Recent Content by lyrajean

My mother used to be a preschool teacher and the small animals there used to come home and live with us over school breaks. We had our cat and the school's hamster. One evening the hamster was in its ball and my mother was distracted trying to get three of us ready for bed. I came downstairs and...

Just got my first report back from basepaws. I was most curious about the breed report. the wildcat report seems to me like pure fantasy since most of the cats can't interbreed with domestics anyways. So, I have a Japanese street cat that even looks like a j-bob without the tail mutation and...

ENTRY. Picked up my Aya in Japan. She was one of the local "mura neko" (village cats). I lived in Okinawa where the dog population is very mixed with American and Japanese breeds. Curious if the cat population is as well as Aya greatly resembles Japanese kitties.

Interesting that in the list of breeds that allow calico patterns they did not mention Japanese bobtails. It's the quintessential J-bob color! Here's my un-bobbed Japan kitty and forum alumna Aya-chan.IMG_5639.JPG by lyrajean posted Sep 16, 2014 at 5:23 PM

Where I was in Japan there is also OAARS. Okinawan American Animal Rescue Society. OAARS:Okinawan American Animal Rescue Society They also took in stray kitties, but you would need to get them vetted and FELV tested and then wait for a foster placement. They helped me adopt out 3 stray orphan...

It thought I was 16... Laughs... Add about 27 to that...

I would like to see Japanese cats that are not bobtails recognized as a separate breed!

Nice to know that things are changing even if slowly for the cats in Japan. I rescued 4 kittens while I was there. I did run into some cultural resistance to the idea of TNR while I was in Okinawa. People saying it "wasn't natural". Well, neither is continuing to feed the colonies and allowing...

Japanese bobtails, or rather the Japanese DSH and DLH that carry the tail mutation in Japan do come in point-colored versions, although it is a very recent thing to see breeders in America selecting for them deliberately. Shelters here tend to identify every cat with a short tail as a JBT. I...

Yes, in warmer climates you are talking 2-3 litters per year per queen. There is a spring crop of kittens and a fall crop. When I was in Okinawa, Japan there were definitely fall kittens. Aya was one. I always knew when it was kitten season as there are a huge number of stray/feral "mura neko"...

This is why the ideal age for rehoming kittens is 12 weeks, unless the Mom is bonafide feral. Your young one was taken away a little younger than is ideal. Kittens learn play "manners" from littermates and Mom. You are going to have to be consistent and persistent in not allowing your kitty to...

But added kitty fur makes the towels so much more special...:lol:

All kitties are lovely IMO... But if I had to pick it would be "calico". I am on calico #3 at this point so, yeah....

I don't think tails grow once a cat reaches adulthood. Is it possible that since you adopted her her weight/body condition has changed due to being fed different and being more or less active and that is making you perceive her tail as longer relative to her body size?

I second the need to take your senior kitty to the vet, but also ask is her "fresh" water supply in a bowl or do you have a running source of water for her. Many cats do not like stale water in a bowl and would rather drink from a leaky tap.