“Van” cats

Turkish Van , was named for an area around Lake Van in southeastern Turkey. In recent years, the name Van has been used to describe a cat (o...

Feline puberty

In animal terms, reaching “puberty” means a creature is able to reproduce. Female cats hit puberty between seven and twelve months of age, w...

Calico

black and orange. Calico cats, however, also have a lot of white—in fact, a mix of white, black and orange (or cream) in clearly defined p...

“Lilac” and “apricot”

Here are two other coat color names that, like blue, aren’t meant to be taken quite literally. Lilac, which has also been called “lavender,”...

Oh, lecherous males!

tomcats , but occasionally neutered toms will do it as well.

“Blue” (but not really) and “ginger”

cat shows , there are no gray cats, only blue ones. (As far as that goes, no human or cat is naturally “red,” yet when we refer to a cat or...

Tomcat “on hold”

Tomcats have a reputation for being promiscuous, but in fact an adult tom, unneutered, never has sex on his mind (unlike male humans). His e...