The Brains

All senses and hormone-producing glands send signals to the brains, where they interpret the signals, before the body is controlled by the nervous system. The brains also send signals to the most important hormone-producer; the pituitary gland. Brain activity needs a big dose of energy, and even though the brains are less than one percent bodyweight, it receives twenty percent of the blood that is being pumped through the heart.

The cat brain exists out of billions of special cells; neurons. Every cell has to 10.000 connections with other cells. If a cat is seven weeks old, the messaged travel through the brains with a speed of 390 km per hour. This speed drops when the cat gets older.

The brains of a cat look like of that from a small mammal, anatomy-wise. The cerebellum coördinate and streamline the movements from the muscles. The cerebrum control the learning, emotion and behavior. The brain stem forms the connection with the nervous system. The network of cells is called the “limbic system”, integrate the instinct and learning ability.

The Hormones
The hormones that are produced in the brain regulate the most functions, like the speed of the metabolism and the creation of cortisol in the adrenal glands in response to danger. The production of the sex hormones and all that has to do with that, are regulated by the follicle stimulated hormone (FSH) with female cats, and  is regulated by the Luteinizing hormone (LH) with male cats.

Resource
Cats / Focus by Bruce Fogle

Excuse me if there are any mistakes. I had trouble translating a few words.

Eye colors & Shapes – part 3

Don’t worry, this is the last part about color variations.
You can find part 1 here, and part 2 here.

Color variations
The eye color is genetically determined. Pigment-cells in the iris contain brown, black or yellow particles. Blue and green eyes are caused by reflection of light by different colored pigment.

Blue eyes
Because of the lack of pigment in blue eyes, there is more sunlight absorbed that is used to make vitamin D. That’s why cats with blue eyes are usually found in areas where there isn’t much sunlight.

Yellow eyes
This color looks the most like the eye color of wild cats. A lot of green eyes are brown or yellow first before they get their final color. Copper colored eyes often become ‘blur’ when the cat gets older.

Green eyes
Green eyes are common with breedless cats. Some breeds distinguish themselves with different shades of green. The sea colored eyes of the Chinchilla are probably an intermediate color to blue.

Kittens are born with blue eyes. The color will change when they grow older. Full grown cats can have eyes in the colors green, orange, yellow, green, copper and blue.

Resource
Cats/Focus by Dr. Bruce Fogle
Picture
Flickr.com

Eye Colors & Shapes – Part 2

You can read part 1 here.

Last time I talked about eye colors, but today it will be about eye-shapes.

Eye Shapes
The eyes of a wild cat are oval and a bit slanted. Even though the preference of North American breeders are round, big eyes. The breeds that look the most like a wild cats, like the Maine Coon, have those “wild” eyes. Breeders have made the natural form of the eyes rounder and sharper.

The soft drawing around the eyes from the Blue British Shorthair accentuates the round shape.

Old western breeds like the Chartreux have round eyes, oriental breeds have almond-shaped eyes. Even though there are a few ‘oriental’ breeds with round eyes, like the Burmese. Extremity in the shape can lead to problems. A very round head with a flat face infects easily. Slanted eyes can get slimy, and infect easily as well.

A long head ensures tension on the upper eyelid. The eyes of a Devon Rex are ellipse-shaped and are called 'oriental'.

Eye Colors & Shapes – Part 1

A Siamese with blue eyes.

One of the most beautiful things of a cats are their eyes. Those intense big eyes are attractive, and a lot of breeders want specific eye colors.

Eye colors
Because of all the breeding a lot of eye colors are created. From blue to green and orange. The wild cat has brown to copper colored eyes and sometimes yellow or green. Most of the time the eye color is independent of the coat color, but with some breeds the eye color has to be a specific color. Like silver tabbies, who have to have a green eye color, but genetically a copper color or gold is possible too.

Golden eyes.

The only eye color that is related to the coat color is blue. Blue is caused by a form of albinism, this also means that there isn’t any pigment created in the coat and in the iris. White cats with blue eyes are often deaf, or have

a bigger chance in becoming deaf. Because the gene that is responsible for

the lack of pigment, is also related to the gene that dries up the hearing fluid in the ear.

The blue eyes of a Siamese are caused by something else. This has to do with a bad three dimensional sight. But this also caused the cats to squint. But the breeders have bred this out of the breed.