This was provoked by the claim, recently made on Wikipedia, that Manx cats are "a social breed." Oh purr-lease. Manx cats are typically calm and levelheaded enough to behave well with other cats. Their patience with other cats can be endearing...I think of Graybelle, who grew up to be one of the really huge Manx even after her long hair started to make her look like one, and Liza, a largish feral American Short Hair who had bullied Graybelle while Liza was at least the taller of the two, and then, when Graybelle was about eight months old and by far the taller, wider, heavier, and fluffier...Graybelle never actually bullied Liza. Never needed to. Graybelle was majestic. Liza looked up to her with what looked to me like superstitious horror, which cats like Graybelle often inspire in humans too. (Manx and Maine Coon cats are the breeds most likely to revert to the ancestral wild cats' original size, and people say "I didn't know cats got...that...big.") I admired Graybelle's forbearance. But she certainly never seemed to like Liza, in the way social cats do. I don't think any of the Manx-mix cats I've known was truly social, unless we count Irene, a carrier of the Manx gene born into an American Short Hair family of amazingly social cats.
Dear Petfinder, Wikipedia, and Animal Rescuers Everywhere,
Please note difference between
non-aggressive normal cats and social cats. There is no truly social breed of cat, although social cats form families. In my part of the world most social cats are American Short Hair, but some are Manx-mix and some are Siamese-mix. Social cats recognize coat color and body shape and may gravitate toward their look-alikes, but do not discriminate among breeds when making friends. There's at least one documented case of social cats bonding and co-parenting with other social cats of different breeds when they met for the first time at shelters where they were let out of their cages.
Normal cats tolerate companion animals, but
tolerance is about as far as it goes.
Normal cats want to be completely alone when
hunting or rearing kittens.
Social cats give birth and rear kittens communally, and hunt in teams.
Normal cats may have a preferred partner, but
mating is all about sex.
Social cat couples often bond, sometimes
monogamously.
Social cat couples’ bonds are still conspicuous
when one or both are neutered (or geriatric).
Normal cats may learn to ignore each other while
eating in the same room.
Social cats willingly share food and may take
turns eating out of each dish at a meal.
Normal cats avoid bigger animals and attack
smaller animals.
Social cats adopt kittens and make pets of other
animals, sometimes larger animals.
Normal cats don’t hang out with other cats, by
choice.
Social cats may bring home friends and insist that
their guests eat before they do.
Male normal cats may or may not try to kill
kittens to interest females in starting more.
Male social cats may take an active role in
rearing and protecting kittens.
Normal cats who coexist peaceably are nice. Social
cats are amazing.
From your e-friends, Serena (a social cat), Samantha (a normal cat who's being "socialized" into a social cat family), and Traveller (a tomkitten who may or may not grow up to be a social cat, to the extent that male cats do).
[Amazon link to be installed later...this is my day to catch up on e-mail, and I have so many tabs open I can't even find Amazon at this moment.]
No comments:
Post a Comment