Читать книгу Cats For Dummies - Gina Spadafori - Страница 25

We need to get one thing straight up front: Almost all cats shed. The “almost” is there to apply to those cats who haven’t any fur — such as those of the Sphynx breed, who still manages to carry a little down that rubs off on your clothes.

Cats can have three kinds of hair in their coats — down, awn, and guard. The down is the shortest, finest, and softest hair. The awn is the coarsest, and the guard (sometimes called the primary hairs) is the longest. Not all cats have all three varieties. The Sphynx, as just noted, has only down hairs, and few of these. The Cornish Rex has only awn and down. The awn hairs are usually shorter than the guard hairs (and longer than the down), but when awn and guard hairs are the same length, as in the Russian Blue, the cat is called double coated.

Some cats, such as the kinky-furred Rexes, shed very little. Some longhaired cats shed a lot — or seem to, because the hair they drop is longer. Even the ordinary garden-variety domestic shorthair is going to lose enough fur to drive the overly fastidious person nuts. If you really can’t stand the thought of cat fur on your sofa, your sweater, or even in your food from time to time, give this cat thing some serious thought.

In considering a cat’s coat, think about three things:

 Aesthetics: Some people like the sleek look and feel of a shorthaired cat; others adore the flowing softness of the longhairs. The shorthairs have about them the air of a tiger: You can see their muscles move as they walk, see the coiled promise of power while they sleep. In longhairs, the power is even more subtle, hidden by lush thickets of lovely, long fur. Do you prefer to rub your hand down a sleek pelt or bury your fingers in a longhaired one? This preference is the first of your decisions.

 Fur levels: Here is where the trade-offs start to come in. Although nearly all cats shed, the difference in shedding levels between short- and longhaired cats can be dramatic, especially in cats that are prized for the volume of coat, such as with Persians, Maine Coons, or Ragdolls. Are you prepared to live with a lint roller in your bathroom, your glove box, and your desk drawer at work? Would you be appalled to have a friend pick one of those glorious 4-inch pieces of fur off the back of your sweater? If you’re on the low end of fur tolerance, you’d better stick with shorthaired cats.

 Time and money: Longhaired cats require extra care. They mat easily and need to be combed out every other day or so and brushed thoroughly on a weekly basis. Hairballs, or clumps of fur caught in the cat’s digestive system, can be a constant problem with longhaired cats, requiring medical attention. If your cat’s mats get out of control, you need to have her professionally groomed — most likely shaved — and that costs money. (Yes, you can do that at home, but you need to learn the skill, buy clippers, and, most importantly, have a tolerant cat.)

Longhaired cats are more challenging to live with in other ways, too. Their urine and feces can get caught in their coats (which is why many owners generally prefer to keep those areas of their cats clipped short), and litter may catch on the tufts of fur in their paws and get tracked all over the house.

Your cat’s coat also has a bearing on whether you can consider letting him be an indoor-outdoor cat. The sparse coats of some of the Sphynxes and the Rexes offer no protection against sun or cold; on the other end of the scale, although the hearty coats of the Maine Coons, Siberians and Norwegian Forest Cats stand up to the elements, the silkier coats of the Persians may need to be protected from the elements.

Although coat length, type, and color are truly a matter of personal preference in terms of picking out a cat, you do need to watch out for one thing that’s related to coat color: White cats with blue eyes have a high probability for deafness. Some of these cats have eyes of different colors and are deaf only on the side with the blue eye. (You can check for deafness by snapping your fingers or clapping your hands behind a cat or kitten’s head.) Though a deaf cat can still be a good pet — indoors only, for her own protection — you’ll still want to know what you’re getting into before you adopt.