The great sage of the mid-twentieth century, Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss, Theo Le Sieg), observed that "Blue hair is fun to brush and comb." Only one life experience can provide a base for this observation: life with a long-haired cat whose color is what cat people call blue.
Actually it's gray, and often it's a warm smoky gray rather than a blue-grey, but it's more bluish than the basic dark taupe color produced in most animals' coats by individual hairs that shade through black, tan, and white. Cats' solid gray or "blue" fur is produced by a combination of genes for a black coat and for diluted color. "Blue" is actually pale black, for cats.
Long-haired cats require a lot of brushing and combing to keep wads of shed hair from accumulating all over your house and/or inside the cat. They're not always very patient about it, either. Despite the special qualities of Maine Coon and Norwegian Forest cats, most of the long-haired cats in North America are just less functional animals than American Short Hair cats are. They can live as long as short-haired cats, and can be as much fun to live with, but they are definitely more "trouble."
But some people enjoy the "trouble" of helping long-haired cats keep their coats beautiful. So, for those people, here are some cats whose blue hair is just pining to be brushed and combed.
Zipcode 10101: Emily & Romeo from New Jersey
You don't find social cats who live in human-type families, with a protective provider male, very often. My social cat family was first recognized as being that kind--Big Mac didn't only visit puny little Patchnose for sex, or to beg a share of her food, but brought food to her and the kittens. Well, shelter staff in Garwood, New Jersey, found another family like that. The social cats clearly consider themselves a couple and must be adopted as a couple. Emily has learned to recognize her name; she's wary, but likely to become more cuddly as she gets to know you. Emily is undersized, with a healthy weight of only 6 pounds. Romeo isn't very big, but he's bigger and bolder and generally protective of Emily. As seen in their photo.
Zipcode 20202: Laverne & Shirley from Reisterstown
Their web page: https://www.petfinder.com/cat/laverne-shirley-64016874/md/reisterstown/the-feline-rescue-association-md289/
Their humans were neighbors. They might be half sisters. Both cats' humans moved away and abandoned the kittens, and the kittens bonded. They're not yet two years old, so they might grow longer and taller than they are now. They like to play with each other and snuggle up beside a human.
Zipcode 30303: 2023-10-O55 from Barrow County
Her web page: https://www.petfinder.com/cat/2023-10-055-69240555/ga/winder/barrow-county-animal-control-ga261/
They call her by a number not a name. On the "plus" side, she's not had much time to be emotionally damaged by being in a shelter. No further information is available about Inmate #2023-10-O55.
She was not my first choice for this photo contest. A lovely pale grey cat called Bonnie, with a brother Clyde, made the cutest photo. Hmm. Bonnie and Clyde seeemed to have been around humans early in life, but had been feral for years. They were recommended for experienced adopters only. Clyde would tolerate some scratching, and Bonnie might allow a little scratching with a long-stick-type cat toy, but they would not cuddle. Hmmmmm. Clyde was FIV-positive. So Bonnie probably is too. Right. Let's use the runner-up picture. Somebody Out There wants to be humane and rescue the most unadoptable cats, and beautiful Bonnie and plain-looking Clyde just may be them.
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