How do you spot a sick Birman cat?
Oct. 21st, 2007 12:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stephbgWARNING: Pure cat post. A bit of cat history. Some speculative cat science. A lot of cat behaviour. Some cat-mother angst. May contain traces of nuts.
Pumpkin the Birman is a loveable, extremely affectionate, troublesome, playful, curious, and fun-filled fluff of a cat. I recently wondered if he was unwell, for as any cat owner will tell you, it's not always obvious, particularly when you have a floppy cat to start with.
Birmans are one of the oldest domesticated breeds, and--according to some of the literature--are the source of the "flop" gene in Ragdoll cats. Because of the limited gene pool (the breed almost didn't survive WWII in Europe) they're sometimes outcrossed to Ragdolls and back again to introduce a few more genes into the pedigree lines, namely Angora and allegedly some American alley cat that used to go flop.
My personal theory (and I've always meant to track down a zoologist to confirm this) is that the flop behaviour derives from the very young kitten's tendency to go completely limp when picked up by the scruff of the neck by its mother. All domestic cats retain this behaviour to some extent, as neoteny (the retention of juvenile behaviours) is a characteristic of domesticity in general. Birmans retain this most juvenile of behaviours because they have the most number of domesticated generations in their history. I think that the fact that Birmans take four years to reach physical maturity contributes to the argument.
I'd appreciate any feedback on the theory, as most of the Birman-specific literature says nothing about this particular behaviour, and it's a while since I've studied biology.
Pumpkin is 8 1/2 which is not particularly old for a cat, but I did begin to wonder if perhaps his breed might not live as long as the vigorous moggie. He seemed to be becoming subdued. He usually spends the entire day and most of the early evening asleep on our bed, but he was staying there even longer, and returning much earlier. It seemed like he hadn't knocked something over, tried to play with the light fittings, chased Princess, poked Cally, moo'd mysteriously in the kitchen, got underfoot, underarm or underhand or helped me read the paper for ages. Very little rolling on the floor with paws in the air. No attempts to fly.
Was he just getting old? Finally growing up? Apparently not, for my default diagnosis and treatment for furballs seems to have hit the mark. He's back to his perky, puppy-like, wide-eyed and dangerous self, and now I see the contrast to a couple of days ago I wonder that I ever doubted that something was wrong.
Cats. Just like boiling frogs.
Pumpkin the Birman is a loveable, extremely affectionate, troublesome, playful, curious, and fun-filled fluff of a cat. I recently wondered if he was unwell, for as any cat owner will tell you, it's not always obvious, particularly when you have a floppy cat to start with.
Birmans are one of the oldest domesticated breeds, and--according to some of the literature--are the source of the "flop" gene in Ragdoll cats. Because of the limited gene pool (the breed almost didn't survive WWII in Europe) they're sometimes outcrossed to Ragdolls and back again to introduce a few more genes into the pedigree lines, namely Angora and allegedly some American alley cat that used to go flop.
My personal theory (and I've always meant to track down a zoologist to confirm this) is that the flop behaviour derives from the very young kitten's tendency to go completely limp when picked up by the scruff of the neck by its mother. All domestic cats retain this behaviour to some extent, as neoteny (the retention of juvenile behaviours) is a characteristic of domesticity in general. Birmans retain this most juvenile of behaviours because they have the most number of domesticated generations in their history. I think that the fact that Birmans take four years to reach physical maturity contributes to the argument.
I'd appreciate any feedback on the theory, as most of the Birman-specific literature says nothing about this particular behaviour, and it's a while since I've studied biology.
Pumpkin is 8 1/2 which is not particularly old for a cat, but I did begin to wonder if perhaps his breed might not live as long as the vigorous moggie. He seemed to be becoming subdued. He usually spends the entire day and most of the early evening asleep on our bed, but he was staying there even longer, and returning much earlier. It seemed like he hadn't knocked something over, tried to play with the light fittings, chased Princess, poked Cally, moo'd mysteriously in the kitchen, got underfoot, underarm or underhand or helped me read the paper for ages. Very little rolling on the floor with paws in the air. No attempts to fly.
Was he just getting old? Finally growing up? Apparently not, for my default diagnosis and treatment for furballs seems to have hit the mark. He's back to his perky, puppy-like, wide-eyed and dangerous self, and now I see the contrast to a couple of days ago I wonder that I ever doubted that something was wrong.
Cats. Just like boiling frogs.
