This special cat got its name because of the very unusual ears. The ears of the American Curl, as the name suggests, go backwards and bend into a curl.
The ears curl in an arc between 90 and 180 degrees, and should not touch the back of their skulls.
The American Curl is born with straight ears. Their ears start to change to a curl after 2-9 days.
When the cat is four months old the curling process of the ears has settled.
The American Curl may be either long-haired or short-haired. They come in all colors.
The American Curls are healthy cats. They have not shown any specific generic health problems.
This cat is easy to groom.
Temperament
The American Curl cats are known to be extremely playful well into old age.
They love to run and jump.
These are very active cats.
They are curious and love attention.
The American Curl is a wonderful family cat that gets along great with children.
They bond easily with their owners and tend to be “helpful” with chores.
The American Curl is an intelligent cat and will soon figure out how to get things done, for example opening a door.
They need space to play and explore.
They do not like to be left alone for very long. The American Curl is a social cat.
American Curl Cat History
The American Curl is a relatively new breed of cat. It all started in Lakewood, California. In June, 1981 a couple named Grace and John Ruga found two stray cats outside their house.
They decided to keep the cats. One of the cats was a black female cat with odd shaped ears.
She was given the name “Shulamith”, which means “Black but comely”. The other cat was named Panda. Unfortunately Panda wandered off after a few weeks, never to return.
Shulamith gave birth to four kittens on December 12, 1981. Two of the kittens had curled ears.
Shulamith and her two curled-ear kittens were shown in public for the first time at a cat show in Palm Springs, California in October 1983.
The response was amazingly positive.
The American Curl was formally recognized as a new cat breed in 1985 by TICA (The International Cat Association). CFA (Cat Fanciers Association) recognized The American Curl in 1986.
Beerbohm served 20 years as a mouser at the Globe Theater in London. The Globe Theater is now called the Gielgud Theater. Beerbohm was a large Tabby cat. Every once in a while Beerbohm would wonder on stage during a performance and steal the show.
Beerbohm had an intense relationship with Fleur. Fleur worked as a mouser in the nearby Lyric Theater. Beerbohm’s picture is to be found in the lobby of the theater. Beerbohm died in March 1995.
Cat Towser at the Distillery
“Towser – Towser was the name of the cat at the Glenturret Distillery in Scotland. Towser was a female tortoiseshell cat. She lived from 1963-1987.
Towser was a master mouser.
She even made it to Guinness Book of World records! The distillery reported that Towser killed about three mice daily throughout her adult life!
Visitors today may admire the bronze statue of Towser at the distillery.
Her paw prints are also to be found on the label of Fairlie’s Light Highland Liqueur.
Smudge at The People’s Palace Museum
The black and white cat named Smudge was employed by the People’s Palace as a mouser. This museum is located in Glasgow, Scotland.
Smudge was an official fully paid member of the General, Municipal and Boilermakers Trade Union. Smudge was employed in 1979 and died in the year 2000.
Smudge was greatly loved. The museum had sculptures made of Smudge which were sold as souvenirs in the museum shop.
Arthur – TV star for Cat Food – UK
Arthur was the beautiful white cat who worked in advertising in England. Arthur was used in ads for the cat food called Kattomeat.
After the company started receiving tons of fan mail addressed to Arthur, they decided to rename the cat food in honor of the popular cat. Kattomeat was rebranded as Arthur’s.
Orangey – a Movie Star
Orangey was an orange- colored Tabby cat trained by Frank Inn. Orangey is the only cat in history to have won the PATSY award twice.
The PATSY award is the Oscar award of the animal kingdom. It is short for Picture Animal Top Star of the Year. The PATSY awards were last given in 1986.
Orangey played the role of the cat named Minerva in the American situation comedy, Our Miss Brooks (1952–56).
Orangey received the PATSY award for his role in the movie Rhubard (1951) and Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961).
Pyewacket
Pyewacket is another movie star cat. Pyewacket won the Patsy award for his role in the movie “Bell, Book and Candle” released in 1959, starring James Stewart, Kim Novak and Jack Lemmon. “Bell, Book and Candle” is a romantic comedy.
Pyewacket is the Siamese cat belonging to the witch who is determined to seduce her neighbor.
She puts a love spell on him by stroking Pyewacket while humming a magic spell. That scene is absolutely precious!
After the release of this film Pyewacket became a popular cat name.
Tonto in “Harry and Tonto”
Tonto is the name of the movie star cat starring in the movie “Harry and Tonto”. Also starring in this movie from 1974 are Art Carney, Herbert Berghof, Ellen Burstyn, Geraldine Fitzgerald and Larry Hagman.
In the movie Harry Coombes (Carney), an elderly widower who decides to travel cross country with his pet cat, Tonto. The movie was written by Paul Mazursky and Josh Greenfeld.
Blackie – Employed at the Post Office
Blackie was the last cat to be officially employed at the London Post Office Headquarters. Blackie received £1.00 in wages weekly. Blackie become quite famous and appeared on BBC.
Blackie died in June 1984. The London Post office did not employ another cat as it modernized the postal sacks. The new postal bags were made of plastic as opposed to the cloth bags tasty to all mice.
Tibs – Working Cat at the Post Office
Tibs was officially employed at the London Post Office Headquarters. Tibs was soon to become one of the favorite employees. He kept the post office mice-free for 14 years.
Tibs died in November 1964. In his obituary in the Post Office Magazine the headline was “Tibs the Great is No More”.
Wilberforce – The Best Mouser in Britain
The home of Wilberforce was No. 10 Downing Street, London. Wilberforce (1973-1988) was a male black and white cat. He worked as a mouser serving for 13 years and served under four different Prime Ministers: Edward Heath, Harold Wilson, Jim Callaghan and Margaret Thatcher.
It has been reported that Margaret Thatcher brought back a tin of sardines from Russia as a gift to Wilberforce. Wilberforce also appeared on television together with Margaret Thatcher. That incident resulted in Wilberforce receiving tons of fan mail from all over the country.
The caretaker at Downing Street was responsible for giving the cat the name Wilberforce in honor of William Wilberforce. William Wilberforce (1759 –1833) was a British politician and leader of leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade.
Wilberforce retired to the country in 1986 and died two years later peacefully in his sleep on May 19, 1988. “Cat World” wrote in his obituary that he was the “Best mouser in Britain”.
Wilberforce was succeeded by the cat named Humphrey.
Moris I – TV star for Cat Food – USA
In 1968 animal trainer Bob Martwick rescued a large orange Tabby cat from death row at an animal shelter in Chicago. He paid $5 for the cat. At first he called the cat Lucky, but a year later changed his name to Morris.
Morris had been chosen to be a commercial cat for cat food. Morris stared in 40 commercials the next ten years.
He was treated as royalty. Morris visited the White House, appeared on talk shows and even had a role in the movie “Shamus” (1973), also starring Burt Reynolds and Dyan Cannon. Morris received the PATSY award in 1973. The PATSY award is like an Oscar for animals. Morris died in 1978.
Morris II
Morris II was also found in an animal shelter. Morris II was an exact look-alike of Morris I. In fact it was very difficult to tell them apart.
In 1988 Morris II became a candidate for Presidency of the United States. Unfortunately this did not work out for Morris II, but he did a fabulous job promoting 9Lives cat food.
Hamlet and Matilda
The fashionable Algonquin hotel in New York is famous for the hotel mascot cat.
The Algonquin hotel is the oldest running hotel in New York located at 59 West 44th street in Manhattan. The hotel was built in 1902.
In 1932 a stray orange, tabby cat wandered in to the hotel one rainy night. The hotel owner at that time, Frank Case, decided to keep the cat and named the cat Rusty.
Rusty was later renamed “Hamlet” by actor John Barrymore. Ever since Hamlet took up residence at the Algonquin hotel, the hotel has always kept a cat.
All male cats have been named Hamlet and all female cats have been named Matilda.
As of 2011 the cat of the Algonquin hotel is named Matilda III. She is a gorgeous Ragdoll cat and she is often seen in the hotel lobby welcoming new guests. Matilda III is the tenth cat to move into the Algonquin hotel.
The goddess cat in Egyptian mythology is well known in the world of mythology.
The goddess cat was named Bastet, also known as Bast. The goddess cat was highly admired and respected.
Bastet was worshipped as the protector goddess of Lower Egypt and guardian of the pharaoh. Bastet was also defender of the chief male deity, Ra, a solar deity. Some referred to Bastet as “Lady of Flame” and “Eye of Ra”.
In ancient Egypt there was a death penalty for killing a cat. It did not natter if the cat was killed on purpose or if it was an accident.
When a cat died, the ancient Egyptians would show their grief by shaving off their eyebrows.
Dead cats were mummified. When Bastet’s temple was excavated more than 300,000 mummified cats were discovered.
Many hundred thousand mummified cats have been found also in other places in Egypt.
In the city of Bubastis there was a temple devoted to the sacred cat goddess Bastet. Today the place is called Tell Basta.
The name of Bubastis in Egyptian is normally transcribed Per-Bast. Bubastis is the Greek name of the Egyptian Per-Bastet.
PER means “house” and the second word is the name of the goddess Bast or Bastet. The phrase means “House of Bast”.
Tell Basta/Bubastis is located by the River Nile about 90 km north-east of Cairo. It is just outside of the Egyptian city Zagazig.
The Festival of Baset
As many as 700 000 Egyptian pilgrims would make the journey to participate in the yearly festival of Bastet.
The festival of Bastet was the most dazzling of all in the Egyptian calendar as described by Herodotus (an ancient Greek historian, 5th century BC):
“Barges and river craft of every description, filled with men and women, floated leisurely down the Nile. The men played on pipes of lotus.
The women on cymbals and tambourines, and such as had no instruments accompanied the music with clapping of hands and dances, and other joyous gestures.
Thus did they while on the river: but when they came to a town on its banks, the barges were made fast, and the pilgrims disembarked, and the women sang, playfully mocked the women of that town and threw their clothes over their head.
When they reached Bubastis, then held they a wondrously solemn feast: and more wine of the grape was drank in those days than in all the rest of the year.
Such was the manner of this festival: and, it is said, that as many as seven hundred thousand pilgrims have been known to celebrate the Feast of Bast at the same time.”
Ra, the Sun God as “Great Cat Ra”
There is no doubt that Bastet is the most known cat goddess in the world of mythology. Most of us have heard about Bastet, but not every knows the cat as a god has an exceedingly older history.
Before the era of Bastet the male cat in Egypt represented the Sun god named Ra.
The female cat represented the mother goddess named Mut. The goddess Mut would much later become the cat goddess known as Bastet.
In the “Book of the dead” there are passages about the “Great Cat Ra”. The British Museum in London has a preserved copy from approximately 1580 B.C.
This particular papyrus shows an image of a large cat with a knife in his right paw and his other paw on the head of a python.
Great Cat Ra is about to stab the enormous python in its head.
The python represented Apep, the enemy of the Sun god Ra.
In the background is the Egyptian tree of life, called the Persea tree.
The hieroglyph was translated by the English Egyptologist, Sir Ernest Budge (1857-1934). It goes like this:
“I am the cat who fought near the Persea Tree in Annu (better known as Heliopolis) on the night when the foes of Nebertcher were destroyed.
Who is the Cat?
This male Cat is Ra himself, and he was called “Mau” because of the speech of the god Sa, who said concerning him:
“He is like unto that which he has made; therefore did the name of Ra become Mau”.
Others, however, have said that the male Cat is the god Shu, who made over the possessions of Keb to Osiris.”
Freya – Two Cats
The beautiful goddess Freyja in Norse mythology had a carriage drawn by two cats.
The goddess Freyja was the goddess of love, sorcery and death.
Nobody had better knowledge of sorcery than Freyja.
The goddess Freyja taught the chief god Odin the art of witchcraft and sorcery.
It seems evident that ever since the Viking times cats have been associated with magic and witchcraft.
The Abyssinian cat is an elegant and beautiful cat with large ears and almond-shaped eyes. It has a slender body and a long tail. The Abyssinian is medium sized and has strong muscles.
This short-haired cat has normally three shades of color; each of the hairs has different brands, the darkest color closest to the tip of the hair.
Temperament and Care
The Abyssinian is an active, energetic and playful cat. This is a cat that does not always like being handled and is not your typical lap-cat.
The Abyssinian is an extremely intelligent cat; a proud and freedom loving cat.
This cat breed is strong willed. The cat is curious and loves to hunt. People with tons of breakable valuables on display should not consider the Abyssinian cat.
This cat loves to play. The cat owner should stock up on cat toys.
This is for cat lovers who appreciate and love the active and intelligent cats.
This cat loves attention and does require that you have time to talk to and play with your cat.
The Abyssinian is a loyal cat and tons of fun!
The Abyssinian cat is easy to groom. It only requires brushing about once a week.
History of the Abyssinian Cat
It is told that the Abyssinian has its roots from the Far East, but how the cat received its name is a completely different story.
The Abyssinian cat got the name from Abysinnia, which is now present day Ethiopia.
One story goes that the Emperor of Abbsinia named Tewodros (Theodore) II (1818-1868) had asked the British Consul, named Cameron to deliver a letter to Queen Victoria asking for assistance in keeping the Muslim increasing threats under control.
He specifically appealed for experienced workers to assist him in producing firearms. Cameron travelled to England and delivered the letter to the Foreign Office. The letter was filed and forgotten.
The Queen never received the letter.
Two years pasted and the Emperor had not received a reply.
By then he was furious. He also found out that negative reports on his ruthless rulings had been published in Europe.
The Emperor took Cameron and other British citizens’ prisoner.
Britain responded by sending troops to Abyssinia to fight the harsh regime of the Emperor.
To make a long story short the British troops attacked and the Emperor committed suicide on April 13, 1868.
Paradoxically he used the gun he had received as a gift from Queen Victoria.
The conflict ended when the Emperor died.
The Cat Named Zula
In this version of the origins of the Abyssinian cat some soldiers found a cat that they absolutely adored, before leaving to go back to England.
The cat (or cats) accompanied the soldiers back to England. The first Abyssinian cat had arrived in Europe.
Some say it was the wife of Captain Barett-Lennard who brought the cat back in 1868. The cat was named Zula.
Zula was also the name of the port in Abyssinia where the British establish a base in 1867.
Some people insist that the Abyssinian has royal blood dating back to the Ancient Egypt.
The cat certainly bears a resemblance to the cat drawings of ancient Egypt.
Maybe the Abyssinian was once worshipped as a god or goddess and has never forgotten it.
