Tuesday's Trivia.

"Happy is the home with at least one cat" - Italian Proverb

In ancient Egypt killing a cat was a crime punishable by death. I wonder if that included abandonment? Abandonment is such a cruel betrayal.

Introducing a second cat is always stressful & we are having to do it. We've been adopted & even Dearest, who has held out the longest, has caved & was busted handing out tit~bits to our hungry visitor. Cats are social but they are also extremely territorial & full toms get the largest territories. Iss is neutered & we have discovered to our consternation that Miss Ginger is actually a Ginger Meggs [ for non~Aussies Ginger Meggs is a streetwise cartoon larrikin & most definitely male]. His saving grace is that he is still a kitten, which is why I thought it might be female, though I know ginger females are rare; genetic quirk. A full grown tom would be 3 times the size of this animal.

Cat gut does not come from cats. It comes from horses, sheep & pigs. Reminds me of the toddler who calls everything with 4 feet a "doggie". An average cat meal is equivalent to 5 mice ~ assuming they don't lose their prey while showing off to their owners, like a certain cat who shall remain nameless.

Most deaf cats do not meow. This is a distinct disadvantage as hearing cats develop a range of communicative sounds ~ often a different greeting call for each person in the house. Make no mistake. I know Issi's greeting call, a very excited chirruping. I'm the only person in the house greeted that way but then I'm Issi's person though he is fond of everyone.

Cats have 5 toes on their front paws but only 4 on their back ones & have true fur which includes an undercoat & an outer coat. Cat saliva contains a detergent that keeps their coat clean. The colour of the coat is sex linked so it is rare for a male to have both black & ginger markings. When it happens the tom is always sterile. Being licked is a sign of affection. My mother's cat is a licker. Drives her to desperation!

The Egyptians weren't the only ones odd about cats. The Norse goddess Freya was supposed to have a chariot drawn by cats.

By far one of the nicest things cats have given us [besides the purr] is a collection of highly entertaining words: gib[neutered tom]; clowder [a collection of cats]; catling [yes, it is a word! meaning kitten] molly [a queen] & my personal favourite: moggie, from Maggie/Margaret a common name for cows & calves & later applied to cats during the Victorian era.

So we are considering names. Meggs is high on our list but Hagar & Pippin are worthy of consideration. Personally I'm leaning towards Meggs for being a not so obvious pun on ginger but Liddy objects on the grounds it sounds like a girl's name. Once he's been snipped does it really matter? Oscar is the top Aussie name but seriosly, that's a human name. Or how about Pekoe, an orange tea, or Quwilla, Irish for cub? Oooh, I just thought. Ribh is Irish for stripped cat. Add an "a" for calling the thing, pron., riva...I'll just go check if that's a good fit.