Conference misery::feline_v1

I live with two boys and two girls:

one of my boys, Nicholas, has white mustache, bib and tummy, and feet.  He
keeps all fur SPOTLESS and has a hissy if it gets stained with something...
Sam, on the other hand, is all black, long haired, and quite franky, a little
messy - not a slob, but not really well groomed except on Sundays when I
comb him very carefully.  Hannah, my cream-colored, flame-pointed, blue-eyed
charmer is ALWAYS spotless and well groomed - she works at it all the time.
Tabby, the siamese just doesn't spend much time grooming...and she is, well,
not graceful....actually, she's quite clumsy...so is Sam...but then, Hannah
and Nick are both very graceful and elegant in the their movements.

I think you are seeing individual characteristics much more than you are
seeing "male"/"female" traits....I love the description of IAGO, tho, he
sounds like "one of the guys" from your description...8^}

    Kalliste is all male, there is no doubt about that.  The words that
    best describe him are "regal" and "lionlike".  He walks with the
    gate of a tiger, long and lanky, picking each paw up slowly and
    deliberatly.  He always holds his head up with quiet dignity.
    
    Of the girls, some are tom boyish and some are prissy.  Joui always
    greets me with a little arched back twirl.  I call it her curtsy.
    She has a very sweet quiet voice, and is a bit shy.  
    
    
    Kyrielle on the other hand, enjoys a good brawl every now and then, 
    runs around the house at breakneck speed, and likes to nip my nose 
    and then take off running.  She is big and clumsy and awkward.  She 
    is not into grooming, and expects me to take care of that for her so 
    that she has time for more important things. 
         
    Limoges is a total tomboy.  She is only 7 months old but she is
    always into some mischief.  She shares the tiger like gait of Kalliste
    (they are related so maybe that has something to do with it).  When
    you look at her you think she is a boy, because of her expression
    and because of her size.
    
    I think it is individual characteristics more than male or female
    traits.
    
    Jo

    Our three girls are definitely females in their behavior ...though
    they differ from each other:
    
    Sheba, the Siamese "Dowager Mother" has slowed down at 19, but 
    still manages to give the impression that she wasn't named after
    'the Queen of Sheba' for nothing. ...her nose is usually slightly
    elevated except when she turns to jelly in your arms.. :^)
    
    Sity, Sheba's 17 year old daughter ...and thus a princess, is graceful,
    and elegant in all she does ....except when she turns into a similar
    bundle of jelly.. :^)
    
    Charm (La Charmante=The Enchantress), my Birman baby (ya', I know she's
    not in the kitten class anymore, but she's still my baby..) sashays
    when she walks ...very feminine ..and as bewitching as her name
    implies...  No bundle of jelly here. ...She's got her motor going
    at full speed ahead and everything & everybody under her spell! :^)
    
    Corey, the former stray that my husband has placed even over his
    beloved dog Bandit in his heart (we don't let Bandit know).. is all
    boy (even if the Doc did remove some things after Corey decided we were
    his). He is a tabby Coon-type. ..massive bone structure, ...enormous
    head, huge double paws ...and anything but graceful. His favorite spot
    is draped around Bob's neck as he works in his garden..  He is still 
    wearing the formal white bib left over from the formal wear of his
    'carousing days' ...and when he walks across the room you expect the whole
    house to shake each time he puts down one of those massive paws.
    
    The illusion is lost, though, when he opens his mouth ...and out
    comes this little tiny "meow" ..so soft you can harldy hear it
    ...and then you turn around and see his little pink nose! :^)
                   
    
    Linda ...who luvs 'em!

    
    I had to laugh (and reply) when I read .3  -you see, Iago, my macho
    guy, who also has a huge head, big feet, and is similarly proportioned
    overall, also has an eensy-weensy mew!!!  If you're more than 4
    feet away, its doubtful you'd even hear it!

Little cry...oh yeah, Sam has a little cry...UNTIL he goes into the car
for a trip to the vet or the groomer...THEN you can hear him just fine!

    At least you get a meow!
    
    Smokey, who is part Maine coon (31 toes and all) either chirps or
    whines like a dog with at least 4 separate whines (out, solid food,
    moist food, and come out and play I'm lonely).
    
    If he WERE a dog --- like say a German shepherd, you would remark
    on what a big dog he'll be someday.  I understand I can expect 2 more
    years of growing .... he's 1 year and 16 lbs and while standing
    tippy-toe can rest his front paws on the counter to watch me cook -
    this is still while on the floor in case you're wondering.
    
    His behavior depends on what he wants .... he can either be a herd
    of elephants or he can sneak up on you and you turn around and have
    a hard time balancing.
    
    Both Bandit and Smokey have feminine and masculine features .....
    it is probably each individual cat behavior.
    
    Cathy ( bandit and smokey )

    31 toes!!!  Normal cats only have 18.  I have heard of polydactylism,
    but this is ridiculous!  Where the heck does he put all those extra
    toes (almost a whole 'nother cat's worth)?  Maybe you should sign
    him up for the majors!!
    
    :^}
    
    Jo

    Well ... if you think THAT is impressive ...... let me continue.
    Smokey has a solid grey back, polka dots (grey) on a while tummy and
    a zebra mask on his face (very dark vs white) and the rest of him
    is just grey tabby.
    
    As for where does he put his extra toes??? you ask?????  Well, on the
    front feet he uses the extra toes like a thumb and bleieve it or not
    he uses it as a thumb for some things.  On the hind feet there are
    some little tiny ones in front of the big toes and some VERY LONG ones�
    one the end.  When he stretches sideways on a king sized bed - the two
    humans must either be on their sides (on the edge) or give up and
    get up.
    
    In other notes I have described how he fetches etc.  Then, we have
    recently found out he really IS like Garfield.  He'll beg.  We say cats
    don't like X.  He'll ask again and we will put down X to prove our
    point and scoff it's gone.
    
    p.s. in the middle of the night after he has dipped a paw in his water
    dish and then runs the paw accross your cheek you know who the culprit
    is by how much of your face is covered.  Not to leave out his last
    present to me at 3:30 a.m. - the largest night crawler I've ever seen.
    
    Cathy (bandit and Smokey)

    I've never stopped to count how many toes Argus has, but is Smokey
    TRIPLE pawed on the front and double on the back? (That is what Argus
    is, and he has the hugest feet that I've ever seen). I've got two
    polydactyles and I think it is so neat to watch them really use their
    extra paws as thumbs.

    Deb

                          Just my babies! :-)
    
    I don't think cats are particular about how we humans class "feminine"
    or "masculine" behavior.  They just do what comes easiest and most
    naturally to them, (really, has you ever known a cat to do anything
    else anyway??!?!?
    
    Take my two:  (Please not literally, I wouldn't part with them for
    all the tea in China.)
    
    Panther:  She is a Havana Brown, looks like a siamease, with a solid
    black coat with red highlites.  To look at she is the most feminine
    cat, she has little tiny feet, no extra toes, and a little tiny
    voice, (No big mouth for this little girl)  even her purr is very
    quiet, sometimes I have to put my hand on her to see if I can FEEL
    her purring.  But in behavior, well that is quite another story!
    
    When she walks she stomps, you'd swear it was another cat that just
    came pounding into the room.  She is also quite athletic, she loves
    to rough-house and do aerobics, and ariel stunts.  Her favorite
    game is "Mummy toss the ping-pong ball down the stairs so I can
    go flying!!"  She'll play for hours, as long as I want to keep running
    back up the stairs to throw the ball.  (NO Mummie, We DO NOT FETCH!)
    
    Spot, also known in our house as Big Cat, is part Maine Coon and
    is huge!  (At least to us, she is big for a female.)  She has great
    big feet, (We call them her bear paws, no extra toes, Just BIG feet and
    the large bone structure that goes with her noble heritage.  She
    is tall and blocky and mostly black with a white heart on her chest
    and a white bikini, (yes bra and panties in the appropriate places.)
    
    In behavior she is different, she has very pretty voice and uses
    it.  She always murphs or chrips hello, and what and questions you
    closley whenever there is any food preperation going on.  (She just
    knows that all the food in the house really belongs to her, she
    just allows me to buy it cook it store it etc, she is not real happy
    about having to share it wiht the rest of the family though.
    
    She even joins in to any family discussions that go on between Me
    and Jerry.  She always sides with Jerry, Well she is his cat!
    
    She tip-toes around the house, you never hear a sound out of those
    big paws when she is walking.  Running is another matter!!  She
    sounds like a herd of horses when she is chasing after Panther,
    or running from window to window to see what the birds are doing
    outside.  Also she is very clever with those big feet, she loves
    to play hockey and soccer with foil balls ping pong balls or whatever,
    but she is clumsey when jumping or going up the stairs.  It's funny
    to see a cat trip over her own feet when going up the stairs at
    full tilt and then try to look like some other cat made that silly
    mistake.
    
    To each her(his) own.  They don't seem to mind how we label them
    as long as we love them and feed them.
    
    Feline fine,
    
    Sue & Panther & Spot
    

    Deb (and others)
    
    You are sort of right.  Some of his front toes have toes.  When he had
    claws he could not walk on rugs as some of the useless claws as well as
    some of the usefull ones would get caught even in a relatively short
    fibered carpet.  Once declawed he could get around with the best of
    them.
    
    Yes, most of the extra toes in front are clustered into a thumb.  He
    crosses the thumb under the rest of the foot when picking something
    up and batting it such as a tiny snow ball or a plastic cap etc.  
    
    As I said it is hard to tell if he would have had tufts between the
    toes, but he has no room but toes on the feet.  He does have tufts in
    the ears though.
    
    The only reason I counted toes in the first place is when I TRIED to 
    clip the nails myself, gave up, took them to be clipped and even the
    professional groomer would miss some although she had been WARNED what
    to look for.  I would just get him home, put him down, and he'd be
    stuck.  Next time at the groomers I would explain they'd missed a few -
    she'd scratch her head and when I would pick him up say "I KNOW I"VE
    GOT THEM ALL NOW!!!"  Return home ..... yep ... you guessed it.  I 
    decided to do a toe count and there were 31 claws.  Some of the toes
    were enormous and some teeny, but they are all there.  Actually I think
    they give him better balance especially when walking on hind legs and
    using the front ones on the counter to walk around supervising me.
    
    Actually he is realtively polite unless it is turkey and gravy, turkey
    burger or something with cheese. Then I have to be strict and ban him
    until his share is ready.
    
    Cathy (Smokey & bandit)