scree okay this is really long Mim x (censored bc like...) Language Arts Grade 7 Research Project Tabby Cats Tabby cats are interesting animals and the best kind of cat to have as a pet. One of the main things that makes them so good as pets is the way they act. The way tabby cats look is pretty interesting, as well as all the legends about them and where they came from. Since they are so cool, there are obviously some famous tabbies that many people know about. In the end, tabbies are living things, and they have many stages to their lives. These are all the things that should be known about tabbies. The way tabbies usually behave makes them great pets. They tend to be really friendly, so no worries about them being hostile around children or guests, although they can pick favorites. Adding on to that, they are also pretty smart, which makes them quick learners and easy to train. Coming back to not having to worry about hostility as much, tabby cats are not very likely to attack humans, and are in fact very gentle. According to Feline Living in Tabby Cat Personality and Behavior – Discover Beautiful Tabby!, "Fortunately, they tend to be very easy going and not prone to attacking. If treated well, they can be a very contented and well-behaved member of the family." Playing is one of the things almost all tabbies, especially younger ones, love. It is just in their nature. These traits make them the perfect cats to have as pets, especially in houses with younger children. Despite what people might think, tabby is not actually a breed, but the coat pattern. The patterns classified as 'tabby' are mackerel, spotted, ticked, and classic. Mackerel, which is thin, darker stripes like fish bones coming down their back and legs, with thicker stripes running down the tail into a dark tip, is the most common pattern. Spotted means they have a mix of spots and stripes, the spots being on the back and the stripes being on the legs and tail, like a mackerel tabby. If a tabby is ticked, it has stripes on the legs and end of tail, but the fur has bands of color on each individual hair. Finally, there is the classic tabby, which is a swirled pattern and a striped tail. All tabby cats can be identified by a pattern similar looking to an 'M' on their foreheads. With these beautiful patterns come equally beautiful colors, like gray, brownish gray, orange, cream, and even silver, which is more of a lighter, silvery color than just straight gray. The Happy Cat Site says that, "And accompanying this gorgeous feature is a wide range of colors varying from blue, to copper, to green, red, yellow, and orange!" Some cats even have two different colored eyes, which is called heterochromia, but is rather rare. This is what makes tabby cats so pretty. The origin of tabby cats dates way back to ancient times, when they first started being domesticated. For example, the egyptian mau, a type of cat with tabby fur, is a direct descendant of African wildcats. Wildcats like these are thought to be where the pattern comes from. As for the name, tabby, that comes from silk. "The word tabby comes from the French word tabis. Tabis was the French name for a type of silk made in Iraq. The silk was striped, just like mackerel tabby cats." (Terrific Tabbies) The 'M', mentioned in the last paragraph, has many legends about them. One of these legends is about Mary, Jesus, and a tabby. Baby Jesus was cold, so Mary asked the animals around her to help keep him warm. All the animals were too big to get close enough to do this, but a tabby was the right size. The tabby curled up next to him and kept him from freezing, and Mary was so grateful that she put her initials on its forehead. That is where the 'M' came from. These are the most notable things about where tabby cats came from. As with almost all things, there are a handful of famous tabby cats. Two big ones are Himmy and Omar. Omar, a maine coon, is almost four feet long, and weighs in at 30.8 pounds! Himmy, on the other hand, is an astounding 46.8 pounds, winning him the guiness world record for the fattest cat. Next up is Jock. Jock is the name of Winston Churchill's cat, who lives at Chartwell. Furthermore, Garfield and the Cheshire Cat are just as well known as anyone else. The Garfield comics still find their way into the comics section of the newspaper to this day. Similarly, the Cheshire Cat got itself a key role in the Alice in Wonderland movies by Lewis Carroll. These are some of the most notable tabby cats in the world. (yeah its long)
There are many stages in a cat's life and also many things to take into account when feeding them. In their lives, there are different developmental stages. The first one is kitten, starting when the cat is born up until they are six months old, which is about when they stop growing, although they still grow until one year old. After that, they go to be a junior, then a prime, regular, senior, and cats fifteen years older or older are geriatric. Litters are usually made up of four kittens, but they can have anywhere from two to twelve. To feed a cat, it is important to note that they need taurine, which is found in meat. A cat also needs plenty of water to survive. Lastly, kitten food is not the same as cat food. Kitten food has more of the nutrients the kitten needs to develop than regular cat food. Kittens actually drink their mother's milk until they are about six weeks old, which is when they have weaned off of milk. This is all important to know if adopting or caring for a cat, or just to know as knowledge in general. Tabbies really are the most interesting and best pet. They are playful and good around kids. Tabbies have some of the most beautiful fur of all cats. The stories around them are also just as rich as their personalities. Having a cat be a tabby for cartoons or media seems to be rather popular. To top it off, they even have long lifespans, so it is possible to keep them around for a long time! That is all the really good to know stuff on tabby cats. this was written entirely by me, and my sources, well....thats its own page qwq
