“Cat on a hot tin roof”

The playwright Tennessee Williams immortalized this phrase in the title of one of his dramas, even though the cat in his play was a woman, n...

Playing to prey

Roughly about the time of weaning (three weeks or so), kittens find a new source of pleasure besides nursing, namely play. It begins with gen...

Chatoyancy

Here’s a fancy French word, and if you know that chat is French for “cat,” you may have a clue what chatoyancy means: “shining like a cat’s ...

Polishing the cat

silk or chamois—the cat show equivalent of a “wax job.” Owners who fuss over their pets sometimes use this technique at home, too.

Oral fixation

kitten is weaned, his sucking days are over—but not always. Sometimes older kittens, and even adult cats, can be seen sucking on another ca...

“Rusting” of black cats

black car, you know it isn’t going to stay very sleek if you leave it outside where it will experience all kinds of weather. In effect the ...

Alas, weaning

food . Around the third or fourth week after birth, the mother actually starts to move away from the kittens when they try to nurse. There...