Culture

Werecats, Part IV: The Ferocious Wereleopard

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Meredith Hemphill

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Encyclopaedia Felidae now has a Patreon! Go to www.patreon.com/EncyclopaediaFelidae if you want to help support this content!

Woman in leopard-print onesie
Photo by Love2401 from Pixabay

There are many parts of the world where more than one species of large cat is obliged to coexist, and the same is true for werecats. Wereleopards are part of folk beliefs in parts of Africa and Asia, where they share their territory with other fearsome werecats. However, the wereleopards are not diminished by having to share. In fact, this is easily the wildest werecat article I’ve written yet, because in the 1940s, wereleopards were blamed for over 200 real-life murders in Nigeria (1, 7). Get ready for cat blogging to take a detour into true crime.

Wereleopards in India

A wereleopard outpost exists in the land of weretigers. In an area on the India-Burma border known as the Naga Hills, there is a tradition of overlapping wereleopard and weretiger lore. Wereleopards seem to be primarily an African phenomenon, so this is sort of a cultural outlier. But wherever there are leopards, there might be wereleopards.

The Angami and Sema people hold that there are no physical transformations, but that wereleopards project their souls into the body of a wild leopard (5). The human and leopard then become closely associated with each other (5). The leopard’s body actually changes. Such leopards can be recognized because they have five toes on each paw (5). Felines normally have five toes on their forepaws and four on their hind paws. J.H. Hutton, who wrote about the werecat beliefs of the Naga people, observed the body of such a leopard (5). Then again, as you may recall from my article on Hemingway cats, extra toes/polydactyly is a common, benign mutation in felines.

There are several ways the Naga peoples believe someone can become a wereleopard. The Angami say there is a spring of either blood or blood-red water, drinking from which turns a person into a wereleopard or weretiger (5). The Sema think one becomes a wereleopard through possession by spirits, often involuntarily (5). However, this possession is contagious, so if somebody wanted to be a wereleopard, they could do it by spending all their time with a known wereleopard for at least two months (5). The would-be wereleopard must sleep in the existing wereleopard’s bed, eat from the same dish, and never leave their side (5).

According to some, an easier method is to have a wereleopard feed them pieces of chicken with ginger–first six, then five, and then three pieces on crossed plantain leaves (5). It’s considered dangerous to finish food or drink that a wereleopard has left behind, as the condition might accidentally be acquired that way (5). To me, that seems like the easiest way to become a wereleopard if you wanted to. Just make a habit of polishing off everyone’s leftovers and hope for the best. Not very sanitary, but also very low-effort.

The soul usually enters the leopard at night during sleep and returns in the morning, but it may remain in the leopard for several days at a time (5). While the human soul is out doing leopard things, the human body continues to conduct business as usual, but in a sort of zombie-like state (5). As usual, any injuries sustained by the leopard body are reflected by the human one (5). They appear a few days later, typically in the form of boils or similar marks in the place where the leopard was injured (5). Death to the leopard body causes death to the human (5). Curiously, death is not immediate, but rather only occurs once the wereleopard finds out that their leopard has been killed (5).

Leopard
Photo by MIGUEL PEREZ from Pixabay

The sentiments about wereleopards vary. It seems that in these cultures, people aren’t too fussed about someone being a wereleopard as long as they don’t cause too much trouble. Friends and family may even go to great effort to protect a wereleopard’s leopard body (5). The killing of a lot of livestock, or of people, by a suspected wereleopard could lead to punitive action, however (5).

Wereleopards in Africa

Wereleopards in Africa may be obliged to share their turf with werelions, and like werelions they sometimes represent leadership and authority (2, 3). Some Egyptian pharaohs took the leopard as their personal symbol (2). However, wereleopards can be at least as dangerous as regular leopards. Importantly, wereleopards are capable of human thoughts and motivations. They may act with malicious intent to get revenge on their enemies (4).

Wereleopards do have their weaknesses, of course. As seems to universally be the case, a wereleopard’s human body is subject to the injuries of its leopard form, just like in the lore of the Naga Hills. Sometimes this is said to manifest as respiratory illness if the leopard was chased by something for a long time (3). Wounds to the leopard may appear as sores (3) or as identical wounds on the human body (4, 5, 7).

How to Become a Wereleopard

In a Bantu legend, a man became a wereleopard by first asking his wife to cook a ridiculous quantity of stiff manioc porridge. He then took the porridge into the forest and shaped it into a duplicate of himself. In the market, he bought a fetish which had the power to turn a person into a wereleopard. He went to a crossroads in the forest and beat his body with a pestle until he metamorphosed into a leopard. His porridge body then got up, went home, and replaced him without anyone noticing the difference. (6)

It doesn’t always have to be quite so complicated. Alternatively, one could just drink a potion made of human organs (8). Or one could be killed and eaten by a leopard, which allows the human soul to travel into the leopard and turn the cat into a wereleopard (10). I imagine not many people pick that option on purpose.

Wereleopards were sometimes believed to be the descendants of a leopard deity that produced shapeshifting children with a human partner (8). In such a case, the ability could simply be inherited.

Identifying a Wereleopard

People who are especially fast runners, strong fighters, agile jumpers, or skilled dancers or moved with a feline gait were said to be possible wereleopards (3, 9). Upon autopsy, black spots on one or both lungs were a sure sign (3). If both lungs were marked, the person had two leopards (3). The lungs can also become discolored because of disease, but there is one sign I guarantee indicates, if not a wereleopard, at least something unusual. Wereleopards in human form sometimes had a second mouth on the back of their head (11)!

Some stories claimed that the leopard form could also be distinguished. It might, for instance, have ten tails, which would certainly stand out (11). Wereleopards move in groups, but leopards are primarily solitary, so this can distinguish them as well (3). In the absence of nine extra tails, that is.

The Leopard Murders

Close-up of leopard
Photo by Tobias Heine from Pixabay

Wereleopards were real and present for the cultures that believed in them for centuries untold. When European countries carved Africa up into colonies, the colonizers disregarded wereleopards along with all other native beliefs. In 1940s Nigeria, however, the British administration had to face wereleopards head-on, whether they were willing to believe in them or not. Between 1943 and 1948, over 200 people were killed and mutilated in a bizarre and devastating crime wave for which 77 people hanged (7). These were the Leopard Murders, and to this day no one is 100% sure what really happened.

Nothing to See Here

The leopard murders took place in two districts of British Nigeria, Abak and Opobo. The native culture lacked central authority (7). Instead, secret societies were a primary governing force (7). These secret societies performed religious, administrative, judicial, and policing functions (7). British authority in the area was fairly hands-off before the murders, with a small police presence (7).

The timeline begins in 1943, although it’s possible that earlier deaths went unnoticed. Even the first leopard murders were not remarked upon. Police and medical examiners concluded that the victims had all been killed by wild animals (7). Leopard prints, scat, and hair were sometimes find at the scene (7). However, a pattern was forming. Here’s where we talk about corpses, so skip the next paragraph if you don’t want to know.

Most of the victims were killed at dusk along bush paths (7). The bodies usually had bruises on the back of the head, the head and face torn off, and one arm skinned, severed, and thrown a few feet from the body (7). Deep, irregular scratches marred the chest and shoulders (7). Sometimes the heart, lungs, and/or other internal organs were missing (7).

In March 1945, the new District Officer for Abak, F.R. Kay, became suspicious (7). The consistency and precision of the mutilations didn’t seem likely for a wild animal to Kay (7). He also thought it improbable that a leopard would excise chest organs but leave the abdomen and large muscle tissue untouched (7). Predators tend to go for the abdominal organs first, as they’re easy to access and highly nutritious. But that wasn’t all that bothered him. Some of the “animal attack” victims had had clothing removed and money stolen from their wallets (7). Once, the purported leopard wrapped its victim’s head in her loincloth (7).

On the Tail of a Murder Cult

Kay teamed up with the District Officer of Opobo, J.G.C. Allen, to investigate (7). They soon became convinced that the accumulating deaths were the doing of a murder cult (7). They suspected a new secret society called Ekpe Owo, meaning “leopard men,” which had putatively evolved from the policing secret society Ekpe (7). The police were told that some members of Ekpe had obtained a medicine that turned them into wereleopards (7). After that, the new Ekpe Owo began working as a society of murderers-for-hire, violently solving disputes among the natives that the British courts didn’t understand or couldn’t handle (7).

Kay and Allen raised quite a stir. A large police force was sent in to root out the murderous leopard society that Kay and Allen were certain was to blame (7). The native locals were put upon to feed and take care of the police presence (7). Despite the sometimes oppressive efforts of the police, and plenty of convictions, the killings continued. The news media in Europe began to pick up on the salacious case, and the police felt the pressure to make progress (7). Their solution was to send an even larger force, with the express intention of annoying the locals so much that they would tell the police everything they knew just to make them go away (7).

The new leopard force operated much as the previous one, and killings continued much as before, too (7). Public hangings of the convicted were instituted as a deterrent and a curfew was put in place, as most of the murders were perpetrated in the evening (7). The locals did not much appreciate any of the policework (7). So far, it had apparently saved no lives and caused them a great deal of difficulty. Things only got worse when the first European was killed, a police officer no less, in January of 1947 (7). The police responded by making the entire Idiong secret society illegal because the individual suspects belonged to it (7). Hundreds of Idiong shrines were destroyed (7).

Leopard laying on fallen tree
Photo by ejakob from Pixabay

Who You Gonna McCall?

In August of 1947, J.A.G. McCall became the new District Officer over both Opobo and Abak (7). He was skeptical of the murder cult theory. He believed that normal leopards were behind most, if not all, of the killings (1, 7). McCall also had things to say about the behavior of the police. He denounced the bullying tactics the police had been using (7). He also called the police out on their poor evidence-gathering technique (1, 7). In some cases, police never even visited the crime scene (1, 7)!

McCall was particularly bothered by the fact that there had been no leopard murders north of the Qua Ibo river in villages of the same culture (1). There was a bridge across the river, so it would have been no problem for a human perpetrator, or a real wereleopard, for that matter, to cross and commit murder (1). But such a barrier is much more difficult for animals to cross. He also noted that leopard murders were more numerous where the natural prey of leopards had been overhunted and was in short supply (1).

McCall undertook a campaign of leopard trapping and killing in attempt to rid the area of the alleged man-eaters (1, 7). While most of the police didn’t like McCall straying from the party line, the locals had more mixed feelings (1, 7). Some villagers were arrested for springing the leopard traps or otherwise sabotaging the hunt (7). There were stories of people who died because their leopard forms were killed in the hunt (7). On the other hand, when McCall was eventually sent to another post, nine chiefs and representatives of Ikot Akan, Opobo, sent a letter asking for him to be restored to his post in Opobo (1).

37 leopards were killed over the course of the campaign (7). McCall believed that he succeeded in killing at least a few leopards that had been responsible for the slew of deaths. One of his suspected man-eaters was a large, elderly male that was trapped and killed the night after two of the ‘leopard murders’ (1). The leopard had two broken fangs and a mutilated paw that was missing a pad from a long-ago injury (1). Old age and injury have occasionally caused big cats to switch to human prey because humans are soft to chew and easy to catch. The man-eaters of Tsavo is a famous case of that type.

The killing of 37 leopards is a tragedy, but depending upon who you ask it may have been the right thing to do. Beyond that, McCall also called into question the previous convictions and succeeded in getting the sentences of 16 men commuted from execution to life in prison, at least until their cases could be reexamined (1, 7). Whether those cases were reconsidered or not wasn’t mentioned.

By May, 1948, things had returned almost to normal (7). 77 people and 37 leopards had been executed (1, 7). A variety of other solutions had been thrown at the insane situation as well. Which, if any of them, actually brought about a resolution? One theory holds that the complexity of the problem was always underestimated. Some of the murders were Ekpe Owo assassinations, some were acts of violence between citizens disguised as leopard or Ekpe Owo killings, and some were leopard depredation (7). Maybe isn’t that complicated, and only one or two groups were at play but the volatile human environment preventing the mystery being solved. Unfortunately, we won’t solve it now, but that doesn’t mean we should stop thinking about it. There’s probably a lot to be learned from the leopard murders.

The Man Who Stole a Leopard by Duran Duran ~ TW: domestic abuse, self-harm, suicide

Works Cited

  1. Bellers, V. (n.d.). The leopard murders of Opobo. In What Mr. Sanders really did, or A speck in the ocean of time (chapter nineteen). Retrieved from https://www.britishempire.co.uk/article/sanders/sanderschapter19.htm
  2. Curran, B. and Daniels, I. (2009). Werewolves: A field guide to shapeshifters, lycanthropes, and man-beasts. Franklin Lakes, NJ: The Career Press.
  3. Douglas, M. (2013). Witcraft confessions and accusations. Abingdon, OX: Taylor & Francis.
  4. Hubbard, J.W. (1931). The Isoko country, southern Nigeria. The Geographical Journal, 77(2), 110-120. https://doi.org/10.2307/1784387
  5. Hutton, J.H. (1920). Leopard-men in the Naga Hills. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 50, 41-51. https://doi.org/10.2307/2843373
  6. Knappert, J. (Ed). (1977). Bantu myths and other tales. Leiden: E.J. Brill.
  7. Nwaka, G.I. (1986). The ‘leopard’ killings of southern Annang, Nigeria, 1943-48. Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, 56(4), 417-440. https://doi.org/10.2307/1159998
  8. Swancer, B. (2016, November 24). Beyond werewolves: Strange were-beasts of the world. Mysterious Universe. https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2016/11/beyond-werewolves-strange-were-beasts-of-the-world/
  9. Talbot, P.A. (1923). Life in southern Nigeria: The magic, beliefs, and customs of the Ibibio tribe. London: Macmillan and Company, Ltd.
  10. Werner, A. (1929). Review, untitled [Review of the book An English-Tswa Dictionary]. Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London 5(2), 436-438. https://www.jstor.org/stable/607728
  11. Werner, A. (1933). The Amazimu. In Myths and legends of the Bantu (chapter seven). Abingdon, OX: Taylor and Francis. Retrieved from https://www.sacred-texts.com/afr/mlb/mlb14.htm

Published January 31th, 2021

Updated June 12th, 2023

Culture

Why do we say that cats have nine lives?

mehshadoweye

Meredith Hemphill

mehshadoweye

Encyclopaedia Felidae now has a Patreon! Go to www.patreon.com/EncyclopaediaFelidae if you want to help support this content!

Image by Hebi B. from Pixabay

Although there may not be many people who believe the myth anymore, the idiom “cats have nine lives” is all over the cat world. I distinctly remember two books I had as a child based on that concept. One was a picture book about how a cat lost eight of his lives before finding his forever home with the ninth. Rather disturbing in retrospect. The other was a about a cat who could travel to nine different times and places. Usually, though, people use the phrase in reference to cats surviving incredible odds. What is the origin of this fanciful phrase? And why nine lives specifically?

A cat has nine lives. For three he plays, for three he strays, and for the last three he stays.

English proverb

StarClan Grants You Six to Ten Lives

The general consensus is that the myth of feline reincarnation began with simple observation. Cats do have an uncanny ability to escape danger, injury, and death. In particular, their ability to survive long falls with little or no damage is legendary. We know now that cats have a “righting reflex,” among other natural adaptations, which allows them to land on their feet and absorb the shock of a fall (1, 3, 4, 6). But people didn’t know that hundreds or thousands of years ago. To them, the feline capability to walk away from falls that would have killed a human–and many other animals besides–may have seemed nothing less than supernatural.

Many cultures have attributed magical properties to the sheer durability of cats. While it is actually quite common to say that cats have multiple lives, the number varies. The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and China are some of the places where cats are said to have nine lives (6). However, Italy, Greece, Germany, Brazil, and some Spanish-speaking countries put the number at seven (1, 5, 6). In Turkish and Arabic lore, it’s even less–just six lives (1, 5, 6). Russia, on the other hand, has a saying that cats survive nine deaths, which would mean they get ten lives (3).

What’s in a Number?

Many cultures hold certain numbers sacred, lucky, or otherwise important. Nine is one of those numbers in quite a few places. It is three threes, a trinity of trinities (2, 3, 5, 6). Most importantly, perhaps, the number nine held religious significance to the ancient Egyptians. Rather famously, cats did, too.

Ancient Egyptian cat statue – Image by Fritz_the_Cat from Pixabay

The ancient Egyptians believed the sun god, Atum-Ra, sometimes took the form of a cat (1, 5, 6). Atum-Ra gave birth to eight other gods and therefore represented nine lives (1, 5, 6). Additionally, Bast/Bastet, the cat-headed goddess most closely associated with ancient Egyptian cat worship, was said to have nine lives (2). One or both of these deities could have built the association between cats, which were already considered divine and magical in ancient Egyptian culture, and the idea of having nine lives.

Some people think cats may have gotten their nine lives from China instead, however. China also has a long and close history with cats. Nine is considered a lucky number there (1, 5, 6). It comes up a lot in the mythology of Chinese dragons (1). Maybe the number nine also attached itself to Chinese cats.

Other cultures assign special meaning to the number nine, too, and the numbers six, seven, and ten got in there somewhere as well. “Cats have nine lives” is a saying that has been around for hundreds of years at least. William Shakespeare uses the idiom in Romeo and Juliet which was written around 1595 (6). When a saying gets to be over 400 years old, it’s usually very difficult to track its exact origin. The significance of the number nine combined with the keen survival skills of cats makes a good case for itself as the root, wherever the phrase was first spoken.

Mercutio: Tybalt, you rat-catcher, will you go fight me?

Tybalt: What do you want from me?

Mercutio: Good King of Cats, I want to take one of your nine lives, and, depending on how you treat me after that, I might beat the other eight out of you, too.

Romeo and Juliet, Act III, William Shakespeare

Works Cited

  1. Bhunjun, A. (2017, August 31). Why do cats ‘have nine lives’? What we know behind the myth. Metro. https://metro.co.uk/2017/08/31/why-do-cats-have-nine-lives-what-we-know-behind-the-myth-6890326/
  2. Brasch, R. and Brasch, L. (2006). How did it begin? The origins of our curious customs and superstitions. MJF Books.
  3. Cats have nine lives. (n.d.). TV Tropes. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CatsHaveNineLives
  4. Diamond, J.M. (1988). Why cats have nine lives. Nature, 332(14), 586-587. https://doi.org/10.1038/332586a0
  5. Engelman, C. (n.d.). Do cats really have nine lives? Wonderopolis. https://wonderopolis.org/wonder/do-cats-really-have-nine-lives
  6. Schlueter, R. (2018, March 23). Here’s how people started believing that cats have nine lives. Belleville News-Democrat. https://www.bnd.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/answer-man/article206591029.html

Published January 24, 2021

Breed Profiles

The Scottish Wildcat: Ghosts of the Highlands

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Meredith Hemphill

mehshadoweye

Encyclopaedia Felidae now has a Patreon! Go to www.patreon.com/EncyclopaediaFelidae if you want to help support this content!

Once upon a time, the British Isles were home to several large predators, including fierce felines. Massive cave lions roamed the land 14,000 years ago (4). More recently, smaller cats like lynx shared the forests with wolves and bears (2, 4). Now, they’re all gone, except for one rugged hold-out. Felis silvestris grampia, a subspecies of the European wildcat known as the Scottish Wildcat or Highland Tiger, is Britain’s last native cat. And they’re hanging on by a claw-tip.

Scottish Wildcat crouching in grass
Photo by Sean Paul Kinnear on Unsplash

This week, we’re doing a different kind of breed profile. As fascinating as the different breeds of domestic cat are, there are many species of wild cats, big and small, that deserve our attention as well. A lot of them are endangered. The least we can do is learn their stories.

A Brief History of Wildcats

Wildcats are a specific kind of wild cat. They are small feline predators that first came on the scene in Europe about 2 million years ago in the form of Martelli’s wildcat, Felis lunensis (2, 8). Martelli’s wildcat became the modern wildcat about 0.35-0.45 million years ago (2). The early wildcats lived in a heavily forested Europe. However, they later expanded their range into Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, where they formed five or six subspecies, depending upon who you ask (2).

According to the International Society for Endangered Cats Canada, current taxonomy recognizes the European wildcat, F. silvestris silvestris; the Scottish wildcat, F. silvestris grampia; the Caucasian wildcat, F. silvestris caucasia; the Near Eastern wildcat, F. lybica lybica; the Southern African wildcat, F. lybica cafra; and the Asian wildcat, F. lybica ornata. The Scottish wildcat is considered by some taxonomists to be a population of European wildcats rather than a distinct species (2, 4). Whether or not this is true now, it was certainly the case at one time. About 10,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age, receding glaciers trapped a group of European wildcats on the British Isles (2, 8). Their descendants became the Scottish wildcat (2, 8).

For thousands of years, Scottish wildcats roamed the entirety of Britain, masters of the thick forests that then covered the land. But the first signs of trouble were already brewing. Far to the south, their cousins F. l. lybica had given rise to a new creature, the domestic cat. And the two great threats to the Scottish wildcat are humans, unsurprisingly, and their domestic cats. Domestic cat bones have been recovered from Iron Age sites in Britain (2). But at the time, a few housecats probably weren’t a big deal to a thriving wildcat population. Only after years of human persecution would domestic cats become the catastrophic threat to Scottish wildcats that they are today.

Celebrity or Vermin?

Clan Chattan crest featuring Scottish Wildcat
Clan Chattan crest – Scots Connection

As humans began to cut down Britain’s forests and form societies based on agriculture, they formed a strained relationship with the Scottish wildcat to say the least. On the one hand, for some the fierce, untamed, and independent animal in their midst was a source of pride. Wildcats have been incorporated into heraldry since the 1200s (2). In Scotland, Clan Chattan, a super-clan formed by an alliance of other clans, includes a wildcat in their crest, for example (2, 4). The “clan of the wildcat,” as they’re known, has as their motto “touch not the cat without a glove” (2, 4).

Yet for all the apparent pride in this native cat species, the Scottish wildcat’s human neighbors once chose to kill them en masse. It was bad enough that deforestation destroyed most of their habitat, but the wildcats did a pretty good job of adapting to the moor open wild places that remained in the wake of the devastation (8). As long as there was still prey to eat, they seemed to manage all right. Not spectacular, but all right.

Unfortunately, wildcats were hunted for their furs for a long time (2, 4). Wildcats were also killed because farmers believed they hunted livestock, even larger animals like sheep (2, 4). Whether Scottish wildcats actually took livestock any larger than chickens is very much in doubt, but the belief was enough for many of the cats to be killed as a form of “predator control.” The rise of sporting estates in the mid-nineteenth century was especially detrimental to the Scottish wildcat population (2). These estates would keep game birds for sport hunting, and because Scottish wildcats eat birds, they were not tolerated on these estates (2). Gamekeepers exterminated wildcats in great numbers (2).

Perhaps the only thing that saved the Scottish wildcat from extinction was World War I (2, 5). Many of the gamekeepers and farmers who killed wildcats went off to war, giving the species a short break to recover their numbers a bit (2, 5). But in many ways it was too late. The last documented wildcat sighting in England was in 1849 (4, 9). The species had been driven out of England and Wales entirely, up into the northwest recesses of Scotland, and it has expanded its range little since. Scottish wildcats were given legal protection in 1988 (7), but threats both new and old continue to threaten the survival of Britain’s last native cat.

What Makes the Scottish Wildcat Special?

Appearance

It is surprisingly difficult to define exactly what a Scottish wildcat should look like. That’s because they can interbreed with domestic cats, and have been doing so with increasing frequency. There may have been hybridization since the Iron Age, when domestic cats first arrived (2). As no Iron Age wildcats are still around for reference, biologists have had a hard time pinning down the type-specimen look for a Scottish wildcat. But they have reached a workable consensus.

Scottish wildcats are larger than domestic cats, although estimates range from 25-100% larger (5-8). A Victorian-era account describes unearthing a wildcat skeleton that was four feet (1.23 m) long from nose to tail tip (8)! Most today seem to be smaller than that, but then most today are probably also wildcat/domestic hybrids. The pre-Iron Age Scottish wildcat was probably a substantial cat, indeed.

Some Wild Cats have been taken in this kingdom of a most enormous size. We recollect one having been killed in the county of Cumberland, which measured, from nose to the end of its tail, upwards of five feet.


Thomas Bewick, A General History of Quadrupeds, 1790

Besides its larger size, the Scottish wildcat looks similar to a brown tabby domestic cat, and in fact the two are often confused. The extensive hybridization between wildcats and housecats only complicates matters. But there are some key differences. Scottish wildcats have flatter heads with ears positioned more toward the sides (9). They have much larger jaws than domestic cats (8). Usually the easiest difference to spot is the tail, which is broad and blunt-tipped, not tapering like a domestic cat’s (2, 6-8). That’s a trait our house panthers inherited from their Near Eastern wildcat ancestors (2). Internally, Scottish wildcats have a much larger cranial capacity than domestic cats (6). They also have shorter guts (6).

The coat markings are one of the most-frequently used methods of distinguishing a wildcat from a domestic cat from a hybrid, simply because in many cases that is all conservation workers have to go on. Seven key points have been established for determining visually if a cat is a wildcat, hybrid, or domestic cat (2, 5). A cat can score a 1, 2, or 3 in each of the seven categories, with 3 indicating the most wildcat-like and 1 the most domestic-like (2). Different organizations use different cut-off points for what they consider wildcat enough. 17 seems to be a common choice.

Seven point pelage score system
7-point Pelage Score (7PS) System – National Museums Scotland
  1. Nape stripes: wildcat has four that are broad, wavy, and unfused
  2. Shoulder stripes: wildcat has two distinct stripes
  3. Flank stripes: wildcat has unbroken stripes
  4. Dorsal stripe: wildcat dorsal stripe always stops at the base of the tail
  5. Hindquarters: wildcat may have broken stripes but must not have spots
  6. Tail bands: wildcat has distinct tail bands that completely encircle the tail
  7. Tail tip: wildcat has blunt, black tail tip

White fur is not naturally part of the Scottish wildcat gene pool, so white fur anywhere means interbreeding (7-9). Wildcats have light brown fur on their muzzles and underbellies instead (8).

How to identify a Scottish wildcat

Habits and Habitat

Scottish wildcats currently live in Scotland north of the urban and industrial Central Belt that runs from Glasgow to Edinburgh (2, 5). Although they are restricted to the highlands, they don’t care for the high-altitude life and are not usually found more than 2,625 feet (800 m) above sea level (6, 9). They have adapted to a variety of habitats, now occupying dense forests, woodland edges, pastures, tree plantations, and open grassland (6, 7, 9).

The primary prey of Scottish wildcats is rabbits and hares, seconded by smaller mammals (4, 6, 7-9). As one of the last sizable predators left in Britain, Scottish wildcats play an important ecological role in controlling the populations of these small mammals (8). Scottish wildcats will also eat birds, bugs, lizards, fish, and even fresh carrion, depending upon what’s available (4, 6, 7-9). Legends of wildcats bringing down deer and other large animals may have come from sightings of them eating the recently-deceased animals (8).

Scottish wildcats are solitary animals, socializing only when it’s time to mate (6, 8, 9). Unlike domestic cats, which mate year-round, Scottish wildcats have a defined mating season and produce a single litter of kittens each year (6, 7-9). They mate in the winter, from January to March, and the kittens are typically born in April and May (6, 7-9). Each litter averages 2-4 kittens (6, 7-9). The mother raises the kittens by herself for the next six months, at which point they are independent enough to strike out on their own (6, 8).

Teetering on the Brink of Extinction

Scottish wildcats are very reclusive and avoid humans, which makes it difficult to assess how many of them are left in the wild. None of the numbers are uplifting, unfortunately. Estimates range from about 30 to 430 individuals (7). Data from the mid-2010s puts the number in the neighborhood of 100-300 wildcats, which is better than 30 but still extremely low (6).

The primary threat to the Scottish wildcat today is domestic cats. The two species hybridize easily and produce fertile offspring. That wouldn’t be a big deal if it only happened occasionally. However, wildcat numbers have decreased drastically while the number of feral, stray, and outdoor cats has done just the opposite. Domestic cats may outnumber wildcats by as much as 3000:1 (8). This means that Scottish wildcats have a hard time finding other wildcats to mate with, but no trouble at all encountering domestic cats. Wildcats are being bred into oblivion.

Taxidermy Scottish wildcat
Scottish wildcat on exhibit at the National Museum of Scotland – National Museums Scotland

As if that weren’t enough, wildcats are also susceptible to the diseases of the domestic cat (5, 6, 8). Communicable diseases such as Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV), Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV), and cat flu can easily be spread from feral cat populations to Scottish wildcats (5, 6). Habitat loss and fragmentation continue to contribute to declines in wildcat populations, and wildcats are still killed by predator control measures (6, 8).

Sometimes this is intentional, although illegal, but it can also be accidental. Bullets meant for feral cats or snare traps meant for foxes–both legal–can injure or kill wildcats just as easily (2, 6, 8). It is hard enough to tell the difference between domestic cats, hybrids, and wildcats in good lighting and with calm nerves, but when an animal is menacing your pheasants in the dark of night, it can be impossible to judge.

Ghost in the Genes

Conservationists have been working to save the Scottish wildcat for upwards of thirty years. Research, education, and captive breeding are important aspects of their work. In particular, genetic research to better determine which cats are true wildcats has been a priority in recent years. Genetic methods, while sometimes helpful, revealed a crushing truth.

In 2018, researchers at the Wildgenes Lab at Edinburgh Zoo announced that they had found Scottish wildcats to be so thoroughly hybridized with domestic cats as to be part of the same gene pool (3). In other words, as best they could tell, there are no true wildcats left in the British wilderness. The fittingly ominous term for this a “hybrid swarm” (2, 3). The team declared the Scottish wildcat functionally extinct in the wild (3). The only hope left for the species resides in the captive wildcat population, which was found to have stronger Scottish wildcat genetics (3).

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland has plans to release wildcats from their breeding program in 2022 (1). Up to 60 Scottish wildcats are hopefully going to be released in Highland Wildlife Park in Kincraig (1). But there’s a lot that will need to be done aside from adding more wildcats to the highlands.

What Can We Do to Help?

Scottish wildcat conservation groups are adamant that the single best thing we can do for wildcats right now is get a handle on the domestic cats. British cat owners need to make sure their pets are sterilized and vaccinated (1, 2, 5, 6). Good advice generally, but in this case it prevents hybridization and the spread of diseases. Wildcats can’t just take a trip to the vet if they get sick! When possible, help to TNVR–trap, neuter, vaccinate, and return–feral cats in your community (2). There are lots of organizations you can volunteer with that do this incredible work that helps community cats and wildcats.

You can adopt a Scottish Wildcat housed in the Edinburgh Zoo captive breeding program. This helps pay for the care of the captive wildcats as well as the breeding program which will hopefully lead to the release of lots of Scottish Wildcats into the wild.

Should happen to see a Scottish wildcat, you can report the sighting to the Scottish Wildcat Action project to help with Scottish wildcat research and conservation. Even if you aren’t 100% sure it was a wildcat, I recommend reporting it anyway. Conservationists still want to preserve the wildcat population in the wild, hybrid swarm that it might be, and they can’t do that work if they don’t know where the cats are. Every data point helps.

Finally, if you are able, consider donating to the conservation organizations that are hard at work trying to save this incredible species, such as Save the Wildcats or Wildcat Haven,

Highland Wildlife Park welcomed two Scottish wildcat kittens in 2013

Works Cited

  1. Keane, K. (2019, November 19). Captivity-bred wildcats to be released into wild in Cairngorms. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-50464091
  2. Macdonald, D.W., Yamaguchi, N., Kitchener, A.C., Daniels, M., et al. (2010). Reversing cryptic extinction: The history, present, and future of the Scottish wildcat. In D. Macdonald and A. Loveridge (Eds.), The biology and conservation of wild felids (pp. 471-491). OUP Oxford.
  3. Macdonald, K. (2018, December 20). Scotland’s wildcats ‘functionally extinct’ in the wild. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-46617965
  4. Mancini, M. (2016, September 13). 11 fierce facts about Scottish wildcats. Mental Floss. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/85793/11-fierce-facts-about-scottish-wildcats
  5. National Museums Scotland. (n.d.). Scottish wildcat. https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/natural-world/scottish-wildcat/
  6. Scottish Wildcat Action. (n.d.). Wildcat FAQs. https://www.scottishwildcataction.org/about-wildcats/
  7. The Mammal Society. (n.d.). Scottish wildcat guide: how to identify, where they live, and conservation efforts. Discover Wildlife. https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/mammals/facts-about-scottish-wildcats/
  8. Wildcat Haven. (n.d.). The Scottish wildcat. https://www.wildcathaven.com/scottish-wildcat
  9. Woodland Trust. (n.d.). Scottish wildcat. https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/animals/mammals/scottish-wildcat/

Published January 19, 2021

Updated May 12th, 2023

Behavior

Why do cats raise their butts when you pet them?

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Meredith Hemphill

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Encyclopaedia Felidae now has a Patreon! Go to www.patreon.com/EncyclopaediaFelidae if you want to help support this content!

By special request from Brooke B.

White and brown cat stretching
Photo by Tamba Budiarsana from Pexels

You are probably familiar with the feline behavior amusingly termed “elevator butt.” Stroke a cat along the length of their spine or scratch them at the base of their tail, and they are likely to stick that posterior up in the air. My parents’ cat, Rosenberg, actually stands all the way up. It’s a foolproof way to get her out of your spot on the couch. But, why? It’s a pretty weird thing to do. When my friend asked me to find the answer for her, I honestly didn’t think I’d be able to. I mean, yeah, I wanted to know, too, but would there really be any behaviorists out there devoting their brains to the mystery of why cats raise their butts when you pet them? Sometimes I’m thrilled to be wrong. Not only did I find answers, but they’re really quite interesting.

The Importance of Body Language

Cats can’t just tell us how they feel, but they communicate a lot without words. One reason your cat might lift their hindquarters in response to petting is to tell you “oh yeah, that’s the spot–more of that please” (3-5). They’re leaning into the pleasurable sensation (1, 2). The hips and base of the tail have lots of nerve endings, so many cats really enjoy being pet or scratched there and want to tell you to keep going (1, 2). It’s also difficult for cats to reach those spots when grooming, so you may be scratching an itch kitty just can’t reach on their own (1, 2).

In addition, cats present their rears as a friendly greeting (1, 4, 5). Another cat would sniff the scents coming from their anal glands to learn more about them (1). Your cat probably knows from experience that you won’t put your nose under their tail, but their instincts still tell them that a raised butt communicates trust and friendliness (1).

By the same token, cats may exhibit this behavior as a way to mark the person petting them with their scent from their anal glands (1, 2, 5). That may sound gross, but it’s similar to when cats rub you with their cheeks, another place where they have scent glands. They just want to lay claim to a favorite person or someone who is making them happy by petting them in just the right spot (1, 2, 5). The pheromones from a cat’s scent glands are undetectable to the human nose, but other cats can smell them and tell whose human you are (2).

Are You My Mommy?

There is a theory that cats raise their butts in response to petting as a holdover from when they were young kittens (1, 2, 4, 5). Kittens aren’t able to do much for themselves at first. That includes grooming, which they rely on their mothers for until they get the hang of it. Young kittens stick their posteriors in the air so their mothers can clean them (1, 2, 4).

White mother cat and kittens
Photo by freestocks.org from Pexels

Our pet cats have a complex relationship with us in which they view us partly as surrogate parents (1, 2, 4, 6). When they feel their person stroking their back the way their mother’s tongue once ran down their fur, they may react the same way they did as kittens.

But What If…

…My Cat Doesn’t Do This?

If your cat doesn’t put their rear end to the sky when you pet their back, it doesn’t mean they hate you. If you just got your cat, it could be because they haven’t quite warmed up to you yet (2). But some cats just don’t enjoy being pet around the base of the tail like others do. The concentration of nerves endings that makes it feel so good to a lot of cats can actually make it unpleasant for others (1, 2). Other cats may like a little petting in that sweet spot but quickly become overstimulated (1, 3).

If your cat used to get elevator butt and really seem to enjoy those back scratches, but suddenly they don’t, or your cat seems to react with pain when touched around the hips/tail base, this could be cause for concern (1, 2). Skin allergies, impacted anal glands, spinal problems, and kidney disease can cause pain in that area (1, 2). Take your cat to the veterinarian if you notice any signs of pain in their lower back.

…My Cat Does This Without Being Pet?

If you have an intact (un-spayed) she-cat, you may notice that sometimes she gets elevator butt not only when you pet her, but apparently out of the blue. This is called lordosis and is an indication that a she-cat is in estrus, or heat (2, 3). Lordosis looks slightly different from regular elevator butt because it’s actually the she-cat presenting herself to a tom for mating–whether a tom is present or not (2, 3). She turns her tail to the side and may tread her hind paws (3). She cats in heat will usually do this a lot, including almost any time they are pet.

Works Cited

  1. Ask-a-Vet Member. (n.d.). How cats use their posteriors in friendly body language. CatHealth.com. https://www.cathealth.com/behavior/how-and-why/1224-cat-posterior
  2. FAQCats Team. (n.d.). Why do cats raise their back when you pet them: Behavior traits. FAQCats. https://faqcats.com/why-do-cats-raise-their-back-when-you-pet-them/
  3. Johnson-Bennett, P. (n.d.). Why do cats raise their butts in the air? Cat Behavior Associates. https://catbehaviorassociates.com/why-do-cats-raise-their-butts-in-the-air/
  4. ourcatsworld (2016, March 4). Why do cats raise their butts in the air? Our Cats’ World. https://ourcatsworld.com/2016/03/why-do-cats-raise-their-butts-in-the-air/
  5. Parker, R. (n.d.). Why do cats arch their backs when you pet them? SeniorCatWellness.com. https://www.seniorcatwellness.com/cats-arch-backs-when-petted/
  6. Thomas, E.M. (1994). The tribe of tiger: Cats and their culture. Simon & Schuster.

Published January 10, 2021

Cat Care

How to Help Community Cats in Winter

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Meredith Hemphill

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Encyclopaedia Felidae now has a Patreon! Go to www.patreon.com/EncyclopaediaFelidae if you want to help support this content!

Two cats sitting in snow
Image by Diane Olivier from Pixabay

Community cats can be found in countries all over the world, surviving in all manner of environments. Cats are incredibly adaptable and have fantastic survival skills, but sometimes they can still use a helping paw. Domestic cats descended from Felis lybica, a desert wildcat, so the cold and damp are not their friends. If winter temperatures drop below freezing where you live, your local community cats could benefit from some assistance. This is especially true if your area is prone to lots of ice and snow. There are lots of ways to help out your community cats in winter, amenable to a wide range of budgets and schedules.

What are the Needs of Community Cats in Winter?

For cats that live outdoors, keeping warm in cold winters is an obvious priority. While community cats, especially feral cats, are often capable of figuring things out for themselves, extreme cold can still be very dangerous or even deadly for them if they can’t find sufficient shelter. Despite their fur coats, cats can get frostbite on their extremities just like us, and this can result in the loss of ears, toes, etc. (5, 9). They are also at risk of hypothermia (9). Community cats require warm, dry shelter where predators can’t reach them in order to survive cold winters. The environment won’t always provide that.

Of course, cats aren’t the only animals that want to hunker down. A lot of their prey goes to ground or migrates away in the winter, and cats expend extra energy to keep up their body heat when it’s cold. This means they need more calories but may have less available to them. Community cats may also be at risk of dehydration in below-freezing temperatures, as outdoor sources of water become frozen.

Winter also presents new human dangers for cats. Fortunately, these hazards can be mitigated through simple changes in our own behavior.

Simple Safety Tips

There are a few things everyone can and should do to keep community cats safe during the winter, even if you don’t know for sure that there are cats living outdoors where you live. Chances are, you have at least a few community cats around. With the tiniest of changes, you may save their lives.

Road salt can be harmful to cat paws – Image by petronela from Pixabay

We all know that cars are dangerous for animals, but the danger doesn’t end when the car stops moving. Cats and other small animals are often tempted to crawl underneath cars or inside engine compartments and wheel wells seeking shelter and warmth. A car that has recently been turned off may be especially tempting. Before starting your car on cold days, check under the hood, inside the wheel wells, and underneath to make sure nobody is hiding there (2, 4, 5, 7, 10). It’s a good idea to tap the hood a couple times as well to scare off any critters you might have missed (2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10).

Speaking of cars, ’tis the season for antifreeze. However, antifreeze is both extremely poisonous and sweet to the taste. Animals will gladly drink the tasty liquid, with tragic results. Just a teaspoon of antifreeze spilled on your driveway could kill a cat (2). Store antifreeze well out of reach of any curious kitties, and thoroughly clean up and spills (2, 4, 7, 10). The main ingredient in most antifreeze brands is ethylene glycol (4), which is primarily responsible for both the toxicity and the sweet taste. Some brands use propylene glycol instead, which is still toxic but to a lesser degree (4). Make sure to use antifreeze with propylene glycol to be as safe as possible.

The salts and de-icers we use to melt snow and ice on our driveways can also be hazardous for cats. The chemicals in these products can be lethally toxic to cats if licked off their paws or drunk from puddles of meltwater (2, 4). The chemicals can also injure cats’ paws just by cats walking through the de-icer (2, 4, 7, 9). Many pet stores carry pet-safe de-icer that you can use instead (4).

Feeding Changes for Winter

Are you already feeding the community cats in your area? If so, thanks for all you do! Not everyone has the time and money to take on such a task, of course, especially for a large colony. However, if you’re a community cat caregiver, or you’re thinking about starting, there are some things you need to know about feeding and watering cats in cold weather.

Frozen Food

Image by rihaij from Pixabay

As I mentioned earlier, cats burn more energy when it’s cold, so they need to consume more calories. Make sure to set out larger portions of food during the winter months (2, 4-7, 9, 10). To get an idea of when you’ve got the portions right, try watching the cats eat from a distance they’re comfortable with. If the food is gone in fifteen minutes or less, put out a little more next time (7).

Canned food takes less energy for cats to digest, but it will also freeze solid in very cold temperatures (4, 5, 7, 10). There are multiple solutions to this catch-22, and the best one will depend on your particular situation. In places where winters are bitterly cold and wet food is likely to freeze very quickly, you may want to just put out dry food (5, 6). Wet food would be preferable, but dry food is much better than frozen, inedible rocks.

Other options include heating up wet food before putting it out (4, 7) or using electric heated bowls (2, 4-6, 9, 10). Make sure you use an extension cord rated for outdoor use if you choose a heated bowl! You can also heat the bowl with a pet-safe microwavable heating pad, i.e. a Snuggle Safe, or a homemade version made with rice in a sock (4, 6, 7). You can spray insulation foam on the underside of food bowls to slow/prevent freezing (4, 7, 10).

And definitely let the sun help you out. Set bowls in the sunny places, and use dark-colored bowls that will absorb more solar heat (4, 7, 9). Avoid metal bowls–they lose heat quickly (4). Ally Cat Allies suggests rubber containers made for horses because they are flexible and won’t crack if the contents do freeze (2). Rubber is also an insulator and will hold the temperature of the food well.

A Spoonful of Sugar

It’s also important to keep water unfrozen for as long as possible. All of the above techniques for a food bowl will work for a water bowl, except one. Don’t put out hot water. It actually freezes faster than cold water. You don’t want to give chilly cats cold water, either, so go for room temperature. Then do your best to keep the temperature of the water above freezing. If you want to use a heated water bowl, the brand Solar Sippers makes solar-powered ones, so that is an option (9). Another hack for water bowls is to put a pinch of sugar in the water (7, 9, 10). This lowers the freezing temperature of the water, and the cats won’t mind the added energy boost.

You may need to replace water and food, but especially water, more often than you are used to. A bowl full of anything frozen does the cats no good. If you feed and water the cats at the same time(s) every day, that will help make sure they get to their meals before they freeze (7, 10).

Warm and Safe Shelters

Building a community cat shelter
My dad and I making an ad hoc cat shelter c. 2017

If you really want to go the extra mile to take care of your community cats in winter, then providing them with appropriate shelter is the way to go. There are a lot of ways to approach community cat shelters. You can buy them premade, you can upcycle existing structures, or you can DIY them using varying degrees of construction skill. Whatever route you take, there are some basic requirements for any winter cat shelter.

Size definitely matters, but bigger isn’t better. The ideal size for a cat shelter is about 2 ft x 3 ft and at least 18 in high (61 cm x 91 cm x 46 cm) (3, 4). This will fit 3-5 cats. The cats have to warm the shelter with their own body heat, and a large shelter has too much cold air in it for the cats to ever warm it up. Even if you know you have thirty cats in your backyard colony, go for lots of small shelters rather than one or two large ones.

There is no guarantee that only cats will use your shelters, but you can stack the odds in their favor. You want the entrances of your shelters to only be about 6 in (15 cm) across (1, 3, 6, 10). This will keep out bigger animals and predators, as well as the cold. It’s also a good idea to set shelters up with these entrances facing walls or other structures to make it even harder for other animals to get inside (1).

Shelters need to be insulated with something that won’t get waterlogged, like styrofoam, and they must be elevated at least a few inches off the ground to keep out moisture (1, 3, 6, 10). Place bedding inside to help the cats snuggle up and stay warm. The best bedding is straw, which repels moisture and provides insulation (1, 3, 6, 9, 10). That’s straw, not hay. Hay is a type of animal feed and in fact sucks up moisture like a sponge, easily molds, and can cause allergic reactions. Straw is used as animal bedding for a variety of species. Shredded newspaper will do in a pinch if you cannot find straw (8). It must be shredded, or it won’t provide that heat-trapping effect.

There are LOTS are different kinds of community cat shelters out there. Below I have included a video from Ally Cat Allies with instructions for how to make a version of one of the most popular ones, the storage bin shelter. My dad and I made one of these once. If we can do it, anyone can. You can explore these pages by Ally Cat Allies and Neighborhood Cats for more shelters you can make or buy.

Alley Cat Allies’ how-to for a DIY storage bin cat shelter

Works Cited

  1. Alley Cat Advocates. (n.d.). Building winter shelters for community cats. https://alleycatadvocates.org/communitycat-care-center/creating-winter-shelters/
  2. Alley Cat Allies. (2018, October 29). Help outdoor cats in winter: Top 10 tips. Alley Cat Allies. https://www.alleycat.org/help-outdoor-cats-in-winter-top-10-tips/
  3. Alley Cat Allies. (n.d.). Providing shelter. Alley Cat Allies. https://www.alleycat.org/community-cat-care/providing-shelter/
  4. Alley Cat Allies. (n.d.). Winter weather tips: Help stray cats this winter. Alley Cat Allies. https://www.alleycat.org/community-cat-care/winter-weather-tips/
  5. Animal Humane Society. (n.d.). Outdoor cats in cold winters: How they survive in Minnesota. https://www.animalhumanesociety.org/news/outdoor-cats-cold-winters-how-they-survive-minnesota
  6. Davis, K. (n.d.). Tips to help cats stay warm in winter. AKC Reunite. https://www.akcreunite.org/wintertimecats/
  7. Feral Cat Focus of Western New York. (n.d.). Colony management: Winter weather tips. https://feralcatfocus.org/colony-management-winter-tips/
  8. Neighborhood Cats. (n.d.). Feral cat winter shelter. https://www.neighborhoodcats.org/how-to-tnr/colony-care/feral-cat-winter-shelter
  9. Permenter, P. (2020, April 7). How to help feral cats during winter weather. Cattipper. https://www.cattipper.com/tips/2019/helping-feral-cat-colonies-during-the-winter-months.html
  10. Robinson, B. (n.d.). Winter care and safety for community cats. Petfinder. https://www.petfinder.com/helping-pets/feral-cats/winter-care-feral-cats/

Published January 3, 2021

Culture

Werecats, Part III: The Champion Werejaguar

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Meredith Hemphill

mehshadoweye

Encyclopaedia Felidae now has a Patreon! Go to www.patreon.com/EncyclopaediaFelidae if you want to help support this content!

Profile of jaguar
Image by Ian Lindsay from Pixabay

The jaguar is a fearsome apex predator that stalks the forests of South and Central America. These incredible animals face extinction from habitat loss and poaching today, but they were once key figures in the cultural life of the great Mesoamerican civilizations. So much so that echoes of werejaguar mythology have remained in the region into modern times, despite the best efforts of Christian missionaries to stamp out and demonize these beliefs.

The Olmec: Birth of the Werejaguar

The trail of the werejaguar begins with the Olmec. The Olmec were an advanced Central American society that existed approximately 1500 B.C.E. to 300 C.E. (7). The first Olmec stonework was discovered in 1867 (4), but a lot about this civilization remains mysterious. They are believed to have been a major influence on the later Mesoamerican cultures, i.e. the Aztecs and Maya, yet so much about the Olmec themselves is unknown or a matter of debate (7). The Olmec are mostly known from recovered art and architecture, and a common feature decorated upon both is their werejaguar.

The Olmec werejaguar is a motif in their art that appears to have a blend of human and feline characteristics. These figures are generally human in form but have downturned mouths, almond-shaped eyes, and cleft heads, often with snouts, fangs, and/or special headdresses (2, 4, 5, 7, 9).

A lot of explanations have been offered for these werejaguars that just keep cropping up. They’ve been found as sculptures, on pottery, carved into bas-relief on buildings, and into masks and figurines (7). The photo at left is of a stone werejaguar that is actually part of a drainage system. There is a groove in the back of it for water to flow through. Obviously, the Olmec had a thing for this design. Why?

Hypotheses

In 1955, archeologist Matthew Stirling proposed that these were-jaguars depicted the mythic offspring of matings between male jaguars and human women (7, 9). He based this idea on a handful of Olmec artworks that seemed, to him, to show the act of such mating (7, 9). Not everyone has been on board with Stirling’s hypothesis. However, one of the articles I read included a picture of a cave painting Stirling used for reference (9). I’ll admit that I can see where he’s coming from.

Olmec werejaguar statue
Monument 52 from San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan, Veracruz showing Olmec werejaguar – Wikimedia Commons

Theories that take the Stirling Hypothesis into account assume that the jaguar was revered by the Olmec, therefore there would be a benefit to descending from jaguars in their culture. One theory is that royalty may have claimed to belong to a jaguar lineage, thus imbuing themselves with the power associated with that animal (4, 5). Perhaps the hybridization was meant to be with a jaguar deity, rather than a literal jaguar (4, 5). It’s hard to tell from art that is out-of-context and thousands of years old. And of course, Stirling might have been wrong all along.

Some scholars believe, based on later religious traditions from the area, that the Olmec werejaguars are representations of a rain/fertility god (5, 9). It has also been proposed that they depict a nature spirit called upon by the shamans (9). The Mixe, who are believed to be distant descendants of the Olmec, have a similar spirit in their religion (9). He is a shapeshifter named is ‘Ene∙ who generates rain (9). His offspring become venomous snakes and jaguars (9).

One theory comes closest to what we would think of as a werejaguar. What if the Olmec intended to represent a shamanic transformation from man to animal (2, 5)? An Olmec ceramic vessel that dates from 150 B.C.E. to 250 C.E. shows a man with a werejaguar mask covering only half his face, as if in mid-transformation (5). Perhaps all of these part-human, part-jungle cat designs indicate a transformation. Although scholars can only speculate, more modern beliefs do make one wonder if the Olmec might have at least thought it possible.

Postcolonial Werejaguars

The Olmec may be long gone, but there are still werejaguars in their old stomping grounds, and beyond. But these aren’t made of stone or clay. They’re flesh-and-blood people.

There are two kinds of weretiger in Postcolonial Mesoamerican: the tonal and the nagual. The difference between the two is complicated, especially as the words are sometimes used interchangeably or in place of the other. Some regions have only one, some both, and the stories vary as all do. I’ll try to make it as straightforward as possible.

Tonal

In some Mesoamerican groups, it is believed that every person has a counterpart in nature, usually an animal, called a tonal (6, 8). A person’s tonal is born at the same time they are and lives in parallel to them their entire life (6). Although the person and their tonal lead their own lives, what happens to one can happen to the other (6). No one knows what their tonal is instinctively, but if they fall ill without discernible cause, a healer must be consulted who can determine the person’s tonal (6). An injury or illness to the tonal is assumed to be the problem, and only by finding the tonal can a solution be prescribed for one party or the other (6).

Quite a few animals can be tonal, including rabbits, deer, snakes, raccoons, tigrillos, alligators, and, of course, jaguars (6). Natural phenomena, like storm clouds, can also be tonal (6). Domestic animals are off the list, however (6). When wild animals are seen acting in unusual ways, or evidence of strange behavior is found, this is interpreted as evidence that the animal is someone’s tonal (6). For example, when dead donkeys are found with only the liver and heart eaten, the conclusion is that only a tonal would do that (6).

When someone’s tonal dies, they die, and vice versa (6, 8). However, there is sometimes a chance to save the person when the tonal is killed. The skin of the tonal must be wrapped around its person, and this will only work if the skin is unsalted and untreated (6). If a hunter kills a tonal and treats the skin in any way before the family intervenes, there is nothing to be done. Tonalli aren’t just a burden, however. They are thought of as guardians and may act on the behalf of their people (6).

Jaguar on river bank
Male jaguar, Rio Negro, Brazil – Wikimedia Commons

Nagual

Naguales are a product of witchcraft, though whether for good or evil varies (3, 6). People are not naturally born with a nagual; rather, they are given one through ritual, often as an infant (1, 6). Like a tonal, a nagual is an animal that is inextricably linked to an individual person (3, 6, 8). However, having a nagual comes with extra perks.

There are multiple legends regarding the ritual to assign a nagual. In one, sorcerers pick a child before they are born. Then, after birth but before baptism, the sorcerer sends a nagual to whisk the baby away in the night. The infant is taken to a crossroads where a procession of animals pass over it. Whichever animal stops and cleans the baby with its tongue is the kind of animal that will be their nagual. If more than one does, any animal or animals, up to three, may be the child’s nagual. (6)

Bishop Francisco Nuñez de la Vega reported in 1698 that, at least in his diocese, naguales were assigned astrologically. The date and month of a child’s birth determined their nagual. Then “some diabolical ceremonies” were performed to find the right place for the parents to bring the child when they turned seven years old. At the appointed time and place, the child’s nagual would appear. As indicated by his earlier quote, the bishop considered the whole business to be the work of the Devil. (1)

Those with a nagual know intuitively what animal it is and may recognize it if they run across each other (6). They can also frequently transform into their nagual at will (1, 3, 6). A greater variety of animals can be a nagual than a tonal, including domestic cattle and several non-native species, but the jaguar remains a common theme (6).

A common story told in coastal Oaxaca, Mexico, goes that two men are walking together on the road when one asks his friend if he can be frightened. Of course, the friend says something “No, you can’t scare me!” So the one who asked will find a reason to leave the path, only to leap back onto it in the form of a jaguar. (6) I think there can be no question that this is exactly what humans would choose to do if capable of transforming into a ferocious beast. So I say it checks out.

A less amusing story is that of a group of women working in the fields when a man comes up and tries to make a move on one of them. She was having none of it and rebuffed him in front of the others, which made him angry. On the way home from work, the group of women were ambushed by a jaguar with human hands. Fortunately, he only wanted to scare them. The hands kind of gave him away as a werejaguar–and a jerk. (6)

Tragically, as has so often been the case, European colonizers were determined to destroy native beliefs in the tonal and nagual. A 1692 edict from Bishop de la Vega to his diocese read:

“And because in the provinces of our diocese those Indians who are Nagualists adore their naguals, and look upon them as gods…we, therefore, prescribe and command that in every town an ecclesiastical prison shall be constructed at the expense of the church, and that it be provided with fetters and stocks, and we confer authority on every priest and curate of a parish to imprison in these gaols whoever is guilty of disrespect toward our Holy Faith, and we enjoin them to treat with especial severity those who teach the doctrines of Nagualism.”

Tonal and nagual beliefs were still under scholarly discussion as recently as the mid-nineties, so I think it’s safe to say that the attempt, despite having three hundred years to bear fruit, was not as successful as its architects had hoped. Nonetheless, it is just another example of colonizers campaigning to erase the culture of the colonized. Let people have their culture; save the werejaguars.

Works Cited

  1. Brinton, D.G. (1894). Nagualism: A study in Native American folk-lore and history. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 33(144), 11-73. https://www.jstor.org/stable/983361
  2. Dallas Museum of Art. (n.d.). Standing figure with were-jaguar face. https://collections.dma.org/artwork/3049386
  3. Gossen, G.H. (1994). From Olmecs to Zapatistas: A once and future history of souls. American Anthropologist, 96(3), 553-570. https://www.jstor.org/stable/682300
  4. Heyworth, R. (2014, May 15). The Olmec: The children of the were-jaguar. Uncovered History. https://uncoveredhistory.com/mexico/the-olmec-children-of-the-were-jaguar/
  5. Johnson Museum of Art. (n.d.). Were-jaguar with half mask. https://museum.cornell.edu/collections/american/pre-columbian-america/were-jaguar-half-mask
  6. Kaplan, L.N. (1956). Tonal and nagual in coastal Oaxaca, Mexico. The Journal of American Folklore, 69(274), 363-368. https://doi.org/10.2307/536346
  7. Milton, G. and Gonzalo, R. (1974). Jaguar cult – Down’s Syndrome – were-jaguar. Expedition, 16(4), 33-37. https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/jaguar-cult-downs-syndrome-were-jaguar/
  8. Paz, J. (1995). The vicissitude of the alter ego animal in Mesoamerica: An ethnohistorical reconstruction of tonalism. Anthropos, 90(4/6), 445-465. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40463191
  9. Tate, C.E. (1999). Patrons of shamanic power: La Venta’s supernatural entities in light of Mixe beliefs. Ancient Mesoamerica, 10(2), 169-188. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26307986

Published December 20, 2020

Breed Profiles

Persian: In the Lap of Luxury

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Meredith Hemphill

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Encyclopaedia Felidae now has a Patreon! Go to www.patreon.com/EncyclopaediaFelidae if you want to help support this content!

There’s nothing more symbolic of luxury than a beautiful white Persian lounging on a velvet cushion, it’s long, silky fur looking so incredibly soft and perfect that you’re not sure you’re allowed to touch it. Persians are one of the oldest breeds in the cat fancy, and they remain the most popular breed in North America today (1-3). You don’t have to be an aristocrat or a super-villain to own one. If you did, they wouldn’t be nearly so popular. But these cats do have a certain aura of elegance and refinement that they bring wherever they go. People have known they were special from the very beginning.

White Persian cat on black leather sofa
Image by Deedee86 from Pixabay

A Long and Furry History

The Persian breed is very old, but just how old is hard to say. They are believed to have originated in the cradle of civilization itself: Mesopotamia, later known as Persia and now known as Iran (4). The first domestic cats were shorthairs, and long fur arose through natural mutations. Early Persians may have arisen in the cold mountains of Persia and persisted because the climate favored their long, thick coats (3). However, Egyptian hieroglyphics depicting similar cats as early as 1684 BCE complicate the issue of where, let alone when, these cats first arose (1).

It is generally agreed that Persians took the first step toward the cat fancy in 1626 when the Italian traveler Pietro della Valle brought home the first ones from Persia (3, 4). These ancestral Persians were gray and had the very long, glossy fur the breed is known for today (3, 4). Soon, these new long-haired cats became highly prized, as well as the white longhairs from Turkey known as Angoras (3, 5). Confusingly, these Angoras were a different breed than the one of the same name we know today (5). The Persians and Angoras weren’t considered separate breeds at first and were commonly interbred (3, 5).

Persians started to become a distinct breed in the late 1800s when cat shows became popular (4, 6). Queen Victoria had two blue Persians, helping make them the most prized version of the breed at the time (3, 5). Persians were imported to the United States around the same time, where they outpaced the native Maine Coon as the most popular long-haired cat in the country (4, 6). Over time, breeders made the breed’s distinctive traits more extreme (2, 6).

Breed Characteristics

The Persian is a brachycephalic breed. Brachycephaly comes from the Greek for “short head,” and it means just what it sounds like. The skull is shorter and wider than normal for the species. This gives Persians flat faces with short muzzles and large eyes. The degree of brachycephaly varies. Show Persians, sometimes called Peke-face, have more extreme features and may have more breed-associated health problems (2, 4, 7, 8). Traditional, or Doll-face, Persians have a lesser degree of brachycephaly (2, 4, 7, 8). While they don’t meet show standards, they still make wonderful pets. Both types have small ears, but sometimes less so with traditional Persians (5).

Persians have what is known as a “cobby” body type: stocky, stout, and broad-chested. They’re legs are short and thick. The tail, too, is on the short side. They are on the whole very solid cats. Then there’s the fur.

Persians are known for their very long, thick fur. It has a silky texture and glossy sheen. Their incredibly fluffy coat forms a ruff around their necks and a plume on their tails. Persians often molt their top coats in the summer (5). In the cat fancy, this is called being “out of coat” (5). Even then, though, their coats are pretty amazing.

Personality

Blue-cream calico Persian cat and kitten on concrete wall
Persian kittens have wooly coats and lack the major fluff of adults (5) – Photo by Nihal Karkala on Unsplash

It isn’t just the look of Persians that make them so beloved. They also have a charming personality. These cats are sometimes called “furniture with fur” (3). That’s selling them a bit short, but they are seriously mellow creatures. Persians aren’t very energetic or active. They’re moderately playful, usually in short bursts between lounging in their favorite spots. They enjoy attention but don’t demand it. Their soft, melodious voices gently express their thoughts. Persians do tend to prefer favorite people that have earned their trust and affection. They can be aloof towards others.

Persians are pretty adaptable, but they prefer quiet environments with predictable routines. They get along well with gentle children and pets but aren’t big fans of loud, boisterous housemates. However, Persians will tolerate a lot. Daughter wants Fluffy to play tea party? Fluffy probably won’t mind. Fluffy probably won’t be learning any tricks, though. Persians aren’t the most intelligent breed, and are therefore not very trainable.

Caring for Your Persian

Persians may have a low-maintenance personality, but they are still a high-maintenance breed. All that fluff requires a lot of special care, and their long history of selective breeding has resulted in risks of certain health problems.

Grooming

Grooming a Persian is a big job. Their long, soft coats tangle and mat easily and can also cause lots of hairballs. Not to mention the shedding. So Persians require daily combing, preferably with a metal comb (1, 2). That coat also tends to cling to dirt (6) and is so thick that it’s hard for the cat to groom it effectively (9). Persians need a bath at least once a month to keep them clean. It’s important to start bathing as early as possible, so make sure that you start a routine with a Persian as soon as you get them.

Because their coats are such dirt magnets, it is important for Persians to be indoor-only cats. Additionally, Persians are prone to overheat, and purebred cats are at high risk of being stolen. Everybody knows what a Persian is, so there is a serious likelihood of an unscrupulous person realizing what an expensive cat that is and walking off with them. By the by, microchip your animals.

Brachycephaly also has its own grooming needs. It alters the shape of the tear ducts, so a lot of Persians have excessive tearing. This not only causes ugly tear stains but can actually irritate their faces, so make sure to wipe clean the corners and undersides of the eyes every day.

Brachycephalic cats tend to have weird teeth as well, so it’s often necessary to brush a Persian’s teeth regularly. I know, no one wants to brush a cat’s teeth, but no one wants their pet to suffer painful dental problems, either. Ask your veterinarian how often to brush your Persian’s teeth and what cat dental products they recommend. It can differ depending upon your individual cat’s needs.

Health Concerns

Photo by Bianca Vogt from Pexels

Persians are unfortunately prone to quite a few breed-associated health problems. A 2019 study of 3,253 Persians in the United Kingdom found that 65% had at least one disorder (8). Some of these health problems are much more worrisome than others. The same study recorded that the most common disorders were hair/coat disorders, periodontal disease, overgrown nails, and eye discharge (8). All fairly mundane and manageable afflictions. However, there are less common but much more serious diseases that can afflict Persians which owners and prospective owners need to be aware of as well.

Let’s start with the more common conditions. In the last section, I alluded to the problems Persians can have with their coats and teeth without meticulous care. They also tend to have eye problems due to the shape of their skulls. They have large, shallow eye sockets and tears ducts that don’t drain correctly into the nose (9). In addition to the excessive tearing, Persians are prone to conjunctivitis; cherry eye, a protrusion of the third eyelid; and entropion, the eyelid folding inward (4, 6, 8).

Brachycephaly means that there is the same amount of tissue in the skull, but not the same space for it to grow in (10). Because of this, respiratory and eating problems are not that uncommon in Persians. The nostrils can be too short, the soft palate too long, and, obviously, the nasal passage compressed (8-10). This can lead to difficulty breathing, snoring, sleep apnea, and chronic respiratory infections. The cramped airway contributes to the Persian’s heat sensitivity, too. The jaw can be an abnormal shape and/or the teeth can be crowded, leading to the dental problems and occasionally even problems eating.

On the other hand, sometimes Persians have the opposite of difficulty eating. Obesity can be a problem for this breed due to their low activity level. Because they are stoutly built and very floofy to begin with, it can be hard to tell that they’re gaining weight until things have really gotten out of hand. That’s just one reason annual vet visits are important.

There are some genetic diseases this breed is prone to. The most important may be Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD), a dominant genetic condition that is inevitably fatal. It causes kittens to be born with microscopic cysts in their kidneys and occasionally livers (10). The cysts grow over time and eventually destroy the affected organs (10). The progress of the disease can be slowed somewhat, but there is no cure. Cats usually start to get sick around 7-10 years old (2, 6, 10). When PKD was first discovered in Persians in the 1990s, it was estimated to be in over a third of the population (9). Thanks to the careful planning of breeders and a genetic test, in 2016 the prevalence was estimated at about 2% (8).

Persians are also at risk for a genetic form of Progressive Retinal Atrophy, which can lead to vision loss and eventual blindness. They also occasionally inherit a rare lysosomal storage disease. Lysosomal storage disease is caused by a mutation which prevents a cat’s body from making enzymes it needs to break down waste products (10). The toxic waste products accumulate and eventually cause the cat’s death early in life (10). These kittens are normal at birth but develop symptoms within a few months (10). The symptoms are mostly neurological: poor balance, poor vision, exercise intolerance, abnormal behaviors, fainting, seizures, and poor growth (10).

Thankfully, most Persians don’t experience these severe disorders. If you are thinking about getting a Persian, you’ll want to make sure you talk to your vet about all the breed-associated disorders at their first appointment. And of course, it’s always best to adopt, not shop. Even these luxurious cats can find themselves homeless. Contact your local shelter, or look for a breed-specific rescue like Persian and Himalayan Cat Rescue of Northern California or St. Francis Persian Cat Rescue.

Fun Facts

  • Almost all colors of Persian are required to have copper/orange eyes to be shown (1, 5).
  • Persians were shown at the first formal cat show–the Crystal Palace Cat Show of 1871.
  • Marilyn Monroe had a white Persian named Mitsou, and Raymond Chandler had a black Persian named Taki (7).
  • The world’s largest cat painting sold for $826,000 in 2015. It is titled “My Wife’s Lovers” and features 42 Persian and Angora cats.
Persians come in a wide variety of colors. Of course, kittens are adorable no matter the hue.

Works Cited

  1. Cat Fanciers’ Association. (n.d.). About the Persian. https://cfa.org/persian/
  2. VetStreet. (n.d.). Persian. http://www.vetstreet.com/cats/persian#overview
  3. Petfinder. (n.d.). Persian. https://www.petfinder.com/cat-breeds/persian/
  4. Cat Time. (n.d.). Persian. TotallyPets. https://cattime.com/cat-breeds/persian-cats#/slide/1
  5. Edwards, A. (1999). The ultimate encyclopedia of cats, cat breeds, & cat care: A comprehensive, practical care and training manual and a definitive encyclopedia of world breeds. Anness Publishing Ltd.
  6. Mueller, L. (2019, October 7). Persian cat: Cat breed profile. The Spruce Pets. https://www.thesprucepets.com/persian-cat-4584356
  7. Basepaws. (2020, October 27). Persian cat: The glamour puss of the world. https://basepaws.com/blogs/news/persian-cat-breed-introduction
  8. O’Neill, D.G., Romans, C., Brodbelt, D.C., Church, D.B., et al. (2019). Persian cats under first opinion veterinary care in the UK: Demography, mortality and disorders. Scientific Reports, 9, 12952. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-49317-4
  9. International Cat Care. (2018, October 4). Persian. https://icatcare.org/advice/persian/
  10. Cat Care Center of Baton Rouge. (n.d.). Persian. https://www.catcarecenter.com/services/cats/breeds/persian

Published December 13, 2020

Cat Care

Should You Give Kittens as Christmas Gifts?

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Meredith Hemphill

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Encyclopaedia Felidae now has a Patreon! Go to www.patreon.com/EncyclopaediaFelidae if you want to help support this content!

Do you remember FurReal toys? They probably still exist, but I remember one year when I was little, the FurReal Friends cat was a hot toy for Christmas. And I wanted it. Bless her, my mom managed to get one. I woke up Christmas morning to an orange-and-white robo-kitty. It was pretty cool. Electronic toys were a little bit of a novelty even then. And it was like having a cuddly kitty, too! Well, in a janky robot sort of way. But as is sometimes the case with children and their toys, I got bored of it after a while. I’ve never wanted to give pets as gifts, for any holiday or occasion, for that very reason. But animatronic toys aren’t real pets, and I’m no expert. So what do the actual authorities think about gifting pets?

I found it! It’s so much creepier than I remember…

Reasons to Gift

Anyone who has been lucky enough to have a pet in their life understands the joy that pets bring. It goes without saying why we might want to give that joy to someone we love. That’s not to mention all the homeless pets out there who deserve a family. But I had heard my whole life it’s a bad idea to give pets as gifts. I was surprised to learn how much support there is in the animal welfare and rescue community for the practice.

Starting in the 1990s, several research groups studied the reasons that people surrender animals to shelters (1, 2, 3). The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) followed up with a study that specifically considered pets given as gifts (3). In 1999, Scarlett et al. surveyed pet owners who surrendered their cats and dogs to county animals shelters with a focus on any “health and personal issues” that influenced them to do so (1). Of the ten major reasons given, the pet being an unwanted gift came dead last for both cats and dogs (1). The #1 reason? For cats, it was allergies, and for dogs, it was not having enough time (1).

New, Jr. et al. compared surrendered pets and their former owners to homed pets and their owners (2). They considered the source of the pets as a possible factor, and in some cases there was a significant difference. For example, cats and dogs purchased from pet shops were more likely to be given up (2). But the proportion of pets that had been gifts was the same in shelters as in homes (2). In other words, it made no difference in the rate of surrender that an animal had been a gift.

Most recently, the ASPCA decided to take a hard look at what happens when we give pets as gifts. In their 2013 study, they created a telephone survey to find and interview people who had been given a pet in the past ten years (3). The three survey questions of interest were:

  1. Were you involved, in any manner, in the selection process of the pet that you received as a gift?
  2. Did receiving a pet as a gift increase, decrease, or have no impact on your love or attachment to the pet?
  3. Is that pet still with you?
Tabby kitten with red gift ribbon on head
Photo by Avel Chuklanov on Unsplash

Most people said that they were either involved in picking out their gifted pet, or they were were surprised and okay with that (3). 97.2% reported that receiving their pet as a gift either didn’t change how much love/attachment they felt or actually increased it (3). Only seven of the 222 pet owners surveyed said that they felt less attached because their pet was a gift (3). Only 9.8% said that the pet was now in a new home (3). In the vast majority of cases, respondents still had the pet, but about as many had since died as been rehomed (3).

To summarize all those numbers, the data suggest that most of the time, the gift of a pet is appreciated. So these days, more animal welfare groups and rescue organizations support giving pets as gifts. After all, one of their primary goals is to get as many pets as possible into forever homes. As long as those gifted animals aren’t being returned to sender, at least no more than any others, then it’s just another way to get pets out of shelters and into loving homes.

Reasons Not to Gift

Contradicting all of that painstaking research are the statements of shelter staff and volunteers who say that surrenders see a surge around the holidays. Audra Stillabower, a Veterinary Information Specialist at the Pet Poison Helpline who worked in shelters for eight years, reports a spike in surrenders both before and after the holiday season (4). Before, because people are surrendering older pets to make way for new ones, and after because people realize they don’t want that live holiday present after all (4). Executive Director Cheryl Miller of the Wichita County, Texas Humane Society echoes that sad sentiment (5).

“I would bet we get at least ten calls a week with people having animals that ‘we just don’t have time,’ ‘this was given to us as a gift,'” says Anne Halbert of January at her Nebraska shelter, Start Over Rover (6). How can this be the case when there is so much data to support the position that people don’t usually abandon gifted pets? I couldn’t find an answer. I wonder if location makes a difference. Gina Knepp, a spokesperson for Front Street Animal Shelter in Sacramento, California, said “We don’t see a higher rate of abandonments during this time of year as compared to other times of the year” (7).

I don’t know about Wichita County, but I know that Nebraska tends to get a lot of wintry weather, and Sacramento very much does not. I could see why the best time to get a new puppy that needs to go outside, like, every twenty minutes wouldn’t be when there’s two feet of snow on the ground. It’s just a theory, though, and the weather probably wouldn’t have as much of an impact on whether someone kept a new cat or not. Whatever the reason for the discrepancy, we know that some gifted pets are “returned.” If you choose to give a pet as a gift, it’s your responsibility to think some things through first. And if you are not absolutely certain that the person is interested in a pet, do not give them a pet (4, 7-10).

Pomeranian dog in red gift box
Photo by Jill Wellington from Pexels

The Best Way to Give a Gift that Keeps on Purring

It is very important for a new pet to fit well with their new owner and that person’s life. There are a couple ways that you, as the one intending to give the pet, can ensure that your gift is a good one. One is to take the recipient with you and pick out the pet together (4, 8, 10). Another is to buy an adoption certificate instead of a pet and give that as the gift (7, 8, 9). Adoption certificates are offered at many shelters and allow you to pay the adoption fees without taking home a pet. Then, the recipient can go pick out whatever pet they want. Or, if they decide they don’t want a pet, the gift ends up being a donation to the shelter in the honor. That’s not a bad deal either.

In terms of presentation, a cute suggestion is tying a note or adoption certificate to a plush/toy pet (9). After all, live animals don’t really belong in wrapped boxes, under Christmas trees, etc. The only pet I can think of that is appropriate to actually package up would be sea monkeys. Maybe an ant farm? But that’s it. No matter what the movies sometimes tell us.

Because pets are expensive, it would be courteous to provide some extras with the pet, especially if you know the recipient doesn’t have all the equipment already. Maybe wrap up a pet starter kit to give them the day of the holiday or special occasion (7, 8).

If you decide to give pets as gifts this holiday season or any time in the future, do so wisely but also in the knowledge that the data says it is a good way to give animals loving homes. And remember, adopt, don’t shop! Choose to give pets from shelters and rescues. Even purebred cats and dogs and unusual pet species can be found in these places. Don’t purchase a pet from a breeder when there are homeless ones waiting for that special someone already. I don’t know about you, but saving an animal’s life sounds like an amazing gift to me.

Works Cited

  1. Scarlett, J.M., Salman, M.D., New Jr., J.D., Kass, P.H. (1999). Reasons for relinquishment of companion animals in U.S. animal shelters: Selected health and personal issues. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 2(1), 41-57. doi: 10.1207/s15327604jaws0201_4
  2. New Jr., J.D., Salman, M.D., King, M., Scarlett, J.M., et al. (2000). Characteristics of shelter-relinquished animals and their owners compared with animals and their owners in U.S. pet-owning households. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 3(3), 179-201. doi: 10.1207/S15327604JAWS0303_1
  3. Weiss, E., Dolan, E.D., Garrison, L., Hong, J., et al. (2013). Should dogs and cats be given as gifts? Animals, 3, 995-1001. doi: 10.3390/ani3040995
  4. Stillabower, A. (n.d.). Giving animals as Christmas gifts. Pet Poison Helpline. https://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/blog/giving-animals-christmas-gifts/
  5. Connor, C. (2019, December 3). Plan ahead before giving pets as a Christmas gift. News Channel 6 Now. https://www.newschannel6now.com/2019/12/04/plan-ahead-before-giving-pets-christmas-gift/
  6. Dickeson, K. (2019, December 4). Animal shelters advise against giving pets as holiday gifts. KSNB Local 4 Hastings. https://www.ksnblocal4.com/content/news/Animal-shelters-advise-against-giving-pets-as-holiday-gifts-565809791.html
  7. Escalante, E. (2018, December 18). Pets as Christmas gifts: Why shelters say it’s okay to give a pet as a gift. ABC 10. link here
  8. Picard, C. (2019, July 24). Why pets can make good gifts, according to animal adoption experts. Good Housekeeping. Retrieved from https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/pets/a28410545/why-pets-make-good-gifts/
  9. Mettler, L. (n.d.). Pets as presents: A good idea? Petfinder.com. https://www.petfinder.com/pet-adoption/dog-adoption/pets-as-presents/
  10. Oregon Veterinary Medical Association. (2017, December 18). Giving pets as gifts: Consider the choice carefully. https://oregonvma.org/care-health/basics/giving-pets-gifts

Published December 7th, 2020

Updated May 12th, 2023

Behavior

How to Keep Your Cat out of the Christmas Tree

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Meredith Hemphill

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Encyclopaedia Felidae now has a Patreon! Go to www.patreon.com/EncyclopaediaFelidae if you want to help support this content!

Tabby cat in Christmas tree
Photo by Jessica Lewis from Pexels

If you celebrate Christmas, there’s a good chance you put up some kind of Christmas tree. If you read this blog, there’s a good chance you have at least one cat or are thinking about getting one. So if you celebrate Christmas and read this blog, then you probably have reason to keep a cat out of a Christmas tree. Me too, my friend. The two cats we had growing up actually showed very little interest in the Christmas tree, except as a new thing to sleep under. But in recent years, I have lived with cats that had a lot more holiday cheer, shall we say.

So this article is for Sven, my roommate’s cat who thought a two-foot plastic tree would somehow stand up to 10+ pounds of tomcat flinging himself into its branches. And for Joon, whose teeth marks are forever left in my shiny foil Christmas present ornament. This will be her first Christmas in a house with a Christmas tree that’s actually large enough for a cat to climb, and I am panicking more than a little. But my research says all hope is not lost.

Choose Your Tree Wisely

I have never once had a live Christmas tree. I was probably eight years old before I found out that was a thing people did. Now I know that for many people, the live tree is a big part of their holiday tradition. And the first people to put up Christmas trees certainly weren’t using plastic ones, so tradition really is on your side if that’s your preference. However, live trees are much more attractive to cats than artificial ones.

Climbing is hardwired into the feline brain, and one of the most readily accessible climbing surfaces in nature is trees (1, 2, 3). In addition to climbing trees to hide, hunt, and survey their domain, cats also use trees to mark territory (1, 2). Marking can include rubbing and scratching or really quite unpleasant urine and fecal scent deposits. Artificial trees can look similar to real trees, but they don’t smell like them. Scent is very important to cats–hence the marking–so when you bring in a real, live tree, they know it’s a tree (2, 3). And their feline mind has very different ideas about what a tree in the living room is for than you do.

If it’s really important to you to have a live tree, it can be done, but it’s easier (and often safer) to have an artificial one. Whichever flavor of tree you choose, keep in mind that smaller trees are less likely to become kitty jungle gyms (2). Plus, if your cat does climb the tree and manage to knock it over, the smaller the tree is, the less likely your cat is to get injured in the fall (4). Slimmer trees also make less appealing targets, so consider a pencil tree if you’re going artificial or a live tree with a similar profile (5).

Location, Location, Location

Once you have your tree picked out, you need to set it up. Depending upon the tree, that can be an ordeal in itself, but with a cat extra care needs to be taken. First of all, make sure that you have a heavy-duty base to secure your tree with (1, 2, 4-6). The hope is that the cat won’t climb the tree at all, but you want to do your best to keep the tree from toppling if they do.

Next, look for a place where there would be plenty of open space around the tree: no furniture, cat trees, or other launching pads your cat might jump into the tree from (1, 2, 4-6). Ideally, the amount of empty space around the tree will be equal to the height of the tree (2). So a six foot tree would have a furniture-free zone extending six feet from it in all directions.

Of course, having that much free space around the tree isn’t always practical. Fortunately, you can work around the need for so much space in a number of ways. We’ll get to the more complicated ones later. The simplest ways are to 1) have a shorter and/or slimmer tree that doesn’t need such a big zone around it, or 2) put the tree in a corner (6). That completely eliminates two directions from which a cat could come flying. It’s also safer for your cat–and your decorations–because it eliminates two directions in which the tree could fall, too.

If your home is amenable to it, it’s a good idea to secure the Christmas tree to a wall or the ceiling. Screw an eyebolt into the wall or ceiling and tie the tree to it with clear fishing line. It’s a nearly invisible fix that might prevent a disaster. Just make sure your cat doesn’t get ahold of the fishing line and decide to eat it! (1-3, 5, 6)

If you really want to keep the cat out of the Christmas tree completely, you may want to put the tree in a room that you can close off and restrict the cat’s access to (1, 7). Before you decide to shove your beautiful, festive tree of holiday cheer into a back room somewhere, though, wait until we’ve gone over all the options. There are lots of tricks you can try yet.

Ornaments Hung by the Greenery with Care

Decorating the tree is one of my favorite Christmas traditions. I love the beauty of the ornaments and remembering the history of each one as we go through them. Unfortunately, to cats, ornaments look an awful lot like toys. To avoid broken ornaments and possibly trips to the vet, we have to be careful about how we decorate our trees.

You may want to start decorating the second you get the tree put up. I know I do. But hold off for a while. If you leave the tree bare for a few days, it gives your cat a chance to investigate it and hopefully get bored of it before you start hanging any tempting baubles (4).

Brown tabby cat swatting gold Christmas balls
Image by Myshun from Pixabay

When it is time to decorate, first things first: if you decorate with tinsel, don’t. This is one thing that is non-negotiable. I know, tinsel is shiny and awesome, but cats think so, too. And they respond to shiny, awesome things very differently than we do. Cats infamously like to eat tinsel, and when they do the tinsel can choke them or get caught in their digestive systems (2, 4-6, 8). These are life-threatening emergencies. The digestive blockages caused by tinsel usually require surgery to repair. So, no tinsel.

Garlands may also be a chewing hazard, but it depends upon what they’re made of. Food garlands might seem safe, but some human foods are toxic to cats, not to mention that they tempt your pets to get into the tree (6). Anything tinsel-like has the same risks as tinsel. Paper garlands can be a good idea (8). They aren’t very attractive to cats, and if kitty does nibble them, it’s no big deal. Wood also doesn’t grab a cat’s attention the way shiny things do (3, 5).

Now, for the main event–the ornaments. Perhaps the simplest thing to do is not decorate the bottom of the tree at all (2, 4-6). How much of the tree you leave plain is up to you and the reach of your cat. Pet Health Network suggests not decorating the bottom fifth (2). Alternatively, decorate only with unbreakable ornaments at the bottom–wood, plastic, felt, burlap, etc. (5). That may still be too tempting and get your cat too interested in the tree, though. You can always try and see how it goes, if you’re feeling brave.

It’s best to only decorate with unbreakable ornaments, really. They’re typically less shiny, so they don’t attract cats as much (3, 5). And those fragile glass ornaments, while beautiful and often sentimental, can be very dangerous for your cat if they break them (1, 6). They might ingest small pieces or cut themselves on the sharp, broken edges (1, 6). And even if no one gets hurt, who likes broken ornaments? No one, that’s who. But most of us have some fragile favorites that we like to see on the tree every year. So make sure to put them toward the very top of the tree and secure them well. In fact, secure all your ornaments well.

The more ornaments sway, the more enticing they will be (3). Metal ornament hooks can hurt your cat’s paws if swatted or stepped on, and they aren’t very secure anyway (4, 5). Instead of hooks, consider tying your ornaments to the branches with twist ties, wire, or twine (2-6, 8).

The Art of Deterrence

Now we get to the more creative approaches. If you just can’t keep your cat out of the Christmas tree in any of the above ways, try the following. Remember, however, that wherever you say “no,” you must also provide a “yes” (3). If the only climbing/scratching/perching surface in the living room is the Christmas tree, there may be no amount of deterrence that will keep your cat from trying to get into it. The Christmas tree is usually in a socially significant area of the house, so your cat will want to hang out in that area with you (3). Therefore, make sure that you have a tall, quality cat tree in the room with the Christmas tree as an appropriate alternative to the tree itself (3). Just don’t put it too close to the tree, or your cat will be tempted to jump between the two (3)!

Started from the Bottom

If your cat is climbing the Christmas tree from the base, there are several ways you can discourage them from this point of entry. Wrap the bottom of the tree trunk with aluminum foil (2, 4, 5). Cats usually don’t like the sensation or sound of foil. A circle of foil under the tree skirt may also work (4, 7).

The Christmas Tree Defender – Photo from company website

A more heavy-duty solution for the problem is the Christmas Tree Defender, a circular grate made of green plastic that clips around your tree. It can also be used for potted plants year-round. It is treated with a flame retardant, though, so it may not be suitable if you have a cat that likes to chew hard plastics.

Trees Are Not for Eating

Speaking of chewing, Christmas trees and their strings of lights can be tempting targets for chewers. Cats are known for investigating new and interesting things with their mouths, but when it comes to Christmas decorations, this is not just destructive but very dangerous. Pine needles are sharp and toxic to cats (3, 4, 6). Artificial needles can be dangerous if eaten, too, as plastic doesn’t really digest (1). Then there’s the lights. Some cats just can’t resist chewing on cords, but if they reach live wires within, burns on their mouths are a best-case scenario.

What to do? For the lights, apply a pet-safe bitter spray or cream to them before you string them on the tree (2, 3, 5, 6). If using a spray, it’s best to spray a cloth and then wipe the cords with the cloth (5). Make sure to wear gloves! If you have a pre-lit tree, this will obviously be a rather difficult endeavor. Just do your best and tuck away any dangling wires once you’ve coated them. You can also spray the whole tree with bitter spray, which works for cats that want to chew the branches (6).

Unplug the lights when not in use to minimize the chances that the wires will be live if the cat bites into them. It’s also a good idea to use a cord cover on the unlighted length between tree and wall socket so that the cat is unlikely to chew through to the wires at all (1, 3-6, 8).

Prevention is Scent-sational

There are certain smells that cats do not like. There are exceptions to almost every rule, but most likely your cat won’t be a fan of citrus, citronella, menthol, and apple cider vinegar (1, 3-5, 8). You can buy cat repellant, usually citrus-based sprays to spritz the Christmas tree with (1, 5), or you can use a variety of homemade solutions.

Cat behaviorist Jackson Galaxy suggests putting citrus zest, whatever kind strikes your fancy, into plastic bags, poking a few holes in the top, twisting them up, and hanging them inside the tree (3). He says that from a distance nobody will think anything of it (3). I trust Jackson Galaxy to the moon and back when it comes to cats, but I do wonder about his aesthetic sensibilities. You could maybe do the same with cheap plastic Christmas balls with holes poked in the top, but I haven’t tried it. I might, though, so watch this space. Other possibilities include:

  • Placing lemon or orange peels around the base of the tree (4, 8)
  • Including orange slices or strips of orange peel in the tree decorations (5)
  • Spray pinecones with apple cider vinegar and place them at the base of the tree (8); if using pinecones from outside, bake them in the oven at at low heat to kill any bugs first
  • Mix a little citronella oil into a spray bottle of water and spritz the tree with it (8)

Not-So-Holy Water

One of the big problems with cats and live trees is that cats want to drink the tree water. This isn’t just weird. It’s unsafe. The water may contain pine sap, fire retardants, pesticides, and fertilizers, all of which are toxic to your cat (1, 2, 5, 6, 8). Not adding anything to the water yourself, i.e. Aspirin, can prevent further toxicity, but it’s best to keep the cat out of it any way you can. Some tree stands include a cover for the water bowl, so if you can find a sturdy stand with a cat-proof cover, you’re in luck (1, 6)! But if not, aluminum foil or plastic wrap can be your friend here just like on the tree trunk (1, 2, 8). Netting or Sticky Paws for Plants, a kind of double-sided tape for deterring cats, are other good choices (6).

Creative cat-proof Christmas trees with Cole and Marmalade

Works Cited

  1. Jordan, E. (2019, October 17). How to cat-proof your Christmas tree (or at least try to). Pet Central. https://petcentral.chewy.com/holiday-safety-tips-pet-proofing-christmas-tree/
  2. Lee, J.A. (n.d.). Help! How do I keep my cat out of the Christmas tree? Pet Health Network. https://www.pethealthnetwork.com/cat-health/cat-behavior/help-how-do-i-keep-my-cat-out-christmas-tree
  3. Galaxy, J. (n.d.). The ugly truth about cats and Christmas trees. JacksonGalaxy.com. https://www.jacksongalaxy.com/blog/the-ugly-truth-about-cats-and-christmas-trees/
  4. PETA Living. (n.d.). How to cat-proof your Christmas tree. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. https://www.peta.org/living/animal-companions/how-to-cat-proof-your-christmas-tree/
  5. Nicholas, J. (2017, November 7). How to keep your cat out of the Christmas tree. Preventive Vet. https://www.preventivevet.com/cats/how-to-keep-your-cat-out-of-the-christmas-tree
  6. Johnson-Bennett, P. (n.d.). How to keep your cat away from the Christmas tree. Cat Behavior Associates. https://catbehaviorassociates.com/how-to-keep-your-cat-away-from-the-christmas-tree/
  7. Becker, M. (2012, December 17). How do I keep my cat out of the Christmas tree? VetStreet. http://www.vetstreet.com/dr-marty-becker/how-do-i-keep-my-cat-out-of-the-christmas-tree
  8. Kostelny, L. (2020, November 5). How to keep your cat out of your Christmas tree. Country Living. Retrieved from https://www.countryliving.com/life/kids-pets/g28916373/how-to-keep-cats-out-of-christmas-tree/#

Published November 29, 2020

Culture

Werecats, Part II: The Regal Werelion

mehshadoweye

Meredith Hemphill

mehshadoweye

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Werelion statue
5000-year-old lion-woman statue – Image by Welcome to all and thank you for your visit ! ツ from Pixabay

This week we resume our tour of werecats by traveling to Africa, home of the werelion. There, in the cradle of humanity, cats big and small are exquisite predators. Sometimes the big cats take human prey, and this must only have been more so the case in the early days of human history. Is it any wonder, then, that some African folktales have fused two of the most fearsome beasts they knew: humans and lions?

On the one hand, the folklore of Bantu African cultures explains that sovereigns are transformed into lions after death [1, 2]. This suggests a kinship with lions. However Knappert points out that is also tells us lions commanded the respect and fear of those that lived alongside them, just like kings do of their subjects [1]. A lion that used to be a king in a former life is a sort of spiritual werelion, but there are stories of werelions with real transformative powers, and they tend to have less ambiguous personalities.

To this werelion, I do thee wed…

Sometimes, the belief is that humans use magic to take the form of a lion for various nefarious purposes [2, 3]. However, it can be the other way around [3]. In one story, a lion took the shape of a man, moved into a village, and married a human woman [3]. After a while they had a child [3]. So far, so good, if a little strange. Then the werelion suggested the family go visit his parents [3]. Yikes! None the wiser, his wife agreed, and the little family set off, accompanied by the wife’s brother [3].

As the sun began to set, they made camp, and the werelion built a protective shelter, or kraal, of thorn bushes before announcing his intention to fish and leaving. The brother was not impressed with his brother-in-law’s kraal and strengthened it himself. As you will surely be shocked to learn, the werelion brought his family to attack that night, but the lions couldn’t breach the kraal. The werelion’s family shamed him for his failure, and they left. [3]

Image by Andrea Bohl from Pixabay

The werelion came back in the morning with fish and plenty of excuses, but the brother was becoming suspicious. When the werelion left to fish again, the brother went on a walk to think. He found a gnome (akachekulu) who confirmed his suspicions and, in return for some housecleaning, taught the brother how to make a magic drum that would enable him to fly when he played it. The brother hid his sister and the baby inside the drum and began to play. It worked, but the noise attracted the werelion. Fortunately, it also compelled the werelion to dance, and the brother was able to fly everyone home to the village, where the werelion dared not try to hurt them. [3]

Werelion defeated by smart kid with feathers

Humans are human everywhere, so many elements of folklore are cross-cultural. The phenomenon of were-beasts is one example, but this story has lots: the rule of three (twice), rags to riches, advice from magical objects. It also reminds me a little of the German fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin, but this time the mother is not the one who breaks the pact.

The story begins during a severe famine, with a pregnant woman searching for something to eat in the wilderness. She finds a lion that has just killed an antelope and offers to trade her child for its kill. The lion agrees. [1] Perhaps it’s a gap in my understanding as a cultural outsider, but it seems as though it is never clear why, exactly, the lion would want the woman’s unborn child. If he wants to eat it, why not just keep the antelope, or kill the woman and have all of the above? To me, not knowing what he has in mind is actually more disturbing.

But perhaps the lion’s intentions are irrelevant. Cases of parents bartering their children for food were not unheard of [1]. I have no doubt that such a thing is not isolated in space or time, either. Starvation is a horrible thing that can make people do horrible things just to survive. The werelion may simply be a convenient stand-in for the sort of person who would be happy to buy a child.

35,000 – 40,000-year-old lion man sculpture from German cave – Wikimedia Commons

Well, the woman gave birth to a son and named him Mutipi. Mutipi grew two feathers on top of his head, but he was the only one that could see them. Eventually, the lion decided the time had come, so he changed into a man and came to the house to collect Mutipi. But Mutipi took out his feathers and asked them what to do. They told him that this was Mr. Lion come to take him away, and that he must change himself into a mouse so that when his mother called him in for dinner, he would not be recognized. And it worked. [1]

The werelion tried twice more, but each time Mutipi’s feathers told him how to escape capture using tricks or magic. Finally, the werelion took Mutipi’s mother instead, and Mutipi fled to another country. There, he became a favored messenger for the king. The courtiers grew envious and tried thrice to kill Mutipi, but again, his feathers told him how to avoid assassination. [1]

When drought and famine killed everyone in the country but Mutipi, for only he had magic, all-knowing feathers, the feathers told him to make a whip of lion-skin that would bring whoever he whips with it back to life. He chose not to resurrect his murderous enemies. He did resurrect the princess, married her, and became king himself. I am unclear on what happened to the last king. He just isn’t mentioned in the closing action of the story. Make of that what you will. [1]

Werelions, where are they now?

If you read the magnum opus that was my article on weretigers, you might be either disappointed or relieved that this installment in the series is so much shorter. Personally, I’m a little bit of both. I struggled to find reliable resources on this topic. Most sources just seemed to be repeating each other, and I wanted to provide better information than that. The result is a higher-quality but rather short article. If you do want to get more werelions in your life, here are some examples of werelions in modern media. We see werewolves quite frequently, especially in paranormal content in the United States, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen or read anything with a werelion. Let’s see what’s out there, why don’t we?

Books

  • Beast by Krishna Udayasankar – a werelion is wreaking havoc in Mumbai, and an unsuspecting cop is on its trail
  • Daughter of Lions by Catherine Banks – daughter of the leader of a werelion pride experiences teen angst
  • Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews – magic is dying and Atlanta is overrun with monsters, plus shapeshifters
  • And a truly shocking number of erotic novels…

Games

  • Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn feature a people called the Laguz, one tribe of which can transform into big wildcats, including lions.
  • Dungeons and Dragons has an official race of lion-like people called Leonin.
  • World of Warcraft druids can take lion or panther forms.

Works Cited

  1. Knappert, J. (1977). Mutipi and the werelion (Ronga). In Bantu Myths and Other Tales (pp. 54- 58). E.J. Brill.
  2. Gouldsbury, C. and Sheane, H. (1911). The great plateau of northern Rhodesia: Being some impressions of the Tanganyika plateau (pp. 200). Edward Arnold. PDF
  3. Werner, A. (1933). Chapter XIII: Of werewolves, halfmen, gnomes, goblins, and other monsters. In Myths and legends of the Bantu. George G. Harrap and Co., Ltd. Accessed at https://www.sacred-texts.com/afr/mlb/mlb15.htm

Published November 22, 2020