The wonderful Korat

Your Cat's Angela Lowe recently sang the praises of the elegant Korat in August's Breed Profile.

"A particular feature of the breed is the size and prominence of the eyes, which are so large and bright they almost look as though they are lit from within." she writes.

"With his heart-shaped head, the Korat’s appeal does not stop there. The eyebrow ridges form the upper curves of the heart and the sides of the face curve gently down to the chin to complete the heart shape."

The attraction of the Korat, is not only down to its distinctive eyes. As Jen Lacey of the Korat Cat Association says: “They are always into what you are doing, whether it’s visiting the bathroom or sweeping the floor! If you’re doing it, it must be interesting!"

FIVE THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW
ABOUT THE KORAT
1 The Korat is one of only three true blue breeds in the world.

2 The Korat is unexpectedly heavy when picked up.

3 In their native country, Korats were given in pairs as a wedding gift to bless a couple with fertility.

4 Korats were honoured in rainmaking ceremonies during the dry season to tempt the rain to fall.

5 Legend has it that male Korats were taken into battle, hissing and growling fiercely on the shoulders of warriors fighting against enemies of their land.

Do you have any experience of owning or living with the beautiful Korat? Do let us know on the Your Cat forums!

Cats and milk

Giving your cat milk can cause upset tummies, cramps and even severe diarrhoea.

Diarrhoea can also be fatal to kittens because it dehydrates their little bodies very quickly.

Cats and kittens do not need to drink milk and can actual live their entire lives without having one lap of milk. Water is all they will ever need. If you do wish to give them milk then you can buy lactose-free milk (lactose is the sugar found in milk) from your pet food store, vets or supermarket, but it’s not essential. Indeed, some cats, especially Siamese, will not drink milk at all.

Most cats are lactose intolerant because they lack the enzyme lactase, which aids in digesting lactose.

As undigested lactose passes through the cat's digestive system it draws water from the intestines. Lactose cannot pass easily through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream, so it remains in the intestines.

Next, gut bacteria invade and fermentation sets in causing large amounts of gas to form. The result is pain and diarrhoea for your kitten.

Very young kittens produce the enzyme lactase when suckling from their mother but the ability to produce the enzyme diminishes after weaning.

Soft tissues such as meats and offal are very low in calcium and if they are fed as the sole food source, calcium deficiency will occur.

You might think that milk is the only source of calcium and the answer to this problem, but good proprietary diets will contain adequate supplies of the major and trace minerals, which includes calcium.

A cat's sense of hearing is remarkably superior to that of humans. It ranges from 45 to 64,000hz, compared to 64-23,000hz in humans.

This means that cats can hear sounds we can't hear on both ends of the spectrum, particularly the higher end.

Cats' ears are uniquely designed to draw sound into the ear canal, which enables them to hear sounds like a mouse rustling in the brush 30 feet away. By the same token, their ears are more sensitive to higher amplitude of sound.

Like a sophisticated satellite dish turning to pick up a signal, the cat's external ear, or pinna, rotates up to 180 degrees to locate and identify even the faintest of squeaks, peeps or rustling noises. They also can detect the tiniest variances in sound, distinguishing differences of as little as one-tenth of a tone, which helps them identify the type and size of the prey emitting the noise. Mice have no chance against this formidable hunting weapon!

This heightened sense of hearing is especially important in wildcats, which depend on hunting for survival. It also enables wild and domestic feline mothers to hear faint squeals of distress from their cubs or kittens when they stray too far away.

A cat up to three feet away from the origin of a sound can pinpoint its location to within a few inches in a mere six one-hundredths of a second. Cats also can hear sounds at great distances — four or five times farther away than humans. Unless we are talking about men who hear the sound of washing up and run away to their shed!