Spring is here

[cjsmith]

Spring is here, and my cats are responding with thinner fur coats. This means lots of carpet cleanup in cjsmith's world.

I gotta wonder. They don't go outside, so they aren't responding to temperature changes. Might it be the longer hours of sunlight? Strange that coat thickness would be linked to light rather than directly to warmth.

If humans are instrumental in cat evolution, maybe in another thousand years Felix domesticus will like to have thick fur combed out. (Or not. I suspect the majority of caring pet owners do the spay and neuter thing, which would mean that pet traits associated with those owners are being winnowed out.)

Comments

[apparentparadox]

There's the whole "kin selection" thing that can go on, though. If planned breedings become more common than unplanned breedings (more likely with dogs than cats, but still), then people might be happier with cats that like to have the thick fur combed out, so will patronize breeders whose cats are like that, which means that the breeding stock would tend towards ones that pass on the genes for "likes to have thick fur combed out".

Or, it could all go the way of the "looks, not brains/ability" of most of the AKC, and some stupid trait will be considered "important" and that's what the breeders will aim for to get more prizes.

I don't think it's so strange to consider that the shedding would be more related to sunlight hours rather than temp -- after all, temp can vary wildly over a short period of time (think: very warm days during the winter), whereas sunlight hours are a pretty good predictor of season.

Of course, it could also be something once or twice removed, like, say, arrival of birds because of growing plants because of increased sunlight, and full coats make it uncomfortable to run after birds.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I wonder what percentage of human-owned cats come from breeders, as opposed to oops-we-didn't-spay owners or whatever the Humane Society gleans from the feral population. I know mine come from shelters, but that doesn't say how the breeding occurred, just that the cat wound up on the street somehow. Interesting question...

sunlight hours are a pretty good predictor of season.

Yes, this makes sense. Furred animals who didn't shed during an unseasonably warm weekend would then be better protected when the normal temperatures reappeared.

[apparentparadox]

Yep, cats are (currently) very different from dogs in the breeding department. I think that most puppies are because of wanted litters (we won't say whether the owners are making good choices as to the parents, just that they actually do want a litter).

I don't know whether education of humans & sterilization of feral cats will eventually reduce that part of the cat breeding, but you did mention thousands of years for evolution.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I can't guess the long-term trend there either.

[buzzy-mcbuzzer.livejournal.com]

I never turn down a good brushing. In fact, I've discovered that when I want to be brushed, I just have to do one of those "shed at will" things, and I'm almost immediately attended to.

Alternatively, one only needs to hork up a nice wet hairball in an unsuspecting place to receive more regular attention :E

[jackiecat.livejournal.com]

We're getting a LOT of regular attention around here. Heh heh hkkk hkkk hkkk.

[platypus]

I swear, Moly sheds when she gets nervous. When we take her to the vet, she leaves great clouds of fur everywhere. Sure, we pet her a lot at the vet, but we pet her a lot at home too sometimes, and we've never been able to knit a new cat out of her shed fur there.

A lot of biological rhythms are sensitive to light. I'm not sure it's the most logical thing, but maybe it needs time to get started, and temperatures fluctuate too much to be good triggers, or something. I don't actually notice very sheddy cats in spring here, but they have short and not terribly plush fur. It's just the vet that makes them go BAMF.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Jackie and Duchess (the longhairs in the house) do a fair bit of that too. The short-hair doesn't shed half as much, but she's the one who loves being combed - go figure! :)

[vvvexation.livejournal.com]

The cat I had growing up shed like mad at the vet's too. We were pretty sure it was a fear thing.

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

I found a new brush that my cat doesn't hate! In fact she started to purr and liked it! Weeeeeeeeird. I got it at Walmart (yeah, I know evil but it was 3 bucks!) It's a standard slicker brush but it has little plastic tips so it doesn't aggravate her skin.

Although I did pick her up to check her paw tonight and I am catfurred.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I have one that could be described just like that. It's GREAT for clearing a big layer o' fur off a carpeted cat tower. :-)

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

Yeah! I have a cat squeegee thing for couches but it only works on upholstery.

[lkeele.livejournal.com]

So what are future cats going to be like? Outdoor, alley-cat, loner hunter types? Oh yeah, just like now.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah - unless the feral population goes down and it's all reputable breeders in the future. Then they'll be long-haired and elegant and perfectly marked and probably have imploded faces, and they'll be really REALLY stupid.

[domesticpanther.livejournal.com]

I brush my own hair! Both my mamas gave me my very own brush to use, but I like theirs so much better :)