“Brush,” not “bush”

Maine Coons to the practically brushless Siamese . Fans of longhaired cats cite the long, thick fur on the tails as one of the most appeali...

Don’t call it “mane”

lion its distinctive look, has its counterpart in several longhaired breeds of cats. In house cats, however, this thick growth of hair aro...

The cynical Mr. Twain

One of America’s best-loved authors was Samuel Clemens, better known by his pen name, Mark Twain. Though known as a humorist, Twain had a cy...

Double or single coat

black cats. A double coat has long guard hairs and a thicker undercoat. Naturally the double coat looks thicker and more plush than the sin...

Oh, those unneutered toms

The slang word tomcat that describes certain actions of human males is rooted in the real behavior of unneutered (“whole”) male cats. Tomca...

No hairless cats

Sphynx , which has received a lot of publicity thanks to the cat Mr. Bigglesworth in the Austin Powers movies. A lot of viewers left theatre...

Their countries of origin (not!)

Siamese cats probably did come from Siam (Thailand), and Burmese came (probably) from Burma, but otherwise the geographical names of vario...