; it is a form of thermal regulation. Since cats cannot perspire on account of their coat, the production of spit replaces the cooling function of sweating. For this reason, cats clean themselves especially thoroughly in warm weather, as well as after exerting themselves in such activities as hunting, playing, and eating. Last but not least, cleaning also removes loose hair and parasites from their coats. It is probable that the licking process also accelerates the growth of new hair.
6. Colorpoints, with their large head, small ears, short legs, short tail, and their soft, silky coat with shades ranging from cream to ivory, represent a genetic product achieved through human manipulation. They owe their existence both to the wish to solve genetic problems through breeding and to the intention to create a cat by means of a detailed, planned hybrid program that merges the typical "Siamese markings" (brightly colored coat with darker spots on the face, the ears, the legs, and tail, as well as beaming blue eyes) with the characteristics of the Persian (long, silky coat, compact body). Despite this goal, European and American breeders have not been able to agree on a uniform designation for the racial status of their artificial creation. In the United States, the creature is regularly called "Himalayan cat" and possesses the rank of an independent race. The name "Khmer cat," now no longer used, was rejected when the American cat breeding organization, G.C.C.F., recognized these creatures under the name of Colorpoint.
The example of this cat race (and the blue-eyed Foreign White) makes very clear that breeders proceed without scruples and with great tenacity when it comes to creating a "product" that conforms to their ideals. According to the regulations of the world association, a new race is only "official" after it has been pure-blooded for three generations, meaning that it has only come about through pairings within its own kind. For this reason, hundreds of cats had to be bred with exceptionally intensive inbreeding before the race received official recognition in 1955. After this, however, breeders admitted that the Colorpoint needed to be bred with Persians to improve its fur and physical quality. It took eighteen years before it could be proudly announced to the public that the cat breeders had achieved their aim.
7. The long, stiff whiskers (vibrissae) of the cat, which are extremely sensitive to touch, are not merely meant to sense and brush against objects in close proximity. By means of these hypersensitive organs of perception, cats detect the most subtle variations in air currents for purposes of spatial orientation. Cats, of course, have to circumvent countless large and small objects in the dark without bumping into them. When approached, fixed objects cause slight deviations of normal air circulation. Thanks to the astounding sensitivity of their whiskers, cats perceive these "breezes" and can elegantly avoid every obstacle.
During nocturnal hunts their whiskers are essential. Intact whiskers make it possible for cats to kill by biting in the darkest night. If these sensitive organs are damaged, then a cat will only be able to kill in daylight. In darkness it would lunge without any sense of the right target, biting its prey in the wrong area. The vibrissae are apparently used as a kind of radar that distinguishes the silhouette of the victim when visibility is limited within a fraction of a second; the cat can then bite into the neck of its prey. It seems very likely that the whiskers can "interpret" the victim's silhouette in detail, and inform the brain of what steps to take next. The whiskers sprout from the tissue over the upper lip and are three times more deeply anchored than other hair. The roots are connected to numerous nerve endings that transmit every sensory impression to the brain with great speed.
8. The great amount of time that they spend preparing themselves for copulation, their sex orgies, and their promiscuous leanings has contributed to the reputation of cats as being sensual creatures. In fact, their lovemaking can continue nonstop for hours, and even, with some interruptions, for days. In this regard, however, "ladies' choice" rules. The female alone dictates the sequence of events.
To get things going, the female in heat calls to every tomcat within hearing range. Of course they are also lured by the special erotic "perfume" of the female. The male whose territory the female has chosen for her overtures has an advantage right from the start, since his competition shies away from entering strange territory. In the end, however, even they yield to the seductive charms
