The cat which is also known as Felis Catus belongs to a carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated cat in its family known as Felidae. People refer to cats as domestic cats to differentiate them from the wild members of the family.
A cat can be a house cat, a farm cat or a feral cat which will be ranging freely to avoid human contact. This beautiful cute and emphatic domestic pet is widely loved for its human companionship.
Cat is endowed with a sturdy flexible body, retractable claws – adapted to killing small prey, quick response to a stimulus, and sharp teeth for cracking bones of the prey. Its night vision and sense of smell are greatly developed to the extent that it can smell an aroma of frying fish from a distance of about 1.5 to 4 miles away.
Cats communicate with vocalizations like hissing, meowing, purring, tilling, growling and grunting – the specific cat body language.
According to research from cat registries, there are about Sixty cat breeds all over the world. I will explain two cat breeds in this write-up.
The first one is the Savannah cat breed that is found in Africa. They are the cutest with their various coats in colours like gold and smoke. They are sleek and tall and go along well with dogs. They are the second most expensive cat breed after the Ashra cat breed in the world. It is said to be worth about $20k. They are large, playful, energetic and acrobatic.
The second breed of cat that I will explain is the Khao Manee. They are originated from Thailand and have been protected by the government since 1999. This breed of cat is generally loved because of its pure white and gold fur. They are blessed with white and odd colours eyes. Some people call them Diamond Eyes Cats. They cost $11k in the world market.
The rearing of cats as pets in some African settings demands the owner to be very vigilant. Nothing resulted in this opinion of mine other than the kind of belief and mentality of some African people.
In the Western part of the African continent, Nigeria as a case study consists of over 250 ethnic groups speaking more than 500 languages. Among the ethnicities is the Yoruba people who have a kind of connection with cats and their evils.
Some Yorùbá people believe that anyone rearing a cat is a sorcerer, witch or a wizard, and the cat itself, a confluence of numerous hazards to the environment that it belongs.
This kind of stereotype notion about naive animals is not valid.
Cats are like other animals and they sense danger faster than human beings could do. If a cat is maltreated, malnourished or starved by its owner, it would become a feral cat and continuously run around. And, such is an attitude very common to some people rearing cats in the environment. They would be left prowling about. No good shelters to keep them warm – what they love most. No good food to give them except junk.
There was a cat of mine kidnapped about three years ago. The cat was large and beautiful. You would nearly take him for a tiger cub. I bathed him, creamed and brushed his pawns. He had his medications and body lotions including sweet perf to be sprayed when we had done. Some people challenged me why I should be taking care of a cat like that. They would mock and make jest until that guy got kidnapped by an indigent person.
If you take good care of your cats, society will stop seeing them as evil spirits.
Daud Ismail Olakunle writes from Ibadan, Nigeria.
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