Dorling Kindersley - My Book of Cats and Kittens: A Fact-Filled Guide to Feline Friends

About this eBook

C ats W orld o f cats G rowing up C olors and markings S hort-haired cats A merican Shorthair B ritish Shorthair K orat B ombay S ingapura A byssinian E gyptian Mau O cicat A ustralian Mist B engal B ody language M eowing and talking C hausie C hartreux T oyger S erengeti S iamese H avana A merican Burmese E uropean Burmese C ornish Rex Project Editor Kritika Gupta Editors K athleen T eece, Srijani Ganguly US Editor Mindy Fichter US Senior Editor Shannon Beatty Senior Art Editor Ann Cannings Art Editor Bhagyashree Nayak Additional Design Mohd Zishan, Roohi Rais Illustrator Bettina Myklebust Stovne Jacket Designer Ann Cannings DTP Designers Dheeraj Singh, Mohd Rizwan Senior Picture Researcher Sakshi Saluja Production Editor Abi Maxwell Production Controller John Casey Managing Editors Jonathan Melmoth, Monica Saigal Managing Art Editors Diane Pe yton Jones, Ivy Sengupta Delhi Creative Heads Glenda Fernandes, Malavika T a lukder Deputy Art Director Mabel Chan Publishing Director Sarah Larter Consultant Dr. Bruce Fogle Content in this title was previously published in The Every thing Book of Cats and Kittens (2018). First American Edition, 2023 Published in the United States by DK Publishing 1745 Br oadway , 20th Floor , New Y ork, NY 10019 Copyright 2023 Dorling Kindersley Limited DK, a Division of P eng uin Random House LLC 23 24 25 26 27 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 001333834Feb/2023 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under the copyright reserved above, no par t of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission o f the copyright owner . Published in Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited A catalog record for this book is available from the Library o f Congress. ISBN 978-0-7440-7389-8 DK books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk for sales promotions, premiums, fundraising, or educational use. Fo r details, contact: DK Publishing Special Markets, 1745 Br oadway , 20th Floor , New Y ork, NY 10019 SpecialSales@dk.com Printed and bound in China For the curious www.dk.com This book was made with Forest Stewardship Council certified paper one small step in DK s commitment to a sustainable future. For more inf ormation go to www .dk .com/our -green-pledge

D evon Rex T ra ining a cat P ixiebob J apanese Bobtail R ussian Blue S nowshoe O riental Shorthair T onkinese E xotics S uper senses L ong-haired cats A ngora H ighlander R agdoll M aine Coon A merican Curl P ersian H imalayan LaP erm N orwegian Forest Cat S iberian Forest Cat S omali B alinese L ooking after cats F eline fo od T urkish V an T ur kish Angora N ebelung S elkirk Rex T iffanie C hantilly S cottish Fold M anx B irman A phrodite Giant M ixed-breed cats H airless cats T he cat family C at characters C at company H unting habits A ll together G lossary I ndex A cknowledgments

Peop le have kept cats as pets for thousands of years. They are smaller and gentler than their wild relatives, such as cheetahs and lions. Cats make wonderful companions, whether they are playful and mischievous or prefer snoozing on a human s lap. Large to litt le Cats vary in size. Smaller cats tend to have a slender body with thin limbs and a thin tail, while bigger cats have a heavier body with thick limbs and a thick tail. Medium-sized cats have a body shape somewhere betwe en these two extremes. Cat ears hav e more than tw enty muscles. A cat mostly us es its se nsitiv e nos e t o smell and touch. It also greets other cats with a no se rub . Whi skers are su per- sen sitive hairs that help a cat judge where things are. A cat s pupils are three times bigger than a human s . Th e paw s of a cat releas e s weat through the chunky f oot pads . Maine Co on Maine Co on Th e Maine Co on is the biggest of all cat bre eds. It is around 16 i n (40 cm) t all. W he n compare d to the Singapura , the Maine C oon can weigh f our times more .

Cat fea tur es Cats are designed to be great hunters. Their excellent balance and super senses help them to climb, jump, run, and pounce. Even domestic cats have wild instincts. Sturdy skeleto n A cat skeleton has 230 bones twenty-four more than a human s. It has a flexible spine and long tail. A cat s tail can have as many as twenty-three bones. Cats have small skulls with jaws that house sharp, pointed teeth. Every cat releases i ts o wn special sc ent throug h its foot pads to mark its terri tor y . A cat s tail helps it to balance when jumping, or walking along narro w f e nces . Cats have strong legs that allow them to jump high. Singapura Singapura Th e Singapura is the smallest of all cats. It is only around 8 in (20 cm) t all. I ts ears are lar ge compared to the size of its b ody. Char treux Char treux Th e Ch artreux is a me dium-siz e d cat . T his cat is around 11 in ( 28 cm) tall. It i s smaller tha n the larg e Maine Co on but bigger than th e tiny Singapura .

Cats first began to live alongside humans in Egypt in around 4,000 bce . Eventually , people took them by ship to other countries. Now , cats are found on every continent, except for icy Antarctica. Snowshoe This breed was named after its leg markings, which look like snow-white shoes. Its history can be traced back to a litter of kittens born in the 1960s in Philadelphia, Pe nnsylvania. Brazilian Sh ort hair The ancestors of the Br azilian Shorthair came to South America from Europe. They tra veled by boat with visiting European sailors in the second century ce . N orth A merica N orth A merica South South Ame rica Ame rica Ancient Egypt ians may have gi ven cats as gift s to the Rom ans. Adopti ng a ca t Many people choose to adopt cats rather than buy them from breeders, because breeding cats can lead to new breeds with health problems. From former alley cats to Maine Coonsall sorts of furry felines can be adopted from animal shelters.