Mau Mew

Sebastian says hi Originally uploaded by fofurasfelinas Yes, another fine picture of Sebastian this time, by the renown cat photographer, fofurasfelinas (Flickr - Giane Portal is her real name). This is one where I can see people who do not understand cats making derogatory or misleading comments. Some people might say things like, "he's a mean son-of-a-bitch" (yes it would be an American teenager from mid-America I am afraid). That would be totally misreading Sebastian's expression. That said there is a great opportunity to make up some funny cheeseburger type titles or comments for this cat as he is winking at the camera and talking out loud! Well, of course he is not doing that but you could pretend that he was. "How ya doin darling.." is one such comment that comes to mind. It is the sort of thing a cockney bloke in the east end of London, England, says to a girl when he picks her up! What probably happened was simply that Sebastian just happen

Among the leaves Originally uploaded by fofurasfelinas This is an exquisite photograph of a random bred (I presume) cat at a cat sanctuary in Brazil by the talented photographer, fofurasfelinas, here Flickr username. Here real name is Giane Portal. I love the way the way the colour of the eyes match the colour of the leaves. And the way the cat is inquisitively looking at Giane as she takes the photograph. This cat is a tabby cat. In fact on first glance this cat appears to be a special sort of tabby cat where there is little or no tabby pattern but a heavily ticked coat. A ticked coat is one where the strands of hair are banded with yellow, black and clear fur. The black part of the fur appears to be at the top of the hair strands producing the dark colour down the spine. The forehead has the classic "M" tabby mark. There are a lot of legends about how that mark was produced but they are just that legends and myths. This cat looks quite like an Abyssinian cat in fa

Jungle Toji Originally uploaded by fofurasfelinas In this photo by the talented fofurafelinas (Giane Portal) you can see the wild cat in a domestic cat. Toji, the tabby cat that is the subject matter of the photograph, actually looks quite wild in this photo. He looks like a European wild cat or a Scottish wild cat (a species of European wild cat). I think he has that wild look that breeders of wildcat cat hybrids love so much. The Bengal cat is a wild cat hybrid so it is considered good breeding if the cat is to type and looks wild. Toji is not a Bengal cat though. He is a random bred cat. After all the purpose of the wildcat hybrids is to allow people to keep a little bit of the wild in their homes and to remind themselves of the small wild cats that are endangered. It doesn't work like that though, in my opinion. Of course, in this photograph Giane has used the background nicely to give us the sense of being in the wild. The background is "soft" (out of fo

Chihiro in the Theatre Originally uploaded by fofurasfelinas This photograph looks as though it is of a tabby theatre cat but it is not. It's Giane Portal being very clever in her photography. The cat though is a beautiful mackerel tabby cat looking confidently into the camera. The depth of focus is very narrow which throws the background out of focus producing the very simple geometric shapes and the impression that Chihiro (the name of this adorable cat) is behind a curtain about to come on stage. When I think of theatre cats I think of the Moscow Cat Theatre. This is a well known show in which cats do acrobatic stunts. But, and I will be honest, I don't like it. It looks a bit cheap and Russian, a bit tacky. Plus the cats look as though they are having a hard time of it. I understand that they are well treated etc. but I don't think we should train cats to perform tricks for an audience. Maybe I am being old fashioned and a prude, I don't know. Another thea

Scarlett Originally uploaded by Ⅿeagan I really like this interesting photograph of a flat faced tortoiseshell Persian cat. We can't see the tortie colours (blacks and oranges) as it is in black and white but black and white improves the photograph. It becomes a picture of shapes, texture and an eye! I love the shapes that the tortie pattern has formed when in black and white. It is like the cat is wearing a mask. And the long hair of the Persian cat is very apparent. That flat face it very apparent too. This is a very controversial face. The cat fancy is really split about this sort of unnatural cat face. Yes, it is interesting and it has been around for a considerable time, about 50 years or so getting flatter and flatter until the breed standard says that is has to be flat or else! I was asked today what to chose between a doll face and modern Persian "Ultra" type Persian. Answer: no decision. It must be the doll face. Not to say that this cat is stunning in

Flower Eater Originally uploaded by Ⅿeagan Yes, this is a Persian cat flower eater and this photo made me smile. A photo that makes a person smile is a good photo; cat photo or otherwise. I like this photograph because it shows us how dangerously cats live sometimes. They do things that we see as dangerous but they don't know it. They extricate themselves from dangerous situations by their athleticism and excellent senses. That is why they have nine lives. This photo seems to have three major parts. On the left are the stalks of the plants, stiff and upright. On the right is the flowing texture of a Persian cat's fur. They have the longest fur of all the purebred cats, which makes them more or less obligatory indoor cats as the fur picks up all kinds of stuff outside. In the middle is a blob that is the cat's face and attached to this blob is a mouth about to munch through the leaf of a plant. Is the plant safe to eat? Some aren't and that includes house p

From the Dark corner Originally uploaded by fofurasfelinas Here is a fine cat photograph by fofurasfelinas (Giane Portal in Brazil) of Toji. He is a tabby cat and this photograph captures the senses working or on standby all at once. The large vibrissae (whiskers) are in a passive mode but their position gives the impression that they are ready to go and they are very nice long whiskers. A cat's whiskers are extremely sensitive. At the base of each whisker is a bundle of nerves. This allows the whiskers to detect air currents that flow around static objects. Air currents are created by the movement of the cat so the cat can see in the dark in part with the aid of its whiskers. The whiskers can also detect the position on a prey's body where a bite should be made to kill the prey (nape of neck). The whiskers in effect feel for this position. They are quite extraordinary and we don't really realise this most of the time. Toji has magnificent whiskers. Toji'

Unnatural Shapes Originally uploaded by jewdan_jorcobs It is rare to see what I call real cat photography. Fofurasfelinas does real cat photography. Helmi Flick does as she is probably the best cat photographer anywhere and a professional but for an amateur and I will presume (perhaps incorrectly) that this photographer is an amateur to use strobe lights and a remote wireless shutter to photograph his cat (is it his cat?) that is impressive, very impressive. Because of the care taken to produce the photograph and the lighting, it is an outstanding photograph. It is the lighting that really achieves this. Ninety-nine percent and more of amateur photographs of any subject and especially of cats are taken in natural light. It is just too fiddly and difficult to use strobe lights even if you know how to use them and most don't when photographing a cat, which moves quickly. I really like the shadows that form great shapes in the background while the subject matter is in

Cat Sanctuary Beauties Originally uploaded by fofurasfelinas This is another one of Giane Portal's (fofurasfelinas - Flickr name) great photos. This is just a symphony in blue. The cat is a random bred cat that has found a great home in a sanctuary that can shelter a maximum of 300 cats and this is not a rehoming shelter. The cats live here in a large colony. There are some brightly coloured walls in the sanctuary which allows Giane to get some nice contrasty colours as backgrounds for the cats. This cat has blue eyes as well, hence the symphony in blue! His or her name is Barbarus - I think that is a boys name and he looks more like a male cat than a female although it is not always clear. This is a white cat and the gene that produces the white coat also takes the colour from the eyes which leaves them blue. I have blue eyes and they have less pigment in the iris, which allows more light through and so in bright light my eyes hurt. I have to squint to protect them or we

Beauty....rêveuse ou concentrée...?? Originally uploaded by julicath/Cath Here is a really nice traditional Siamese cat photograph. The "conformation" or body shape is absolutely classic old fashioned Siamese cat me. A far cry from the contemporary, rather odd look to be honest. For the life of me I do not understand how people can prefer the modern Siamese as it is simply less attractive and that is not just me talking. I love the intent gaze and the vivid blue eyes. And what comes across very strongly in this photograph is the "mask" of the of the classic seal pointing. It really does look like a mask in this picture. This cat immediately reminds me of the Siamese cats of the early 1900s and late 19th century at the time of the beginning of the cat fancy in London, England. It is all about the overall shape of the body. This cat looks entirely natural, while the so called "refined" and elegant modern Siamese cat can never be said to be natu

Garley the Persian cat Originally uploaded by arash_rk This is a nice black and white close up of a contemporary Persian cat. I think the picture was taken with film as opposed to on a digital camera but I could be mistaken. The contemporary Persian is sometimes called the Ultra Persian signifying "ultra typing" which means that it is bred to "type" (required appearance) but in an extreme way. It means that breeders, in their desire to get the appearance just right plus a bit extra gradually bred cats that drifted away from the natural appearance of the original traditional Persian cat called the doll face persian. I suppose the term "doll face" simply describes the doll face beauty of the Persian, sweet looking and charming. But the contemporary Persian cannot said to be charming looking and doll faced! Very often they look angry or cross even when they are not. It is a kind of "built-in" look. What I find interesting is that the head

norwegian forest cat Originally uploaded by gari.baldi This picture of a Norwegian Forest cat in the wild makes my mind soar to a time hundreds and thousands of years ago when this was normal, when all domestic cats were semi-feral (barn cats). They lived outside. There was no commercial cat food and there were no full-time indoor cats. In American many millions are full-time indoor cats. I understand why but dislike it. Of course this cat is probably a domestic cat and not a feral cat and the stream is probably about 50 feet from the back door of a house! I don't care, it looks like the way it was all that time ago and it is more natural and I love it when things are natural because only then are we in harmony with nature and our true selves. The Norwegian Forest cat was a forest dweller in Norway before becoming a purebred show cat in Germany in the 1930s. Until then it got along fine as a moggie cat (random bred cat) in Norway superbly adapted to the climate and en

...non fidarsi è meglio - my scared cat / gatto Originally uploaded by Paolo Màrgari This picture of a scared cat says so much about the life of a cat in a human world. And it is a fine photograph as well. I don't know if this cat is a feral cat. The photographer says, "My scared cat". Does the cat live with the photographer? I don't know. It doesn't matter actually because this is a frightened or at least very cautious cat. The thing is that every cat, feral, domestic or wild has a large amount of caution built in to their psyche as they are, after all, living in a land of giants. We forget that. We are much bigger than them and for a cat on the street it must, on occasion, be frightening. And a cat living on the street is very much at the mercy of humans. Yet we see this kind of behavior from a cat living indoors even when the cat is loved and fully domesticated. A cat will instinctively move under a low table or chair when even a little uncertain abou

What's up? - O que se passa ? Originally uploaded by * starrynight1 Is this the most beautiful stray cat? Who knows. I just know that he or she (I would say that this cat is female) is startlingly beautiful. Just goes to show how impressive a moggie (random breed) cat can be. Of course, it is a fine photograph too. The photograph is all about texture, pattern and colour. The texture and patterns of the paving stones contrast nicely with the coat texture and patterns. This stray cat is a spotted tabby and white. She looks very healthy but probably isn't. Stray cats get very serious illnesses such as FIV and FIP, both killers. See Cat Health Problems . This cat though could (I feel) do well in the Household Pet division (moggie division) of a cat show because of the fabulous coat. View Larger Map The photo was taken in Oeiras Garden in Portugal. It seems to me that probably the most common of all cat coat types particularly in the Mediterranean countries is th