“He walked by himself and all places were alike to him.”
That is how the famous author Rudyard Kipling described the cat, a proud animal, in one of his short stories. It is well known that the cat loves the house it lives in. It is an independent animal with what many would say, an imperious attitude. Yet, cats are taking over as ‘man’s best friend’ in many European countries like France, England and Germany and in the United States. Cats have many traits that attract people today. People who are stressed find that the company of a cat relaxes them. A pet cat does not make huge demands on their time or constantly seek their attention.
Sunday POST spoke to a few people who told us about their close bond with their pet.
Sunanda Mathur, a makeup expert, is an ardent cat lover. She has a Persian cat named Hash which is just one-and-half-years old. “Since childhood I have been a cat lover and Hash was just a couple of months old when we bought it. He sleeps with me on my bed and loves to play with my son. Once Hash gets up in the morning, he plays in the lawn for half an hour, then he spends most of the time with me,” Sunanda says.
Arupa Ray Joshi, CMD of Coffee Bytes, has a two-and-half-year-old American Bobtail named Pixy that she got from a friend in Puri. “When she was small, I used to place her in a basket or cage since we have dogs too in the house. Now she roams around freely. I love to play with her and cuddle her. Pixy has become an indispensable part of my life. I can’t describe how good it feels when I return home and hold her in my arms. Recently, Pixy gave birth to four kittens and made me feel like a proud nanny,” says Arupa.
Bhubaneswar based model Rojalin Mohanty loves her Persian cat Molly. She got her from one of her friends. Rojalin, who stays in Bhubaneswar, takes Molly along with her when she goes to her hometown in Jajpur.
She says, “Molly sleeps with me on my bed and we share a pillow and I love to cuddle her.”
Swapna Harrison, Senior Manager (Administration) of Centurion University loves cats so much that she has some 24 cats at her place. One of them is a Maine Coon called Kaizen which is just eleven months old. He was two months old when she got him.
“Whenever I get some free time, I spend it with my pets, and I always make it a point to be there with them at night during their dinner. Kaizen lives with 23 other cats in a specially-built catiary,” Swapna says.
She adds, “There are only a few veterinarians in Bhubaneswar which is posing problems for cat lovers.”
Dr SK Ray, former professor of veterinary medicine at the Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, says that people these days prefer foreign cat breeds.
The veterinarian earlier used to treat around fifteen cases a month and most of them were local breeds. But of late pet lovers seem to prefer foreign breeds like Persian, American Bobtail, Maine Coon and Siamese.
In India, dogs are the most common pets whereas cats are more popular in western countries. Cats require less space in comparison to dogs. Besides, they need less exercise unlike large and medium sized dogs.
Of all the animals domesticated by men, cats have unusual and most complicated nutritional requirements, says Dr Ray. Just like humans, the food preference of cats also varies. Their diet can directly influence their health and energy level.
The cat as we know today has evolved over some 40 million years. Thanks to numerous fossils, we have been able to establish the gradual evolution of the wild felids, the cousin of the cat. The feline world has undergone substantial changes over the years. The number of feline breeds has virtually tripled because of hybridisation from about twenty in 1960 to over fifty at the end of the century. Some of the well-known cat breeds include:
American Bobtail
This sturdy cat is rarely found beyond the United States. The Bobtail’s distinguishing feature is its short tail which is the result of a mutation caused by a dominant gene. The semi-longhair American Bobtail, the longhaired version of the American Bobtail, has the same characteristics as its cousin.
Maine Coon
According to legend, the Maine Coon is the result of the mating of a wild cat and a raccoon, a genetic impossibility imagined because the coat and tail of the breed resemble those of the raccoon.
As evident from its name, the Maine Coon originated in the United States, in Maine. It is thought be the product of a cross between Angoras brought from the Middle East by sailors.
Persians and Siamese overtook the Maine Coon in popularity for half a century. Interest in the breed was renewed in the fifties and has been growing rapidly since 1980.
Persian
These longhaired cats, the world’s most famous breed, were unknown in Europe until around the mid-16th century. The Persian’s first ancestors were imported from Persia (now Iran) to Italy in the 17th century by Pietro della Valle. These cats were highly prized by the European aristocracy.
Siamese
This very old breed has been mentioned in a manuscript dating back to 1350 from Ayuthia, then the capital of Siam (now Thailand). In Siam, the breed was reserved for the royal family and carefully guarded in the palace.
In 1890, the first batch of Siamese cats was introduced in the United States. The Siamese has enjoyed considerable popularity since 1920. The breed’s current morphology is quite different from its original type, which was rounder and more massive.
SHABIHA NUR KHATOON, OP