18-year-old musician and cat lover killed on the frontline in Ukraine's war

NEWS AND SOME OPINION: This is a snapshot - a vignette - of the Ukrainian war started illegally by Putin and prosecuted by him with incredible cruelty to the point where in the eyes of 95% of the world's population many war crimes have been committed. 

I want to retell the story as told by Christina Lamb in The Sunday Times today. It is very sad. And so unnecessary. So wasteful of a good life with potential for so much more.

Iryna Krasnokutska and her son. Image: The Sunday Times.

Christina Lamb interviewed Iryna Krasnokutska about the death of her son. She is on tranquillisers and is receiving counselling as a way to cope. She is in despair because her son Maksym was a good man. He had talent and a good future ahead of him.

Iryna makes uniforms for Ukrainian soldiers. She is busy. On her phone is a photo of a handsome young son holding a tabby cat. It was his 18th birthday. Within six months of that photo being taken he was dead. At the time of his death, he was the youngest soldier to die on the front lines in the Ukraine war.

She said:

"These are our young generation we need for the future. My son had his whole life ahead of him. How can we be sending 18-year-old to the front lines?"

Iryna was immaculately dressed and made up nicely when she spoke to Christina Lamb. her son was known as Max. He loved jazz and cats. He also loved Formula One and called his cat Kimi after the Finish racing driver Kimi Raikkonen.

He wrote his own compositions and played the alto saxophone in the Poltava Orchestra. He signed up to fight soon after the invasion started. He told his mother that he had to do it to protect her.

"Mum if I don't protect you and Poltava, who will?"

He had never held a gun before but was well trained a long way from the frontline in western Ukraine but as it happens, the Russians sent cruise missiles to his training camp which killed dozens of soldiers. Fortunately, he survived. He felt that he was the lucky one.

After two months of training Max was transferred to another camp in the north-east of Ukraine. This was nearer the fighting. This camp was also struck by a Russian missile. He survived again.

He was then sent to the frontline in the Donetsk region in the east. He was stationed 500 m from the Russians. In late July he phoned his grandmother and told her that he had just come back from a mission during which all his fellow soldiers had been wounded or killed. He survived again and told her that he was the lucky one.

Sadly, two days later news came out of the area where he was fighting that someone had been killed. Instinctively Iryna knew that it was him. It was two more days before her instincts were confirmed. On August 5 he was buried in the newly created Alley of Heroes, a part of a cemetery in Poltava Zaturyne reserved for military deaths.

Since then, Iryna's younger son has been taken to hospital where he remained for 45 days. Then her husband, a driver had a heart attack and had to go into hospital as well.

She couldn't grieve properly. She became angry. On her phone she keeps the photo of her smiling son playing his saxophone. She wants to remember him like that. And she doesn't want any more of Ukraine's youngest and best to be killed in battle.

Max had a tabby cat. No doubt he loved his cat. The cat now does not have Max as a human companion. Let's think of the cat as well who might be grieving as Max's mother is.

Ginger tabby cat loves the electric toothbrush (but not for cleaning teeth)

Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

---

Ginger tabby loves electric toothbrush but not for cleaning teeth

Clearly, it is the vibrations from the toothbrush which interests this ginger tabby cat. His owner makes a particular point of not putting it into his cat's mouth because at that point he understands that this love for an electric toothbrush will stop! Wouldn't it be nice though if he could put toothpaste on it and clean his cat's teeth with it? I'd like to see that because cleaning domestic cats' teeth is a bit of a nightmare and poor oral health is also a nightmare. It's in the top 10 of domestic cat health problems because it's is so difficult to keep their teeth clean and, in any case, a lot of cat owners simply don't think about it until their breath smells bad and there cat has periodontal disease requiring surgery under a general anaesthetic which is dangerous.

Phenotype and genotype of tabby cats

The picture shows the phenotype and genotype of tabby cats. "Phenotype" means the physical characteristics of an organism, in this instance, a domestic cat and the word "genotype" means its genetic makeup. The genes that make the tabby coat are shown in this image. There is a certain way of symbolising genes as you can see. Read more about the tabby cat by clicking on this link and this link for info on tabby cat coats.

Pictures: Helmi Flick with her permission.

Embossed Tabby Cat!

This is a strange but arresting tabby cat photo. Either it is the lighting or it is photo-editing but this impressive tabby cat looks like he is embossed onto the background. It is probably a bit of both. It might be ring lighting. This is a flash light that encircles the camera lens and which provides this sort of lighting. However, you normally see the ring light in the eyes. The cat looks flat. Two dimensional.

Click here to see the original. Photo by nebojsa mladjenovic.

Picture: Tiny Kitten Wearing a Tabby Hat!

Tiny Thing, a photo by fofurasfelinas on Flickr.

This an adorable little kitten who has the appearance of wearing a hat. The "hat" is the tabby markings. They are interesting markings too. At the moment this little girl does not have the tabby M mark on the forehead. As all tabby cats have that and as this girl is a tabby cat, the M mark must develop later and it may be the case that the "hat" becomes the M mark!

In the meantime she is adorable. The photographer is the well known Giane Portal, who lives in Brazil.

Associated: Cat Coats Tabby.

Tabby Cat Picture

Laying on the grass, a photo by fofurasfelinas on Flickr.

A beautiful, well produced photograph of a golden eyed tabby cat lying in lush grass in Brazil. The tabby cat is probably the most commonly seen domestic and feral cat. The next in line is probably the bicolor cat (white and another color, often black and sometimes tabby and white). There is an infinite range of patterns, tints and markings and all of them have that charm of the "M" mark on the forehead that is associated with a good number of myths and legends. This guy is called "Neko" as far as I am aware. His eyes have a glazed appearance, looking into another world.

At the beginning of the time when people started to breed cats (mid-late 1800s) this cat would have been described as a black tabby because the pattern is dark. I can't see the entire coat but he appears to be a mackerel tabby (pattern made up of stripes).  Also in the early days of the cat fancy tabby cats had their own category. Tabby cats are considered part of the normally wide range of coats of a particular cat breed nowadays. There were few cat breeds in the late 1800s. There are over 100 today (2012).

Did you know that the word "tabby" is derived from a kind of taffeta or ribbed silk. When it is "watered" wavy lines are created over the silk. Apparently this was referred to as "tabby" many years ago. You can see a fully description of the origins of the word and the cat in general on this page.

There is a reference to "tabby" in a book dated 1682 "Wit and Drollery" at page 343:

"Her petticoat of satin

Her gown of crimson tabby"

That is an interesting use of the word that you would not see today. Alternative names for the tabby cat have been: tiger cat or brindled cat. In Norfolk, England, in the 19th century the tabby cat was referred to as a "Cyprus cat". The name, now not used, comes from the wavy lined cloth produced in Cyprus made of silk and hair. References to the "Cyprus cat" may go back to the early 17th century. Certainly a tabby cat was referred to in a book of 1693; The Compleat English Physician page 326.

Feline Offensive Threat Posture?

A picture of an offensive or defensive feline posture? I will leave it to you to decide if this strong and capable looking domestic tabby cat is showing us an offensive threat posture or a defensive threat posture. Comments would help. The obvious answer is that the posture cannot be an offensive threat because the cat is cornered by a large dog.

Offensive/Defensive feline posture - Photo by Demond Handy on Flickr

However, this cat does not look overly defensive to me and the dog is quite passive, not knowing what to do next. The pupils of the cat's eyes are not dilated but constricted. Dilated pupils indicate a defensive threat posture. He is looking at the dog and looks calm and not fearful and ready to defend himself. Perhaps his behavior is between defense and attack.

Offensive threat posture

A cat shows:

• hairs raised along back (piloerection);
• back legs extended;
• ears drawn back (to protect them);
• cat looks directly at the opponent;
• pupils are constricted;
• tail held down pointing towards ground and not tucked under. Tip of tail may be "flagging" slowly.

Defensive threat posture

A cat shows:

• hairs standing up on his back;
• square on: cat presents himself towards the other animal with "arched lateral display" (an attempt to look larger);
• a defensive facial expression reflecting his state of mind (contradicting the attempt to look larger);
• ears flattened and whiskers drawn back;
• teeth bared by corners of mouth being drawn back;
• pupils of eyes are dilated;
• tail is erect or concave - tip pointed down.

Associated: Cat Body Language.

Refs: The Cat Its Behavior Nutrition & Health page 139 - ISBN 978-0-8138-0331-9 (the quote is from this excellent book)

Picture of Singing and Dancing Cat

Cat performer, a photo by fofurasfelinas on Flickr.

This is a very interesting photograph of a cat performer who looks like he is singing and dancing. Well, he is definitely dancing, not sure about the singing bit.

The cat dancing is Chihiro and the cat watching is Toji. Chihiro is a tabby cat. He appears to be a spotted tabby. The white underside is typical of the wildcats incidentally.

In reality Chihiro is probably just playing with Toji and is about to pounce on him.

The photograph was taken in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The photographer is Giane Portal. She is probably the best known cat photographer on Flickr. Her Flickr name is fofurasfelinas. Giane used flash to freeze the action.

The photo is copyright protected and is published here with Giane Portal's permission.

Feline Symmetry and Grace

Feline Grace, a photo by fofurasfelinas on Flickr.

This photograph by Giane Portal has a nice symmetry. I don't mean a symmetry in composition but a symmetry between the dark swirls of the classic tabby pattern and the swirling curling movement of this cat, whose name is Maru.

As Giane says the photograph shows us the typical graceful feline movement.

Maru has a very nice, show cat style, classic tabby pattern with a clean center.

Maru looks very alert and alive. Nice picture Giane as always. Please note that the photograph is copyright protected. If you would like to use it, please ask Giane.

Picture of a cat playing hide and seek

Picture of a cat playing hide and seek - photo copyright fofurasfelinas

Brilliant photo. Charming cat. An image that is in almost perfect symmetry and balance just like cats themselves. Giane Portal is very expert and getting cats to position themselves in places and in positions that are photogenic. This picture is no exception. The cat is in Brazil and is a red (orange) and white bicolor tabby by the look of it. The picture, please note, is copyright protected. This is one of a series of photographs she calls, "into the white" because of the clean white background.

Anxious Tabby Cat Picture

Tabby cat in Brazil - Photo copyright fofurasfelinas (Giane Portal)

Fofurasfelinas is one of the best known cat photographers on the internet. This is fine photograph of a slightly anxious little tabby cat with a beautiful classic M mark on the forehead to prove she is tabby. I say "she". Do you think she is female?

Actually the M mark is unusual. There is no pattern below the mark and pattern above it. I have not seen one this clean before. I must be a mad cat man!

Please note that Giane has given me permission to use her photographs but they are copyright protected; all rights reserved.

Picture of cat on a window sill

Photo copyright: alfanhuí (Flickr)

Not a straightforward picture of a cat on a window sill but a tabby cat resting and watching in the dying sun merging with the glowing yellow ochre of a weathered wall and the jagged edge of the shadow of a nearby tree touching him. I really like this cat picture. You can see the picture in larger format on Flickr on this page.

This has got to be a country with a warm climate. The wall tells us that. The photographer lives in Spain so that confirms things. The tabby cat is seen all over the world. It is almost certainly the most common cat coat type and is a direct result of the wildcat ancestry, the African or Near Eastern wildcat which has a tabby coat.

Domestic Cats with Spots

The Savannah, Bengal and Egyptian Mau are three domestic cat breeds with spots. The first two are wild cat hybrids. The third is not. The Egyptian Mau is said to have descended from the African wildcat and is the only naturally spotted cat, it is claimed.

The spots on the Bengal cat are both pure spots and rosettes. Rosettes are broken spots of various types e.g. donuts (doughnuts) and arrow heads.

The Savannah cat has the purest of spots in my opinion as the wild cat ancestor is a serval and that wildcat has pure (meaning simple and direct) black/dark brown spots. The wild cat ancestor of the Bengal cat is the Asian leopard cat, which has a slightly more elaborate spotted coat.

There are other cat breeds that have spots. An example is the rare Serengeti cat.

Many other cat breeds have are allowed by the cat associations to have a spotted coat. These spotted coats are of various types. Just as an example, the picture below by Helmi Flick, shows a Exotic Shorthair with a cream spotted coat. See more spotted tabby cats and other types of tabby cat on this page.

Photo copyright Helmi Flick

Of the random bred cats both feral and domestic, the tabby cat has spots. There are three types of tabby cat: classic, mackerel (striped) and spotted. The tabby cat is probably the most common cat coat type. The tabby cat is not a breed as you probably know.

DSH (domestic short hair) spotted tabby cat
Photo by Rocky Mountain Feline Rescue

---

The photo of the Exotic Shorthair cat on this page is protected by copyright. Violations of copyright are reported to Google.com (DMCA) - sorry.

Mysterious Cat Behind A Curtain

SOOC
Originally uploaded by Emily Raw

This is an unusual photograph of a cat behind a semi-transparent curtain. It is a simple picture but it captures the mysteriousness of the cat. We don't know what is going on the head of a cat. We usually communicate on our terms. It would nice and very usual for cat owners if some science was introduced to the debate and we began to really understand what is in the mind of a cat.

That said if we get close to our cat and our cat's routines we begin to understand him or her. Being retired and working on the Pictures of cats org website I am with my cats all the time, which means a close bond is bound to be created at which point a pretty clear understanding about what goes on can be achieved.

Despite being behind a curtain you can still tell a lot about this cat. This cat is a tabby cat. Now that does not say much because tabby cats are pretty common. Some purebred cats are tabby cats. An example is the American shorthair. Another is the Abyssinian but this is a special kind of tabby coat where the is ticking rather than banding on the individual hair strands. You can see the banded hairs on this page about agouti ticked cat coats.

This cat has some partial "spectacles" - I am referring to the white fur around the eyes. Bengal cats have this as does the Asian Leopard cat. So is this a Bengal cat? Well I think not but at a pinch it could be.

However, Bengal cats are more lithe or foreign in appearance and this cat looks substantial and quite cobby, which is not the conformation demanded under the breed standard as far as I am aware.

OK, a mysterious cat behind a curtain and I have been trying to figure out what kind of cat it is. My guess: a good looking male, brown, mackerel tabby cat of good size who is well loved and quite active.