Cat

If faced with conflicting evidence, the safe choice is to keep a cat indoors. The GAA sought to promote traditional Irish sports, such as hurling and to reject "foreign" (particularly English) imports. FELV (feline leukemia), FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus), or rabies may be present in the area. There was no serious attempt to unify and codify Irish varieties of football, until the establishment of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in 1884. Coyotes kill large numbers of housecats in the Southwestern United States, even in urban zones. Caid had begun to give way to a "rough-and-tumble game" which even allowed tripping. Additional concerns include potential dangers from larger predators and infectious diseases. The rules of the English FA were being distributed widely.

Pet owners can contact veterinarians, ecological organizations, and universities for opinions about whether local conditions are suitable for outdoor cats. Trinity College, Dublin was an early stronghold of Rugby (see the Developments in the 1850s section, above). Environmental concerns may be minimal in most of England where cats are an established species and few to none of the local prey species are endangered. By the 1870s, Rugby and Association football had started to become popular in Ireland. Serious concerns also exist in places such as Florida where housecats are not native, where several small sized endangered species live near human populations, and where the climate allows cats to breed throughout the year. "Wrestling", "holding" opposing players, and carrying the ball were all allowed. The most severe impact occurs with island ecologies. Ferris, described two main forms of caid during this period: the "field game" in which the object was to put the ball through arch-like goals, formed from the boughs of two trees, and; the epic "cross-country game" which took up most of the daylight hours of a Sunday on which it was played, and was won by one team taking the ball across a parish boundary.

The amount of ecological damage done by indoor/outdoor cats depends on local conditions. One observer, Father W. Owners who can no longer keep their cats would do best to give them to friends, rescue organizations, or shelters. Main article: History of Gaelic football. In the mid-19th century, various traditional football games, referred to collectively as caid, remained popular in Ireland, especially in County Kerry. Nearly all studies agree that abandoned animals lead hard lives. (The Canadian Rugby Union was not formed until 1965.) American football was also frequently described as "rugby" in the 1880s. Part of this stems from humane concern for the cats themselves and part arises from concerns about cat predation on endangered species. For example, the Canadian Rugby Football Union, founded in 1884 was the forerunner of the Canadian Football League, rather than a Rugby Union body.

The environmental impact of feral cat programs and of indoor/outdoor cats is a subject of debate. One of these was that Canadian football, for many years, did not officially distinguish itself from rugby. Many hope to see an end to urban feral cat colonies through these efforts. Over the years Canadian football absorbed some developments in American football, but also retained many unique characteristics. In time, if an entire colony is successfully spayed and neutered, no additional kittens are born and the feral colony disappears. successful tackles). Volunteers continue to feed and give care to these cats throughout their lives, and not only is their lifespan greatly increased, but behavior and nuisance problems, due to competition for food, are also greatly reduced. These were complemented in 1882 by another of Camp's innovations: a team had to surrender possession if they did not gain five yards after three downs (i.e.

Before release back into their feral colonies, the attending veterinarian nips the tip off one ear to mark the feral as spayed/neutered and inoculated, as these cats will more than likely find themselves trapped again. In 1880, Yale coach Walter Camp, devised a number of major changes to the American game, beginning with the reduction of teams from 15 to 11 players, followed by reduction of the field area by almost half, and; the introduction of the scrimmage, in which a player heeled the ball backwards, to begin a game. However, there are thousands of volunteers and organizations that trap these unadoptable feral felines, spay or neuter them, immunize the cats against rabies and feline leukemia, and treat them with long-lasting flea products. US colleges did not generally return to soccer until the early twentieth century. In addition, they have little defense or understanding of the dangers from dogs, coyotes, and even automobiles. Princeton, Rutgers and others continued to compete using soccer-based rules for a few years before switching to the rugby-based rules of Harvard and its competitors. Although cats are adaptable, feral felines are unable to thrive in extreme cold and heat, and with a protein requirement of about 90%, few find adequate nutrition on their own in cities. The convention decided that, in the US game, four touchdowns would be worth one goal; in the event of a tied score, a goal converted from a touchdown would take precedence over four touch-downs.

Urban areas are not native environments to the cat; most domestic cats were artificially selected from cats in desert climates and were distributed throughout the world by humans, but some feral cat colonies are found in large cities, for example, around the Colosseum and Forum Romanum in Rome. However, a touch-down (as it was also known in rugby football at the time) only counted toward the score if neither side kicked a field goal. The average lifespan of these feral cats is much shorter than a domestic housecat, which can live an average of sixteen years or more. In 1876, at the Massasoit Convention, it was agreed by these universities to adopt most of the Rugby Football Union rules. Many lost or abandoned pet cats join these colonies out of desperation. Within a few years, however, Harvard had both adopted McGill's rugby rules and had persuaded other US university teams to do the same. Feral cats may live alone, but most are found in large groups called feral colonies with communal nurseries, depending on resource availability. This made it easy for Harvard to adapt to the rugby-based game played by McGill and the two teams alternated between their respective sets of rules.

Not only males will fight; females will also fight over territory or to defend their kittens and even neutered cats will defend their small territories vigorously. At the time, Harvard students are reported to have played the "Boston Game" — a running code — rather than the FA-based kicking games favored by US universities. Sexually active males may be engaged in many fights over their lives and often have decidedly weathered faces with obvious scars and cuts to the ears and nose. Modern American football grew out of a match between McGill University of Montreal, and Harvard University in 1874. Attacks usually comprise powerful slaps to the face and body with the forepaws as well as bites, but serious damage is rarely done, and usually the loser runs away with little more than a few scratches to the face. This is also often considered to be the first US game of college football, in the sense of a game between colleges (although the eventual form of American football would come from rugby, not soccer). Fighting cats make themselves look larger by raising their fur and arching their backs. The first match generally said to have occurred under English FA (soccer) rules in the USA was a game between Princeton and Rutgers in 1869.

Outside of these neutral areas, territory holders usually vigorously chase away strangers, at first by staring, hissing, and growling, and if that does not work by short but noisy and violent attacks. The game gradually gained a following, and the Montreal Football Club was formed in 1868, the first recorded football club in Canada. While each cat holds a distinct territory (sexually active males having the largest territories, and neutered cats having the smallest), there are "neutral" areas where cats watch and greet one another without territorial conflict or aggression. However, the first game of "rugby" in Canada is generally said to have taken place in Montreal, in 1865, when British Army officers played local civilians. Some breeds like bengal, ocicat and manx are very social, but these breeds are exceptions. Bethune devised rules based on the Rugby School game. Despite its reputation as a solitary animal, the domestic cat is social enough to form colonies, but does not attack in groups as do lions. Barlow Cumberland and Frederick A.

They may even present such victims, dead or maimed, to a beloved owner, perhaps expecting their owner to praise or reward them, or possibly even complete the kill and eat the mouse. In 1864, at Trinity College, Toronto, F. Many pet cats successfully hunt and kill rabbits, rodents, birds, lizards, frogs, fish, and large insects by instinct, but might not eat their prey. The club may have invented the "Boston Game", a running code which was being played several years later in Massachusetts. Hunting in the barns and the fields, they kill and eat rodents that would otherwise spoil large parts of the grain crop. However, the rules that the Oneida club used are also unknown, and it was formed before the FA rules were formulated. In rural areas, farms often have dozens of semi-feral cats. It has often been said that this club was the first to play soccer outside Britain.

Indoor confinement of pets and TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return) programs for feral cats can help in this situation; some people also use cat deterrents to discourage cats from entering their property. The first "football club" in the USA was the short-lived Oneida Football Club in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1862. Unaltered animals can engage in persistent nighttime calling (caterwauling) and defecation or "marking" on private property. A football club was formed at the university soon afterwards, although its rules of play at this stage are unclear: it is not known whether they played a kicking or handling game, or both, and its members mostly played against each other. In urban areas, some people find feral and free roaming pet cats annoying and intrusive. The first documented football match in Canada was a game played at University College, University of Toronto on November 9, 1861. Recent studies have indicated the humans who are exposed to cats or dogs within the first year of their lives develop few animal allergies, while most adults who are allergic to animals did not have a cat or a dog as a pet in childhood. In 1827, a Harvard University student composed a humorous epic poem called The Battle of the Delta, one of the first accounts of football in American universities.

Many chose to cope with cat allergies by taking prescription allergy medicine and bathing their cats frequently, since weekly bathing will eliminate about 90% of the cat dander present in the environment. By the 1820s, a game known as Ballown was being played at the College of New Jersey (later known as Princeton University) and Old Division Football was being played at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire. However, in some instances, humans find the rewards of cat companionship outweigh the discomfort and problems associated with allergies. As was the case in Britain, by the early 19th century, North American schools and universities played their own local games, between sides made up of students. Allergies to cat dander are one of the most common reasons people cite for disliking cats. (Ironically, Blackheath now lobbied to ban hacking.) The first official RFU rules were adopted in June 1871. Some owners like to train their cat to perform "tricks" commonly exhibited by dogs such as jumping. However, there was no generally accepted set of rules for rugby until 1871, when 21 clubs in England came together to form the Rugby Football Union (RFU).

finding a bug crawling on the floor for the owner to get rid of). There were also "rugby" clubs in Ireland, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The cat may also be capable of learning to communicate with the human using non-spoken language or body language such as rubbing for affection (confirmation), facial expressions and making eye-contact with the owner if something needs to be addressed (e.g. In Britain, by 1870, there were about 75 clubs playing variations of the Rugby School game, including Blackheath (founded in 1858 and arguably the world's oldest surviving, non-university rugby club). Other behaviors could include mimicking sounds of the owner or using certain sounds the cat picks up from the human; sounds representing specific needs of the cat, which the owner would recognize. These first FA rules still contained elements that are recognisable in other games for instance, a player could make a fair catch and claim a mark and if a player touched the ball behind the opponents' goal line, his side was entitled to a free kick at the goal 15 yards from the goal line. Such behavior may include a trip to the litter box before bedtime and snuggling up close to its companion in bed or on the sofa. After the final meeting on 8 December the FA published the "Laws of Football", the first comprehensive set of rules for the game later known as Association football (or, colloquially, soccer).

When a cat bonds with its human owner, at times, the cat may display behaviors similar to that of the human. The motion was carried nonetheless but at the final meeting, Campbell withdrew his club from the FA. Some people (known as cat lovers) go to great lengths to pamper their cats, sometimes treating them almost as if they were children. He said, "hacking is the true football". Some humans keep cats for companionship as pets. Campbell, the representative from Blackheath and the first FA treasurer, objected strongly. Human attitudes toward cats vary widely. W.

However, cats can be very affectionate towards their humans, especially if they imprint on them at a very young age and are treated with consistent affection. Most of the delegates were favourable to this suggestion but F. Thus, communicating with such an animal is problematic, and cats in particular are labelled as opaque or inscrutable, if not obtuse, as well as aloof and self-sufficient. At the fifth meeting a motion was proposed that these two rules be expunged from the FA rules. No such communications skills are required of the lone hunter. The two contentious draft rules were as follows:. This requires a cooperative effort, which in turn requires communications skills. The Cambridge rules differed from the draft FA rules in two significant areas; namely 'running with the ball' and 'hacking' (kicking an opponent in the shins).

A dog's odor, on the other hand, is an advantage, for a dog is a pack hunter; part of the pack stations itself upwind, and its odor drives prey towards the rest of the pack stationed downwind. At the beginning of the fourth meeting, attention was drawn to the fact that a number of newspapers had recently published the Cambridge Rules of 1863. The "purpose" of this cleanliness is to help hide the cat's presence while stalking prey. At the close of the third meeting, a draft set of rules were published that most of the delegates were happy to endorse, but this agreement was not to last. It is no coincidence that cats are also "clean" animals, the chemistry of their saliva, expended in frequent grooming, acting as a natural deodorant. In total, six meetings were held between October and December 1863. Despite occasional cohabitation in colonies, cats are lone hunters. Rugby, Eton and Winchester did not even reply.

The venerable simile "like herding cats" refers to the seeming intractability of the ordinary house cat to be trained in the manner of the dog. With the exception of Thring at Uppingham, most schools declined. A cat that is good at hunting rodents is referred to as a mouser. The first meeting resulted in the issuing of a request for representatives of the public schools to join the association. Unlike the dog, which also kills rodents, the cat did not eat grains, fruits, or vegetables. The aim was to produce a single code of football that everybody could agree to and to set up a governing body for the regulation of the game. Since the benefit of removing rats and mice from humans' food stores outweighed the cost of allowing a formerly wild animal to enjoy the relative safety of a human settlement, the relationship between cat and human flourished. Charterhouse was the only school represented at that first meeting.

Cats, however, have done so for a much shorter time than almost all other domesticated animals, and the degree of domestication of cats is somewhat disputed. The meeting had been called, not by public school figures, but by members of several football clubs in the London Metropolitan area. Like some other domesticated animals, cats live in a mutualistic arrangement with humans. It was the world's first official football body. one blue eye and one amber eye. On the evening of October 26, 1863 at the Freemason's Tavern in Great Queen Street, London, The Football Association (FA) met for the first time. Apart from the Turkish Angora, there are also many non-pedigree white cats that have odd eyes, i.e. This later revised version of the Cambridge Rules rules were to form the basis of what eventually became the rules adopted by The Football Association (FA).

It was not until recently that colored Turkish Angoras were allowed to be shown, making deafness an issue in that breed. In early October of 1863 a new revised set of Cambridge Rules rules were drawn up by a seven man committee representing former pupils from Harrow, Shrewsbury, Eton, Rugby, Marlborough and Westminster. ^[21] Some breeds however, such as the Turkish Angora are based on all white cats and produce a higher percentage of deaf cats as a results. Thring, who had been one of the driving forces behind the original Cambridge Rules, was now a master at Uppingham School and he issued his own rules of what he called "The Simplest Game" (these are also known as the Uppingham Rules). Many people believe that deaf white cats should not be used for breeding as it is not ethical to propagate such a disability, and instead deaf cats should be spayed or neutered to avoid passing the trait to their offspring. C. Very few survive in the wild because of all the hazards that they cannot avoid as easily as other cats would in the same situation. In 1862, J.

Around 5% of all cats are completely white, of which 10%–20% are deaf. The official name of the code is now Australian football. Humans with common albinism, white skin and blue eyes generally suffer from visual problems, but in Tietz syndrome they suffer from deafness. By 1866, however, several other clubs in the Colony of Victoria had agreed to play an updated version of the Melbourne FC rules, which were later known as "Victorian Rules" and/or "Australasian Rules". This may diminish the cats' visual acuity, but the extent is not known. Australian Rules is sometimes said to be the first form of football to be codified but — as was the case in all kinds of football at the time, there was no official body supporting the rules — and play varied from one club to another. ^[20] Often, blue eyes will lack a tapetum lucidum and thus will not reflect like colored cat eyes. The 1859 rules did not include some elements which would soon become important to the game, such as the requirement to bounce the ball while running.

^[19] However, blindness in cats has not found to be associated with the W gene. The club had a strong and long-standing association with the Melbourne Cricket Club and cricket ovals — which vary in size and are much larger than the fields used in other forms of football — became the standard playing field. This also occurs with dogs if they have white coat and blue eyes, and in the case of dogs, it can be equally common for them to be born blind. However, running while holding the ball was allowed and although it was not specified in the rules, an oval ball (like those later used in rugby) was used. Blue eyes can also result from the form of albinism characteristic of the siamese breed; white cats from this genetic background, sometimes called Foreign whites or Oriental Shorthairs may not have a problem with deafness, but it can happen if the cat inherits the W gene. A free kick was awarded for a mark (clean catch). ^[18] Any cat that receives even one W from one parent may exhibit this. These men had similar backgrounds to Wills and their code also had pronounced similarities to the Sheffield rules, most notably in the absence of an offside rule.

Blue irises can result, and they are linked to deafness. Harrison). This gene produces a white coat because it completely masks any other color or pattern the cat has. A. The deafness is an effect of the W gene. C. Completely white cats (not due to albinism, but white because of the dominant epistatic white (W) gene) with two blue eyes have a forty percent probability of being born deaf. Thompson and Thomas Smith (some sources include H.

Kittens are weaned at between six and seven weeks, and cats normally reach sexual maturity at six months (females) to seven months (males). B. The size of a litter averages three to five kittens, with the first litter usually smaller than subsequent litters. Hammersley, J. The gestation period for cats is approximately 60 days. J. Furthermore, cats are superfecund; that is, a female may mate with more than one male when she is in heat, meaning different kittens in a litter may have different fathers. They were drawn up at the Parade Hotel, East Melbourne on May 17, by Wills, W.

Because of this, females are rarely impregnated by the first male with which they mate. The club's rules of 1859 are the oldest surviving set of laws for Australian Rules. The female needs this stimulation for ovulation to begin. The Melbourne Football Club was also founded in 1858 and is the oldest surviving Australian football club, but the rules it used during its first season are unknown. Upon withdrawal of the penis, the spines rake the walls of the female's vagina. It appears that Australian Rules also has some similarities to the Indigenous Australian game of Marn Grook (see above). The male cat's penis has spines which point backwards. There were pronounced similarities between Wills's game and Gaelic football (as it would be codified in 1887).

A heat period lasts about 4 to 7 days if the female is bred; if she is not, the heat period lasts longer and recurs at regular intervals. The extent to which Wills was directly influenced by British and Irish football games is unknown, but there were similarities between some of them and his game. Cats are seasonally polyestrous, which means they may have many heat periods over the course of a year. Wills had been educated in England, at Rugby School and had played cricket for Cambridge University. If a cat is continually exposed to water from a very young age, often it will develop a fondness for it; however, this rarely if ever occurs naturally. Tom Wills began to develop Australian Rules football in Melbourne during 1858. Most cats dislike immersion in water, but one exception is the Turkish Van cat. (For more details see: Oldest football clubs.).

Although certain breeds such as the Norwegian Forest Cat and Maine Coon have developed more protection than others, they have little resistance against fog, rain and snow and struggle to maintain their 39 °C (102 °F) body temperature when wet. By the end of the 1850s, many clubs had been formed throughout the English-speaking world, to play various codes of football. Being closely related to desert animals, cats can withstand the heat and cold of a temperate climate, but not for long periods. In 1867 the Sheffield Football Association was formed by a number of clubs in the local area and the Sheffield clubs continued to play by their own rules until they decided to fall in line with the FA in 1878.). People start to feel uncomfortable when their skin's temperature gets higher than about 44.5 °C (112 °F), but cats don't start to show signs of discomfort until their skin reaches about 52 °C (126 °F). (How long this set of rules lasted is unclear, but by 1866, when Sheffield played a combined FA side, they were employing their own version of offside that differed from the FA rule. Cats like to be a lot warmer than humans do. There were some similarities to the Cambridge Rules, but players were allowed to push or hit the ball with their hands, and there was no offside rule at all, so that players known as 'kick throughs' could be permanently positioned near the opponents' goal.

Cats enjoy heat and solar exposure, often sleeping in a warm area during the heat of the day. Creswick and Prest devised their own version of football: the Sheffield Rules. In North Africa there are still small wildcats that are probably related closely to the ancestors of today's domesticated breeds. It was founded by former Harrow School pupils Nathaniel Creswick and William Prest, in 1857. They are able to remain motionless for long periods, especially when observing prey and preparing to pounce. Sheffield Football Club also has a claim to be the world's oldest football club, in the sense of a club not attached to a school or university. Their feces are usually dry, and cats prefer to bury them in sandy places. Dublin University Football Club — founded at Trinity College, Dublin in 1854 and later famous as a bastion of the Rugby School game — is arguably the world's oldest football club in any code.

Wild cats are native to all continents other than Australasia and Antarctica. The increasing interest and development of the various English football games was shown in 1851, when William Gilbert, a shoemaker from Rugby, exhibited both round and oval-shaped balls at the Great Exhibition in London. The wild cat, ancestor of the domestic cat, is believed to have evolved in a desert climate, as evident in the behavior common to both the domestic and wild forms. However, the Cambridge Rules were not widely adopted. One popular, relatively inexpensive alternative to declawing is the application of vinyl nail caps that are affixed to the claws with nontoxic glue, requiring periodic replacement when the cat sheds its claw sheaths (usually every four to six weeks). Handling was only allowed for a player to take a clean catch entitling them to a free kick and there was a primitive offside rule, disallowing players from "loitering" around the opponents' goal. In Britain, where the prevailing style of ownership is indoor/outdoor, shelters find it difficult to rehome imported cats that had previously been declawed. The rules clearly favour the kicking game.

Some cats that are not declawed and cannot be retrained are either abandoned or turned in to animal shelters, where they may be euthanized. No copy of these rules now exists, but a revised version from circa 1856 is held in the library of Shrewsbury School. However, many American cats are still declawed, often when the owner finds that it is the only option for keeping the cat (sometimes it is mandated by landlords). An eight-hour meeting produced what amounted to the first set of modern rules, known as the Cambridge Rules. If a cat is not declawed at an early age, it becomes too dangerous to declaw them when they are older. Thring, who were both formerly at Shrewsbury School, called a meeting at Trinity College, Cambridge with 12 other representatives from Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Winchester and Shrewsbury. Additionally, some experts believe that declawed cats are more inclined to bite. J.C.

Declawing surgery requires anesthesia, which carries with it a small risk of death. de Winton and Mr. Some doctors believe that a loss of the cat's claws causes a loss of its ability to balance on thin objects, such as rails or balconies. H. Other experts mention difficulties with the cat's typical stretching and exercise habits, which can lead to muscle atrophy. In 1848 at Cambridge University, Mr. Where it is legal, some cat veterinarians refuse to do this type of surgery because it deprives the cat of its main defense ability, although cats usually learn to donkey kick or rake with their hind claws in defense. While local rules for athletics could be easily understood by visiting schools, it was nearly impossible for schools to play each other at football, as each school played by its own rules.

^[17]. Inter-school sporting competitions became possible. In Germany and Switzerland, declawing cats is explicitly forbidden by the laws against cruelty to animals.^[16] In many other European countries, it is also forbidden under the terms of the European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals, unless "a veterinarian considers [such] non-curative procedures necessary either for veterinary medical reasons or for the benefit of any particular animal". The boom in rail transport in Britain during the 1840s meant that people were able to travel further and with less inconvenience than they ever had before. This operation is rare outside of North America. This further assisted the spread of the Rugby game. Declawing is not a simple procedure; serious complications can arise, such as an increased risk of infections, or life-long discomfort in the cat's paws. These were the first set of written rules (or code) for any form of football.

Some people are opposed to declawing, claiming it is inhumane. In 1845, three boys at Rugby School were tasked with codifying the rules then being used at the school. This major surgery removes the tip of each digit (from the first knuckle out) of the cat's forepaws. However, some have argued that this club is too poorly documented to be considered to have existed since that time. Some cat owners choose to have their cat declawed (onychectomy). The club is said to have played the Rugby School game. Indoor cats will also benefit from being provided with a scratching post so they are less likely to ruin furniture with their claws.^[15] Nails can be trimmed, but care should be taken to avoid cutting a vein in the quick of the claw. For example, it is said that the world's first "football club" (that is one which was not part of a school or university), was the Guy's Hospital Football Club, founded in London in 1843.

^[14]. During this period, the Rugby School rules appear to have spread at least as far, perhaps further, than the other schools' games. When training is complete, the cat uses the toilet by perching over the bowl. At Charterhouse and Westminster the boys were confined to playing their ball game within the cloisters making the rough and tumble of the handling game difficult. For a short time, an adapter, such as a bowl or small box, may be used to suspend the litter above the toilet bowl. The division into these two camps was partly the result of circumstances in which the games were played. Training involves two or three weeks of incremental moves, such as moving and elevating the litterbox until it is near the toilet. Some favoured a game in which the ball could be carried (as at Rugby, Marlborough and Cheltenham), whilst others preferred a game where kicking and dribbling the ball was promoted (as at Eton, Harrow, Westminster and Charterhouse).

In addition, some cats may be toilet trained, eliminating the litterbox and its attending expense and odor. Soon, two schools of thought about how football should be played had developed. Transmission risk may be reduced by daily litterbox cleaning. However, by 1841 (some sources say 1842), running with the ball had become acceptable at Rugby, as long as a player gathered the ball on the full or from a bounce, he was not offside and he did not pass the ball. Litterboxes may pose a risk of toxoplasmosis transmission to susceptible pregnant women and immuno-compromised individuals. In 1823 William Webb Ellis, a pupil at Rugby School, is said to have "showed a fine disregard for the rules of football, as played in his time" by picking up the ball and running to the opponents' goal, but the evidence for this bold act does not stand up to close examination. ^[13]) A litterbox is recommended for indoor-outdoor cats as well. Each school drafted their own rules as they saw fit and they often varied widely and were changed over time with each new intake of pupils.

It should be cleaned daily and changed often (depending on the number of cats in a household and the type of litter—clumping litter stays cleaner longer, but has been reported to cause health problems in some cats. Football had come to be adopted by a number of public schools as a way of encouraging competitiveness and keeping youths fit. This arrangement serves the same purpose as a toilet for humans. These gradually evolved into the modern football games that we know today. Indoor cats may be provided a litter box containing sand or similar commercial material (litter). Thus the public school boys, who were free from constant toil, became the inventors of organised football games with formal codes of rules. Cats expend nearly as much fluid grooming as they do urinating. Feast day football on the public highway was at an end.

Hairballs can be prevented with certain cat foods and remedies that ease elimination of the hair. They had neither the time nor the inclination to engage in sport for recreation and, at the time, many children were part of the labour force. Longhair cats are more prone to this than shorthairs. By the early 19th century, (before the Factory Act of 1850), most working class people in Britain had to work six days a week, often for over twelve hours a day. Some cats occasionally regurgitate hair balls of fur that have collected in their stomachs as a result of their grooming. Frankland also mentions the "Football Fields" at Eton. Many cats also enjoy grooming humans or other cats. Nugae Etonenses (1766) by T.

Some people who are allergic to cats - typically manifested by hay fever, asthma or a skin rash - quickly acclimate themselves to a particular animal and live comfortably in the same house with it, while retaining an allergy to cats in general. He describes how "...we may play quoits, or hand-ball, or bat-and-ball, or football; these games are innocent and lawful...". Their saliva is a powerful cleaning agent, but it can provoke allergic reactions in humans. The first specific mention of football can be found in a Latin poem by Robert Matthew, a Winchester scholar from 1643 to 1647. They groom themselves by licking their fur. Horman had been headmaster at Eton College and Winchester and his Latin textbook includes a translation exercise with the phrase "We wyll playe with a ball full of wynde". Cats are known for their cleanliness. The earliest evidence that games resembling football were being played at English public schools — attended by boys from the upper, upper-middle and professional classes — comes from the Vulgaria by William Horman in 1519.

In some cases, cats have contributed to or caused extinctions — for example, see the case of the Stephens Island Wren. (The Duke also presented the ball before the match — a ritual that continues to this day.) In 1835, the British Highways Act banned the playing of football on public highways, with a maximum penalty of forty shillings. Cats can be destructive to ecosystems in which they are not native and whose species did not have time to adapt to their introduction. In 1827, the annual Alnwick Shrove Tuesday game proceeded only after the Duke of Northumberland provided a field for the game to be played on. Because of their small size, domestic cats pose almost no danger to humans—the only hazard is the possibility of infection (or, rarely, rabies) from a cat bite or scratch. Even in the early modern era, efforts were made to ban football at a local level, and force it off the streets. Some people discourage the use of laser pointers for play with pets, however, because of the risk of eye damage and the loss of satisfaction (especially for cats) associated with the successful capture of prey. Charles II of England gave the game royal approval in 1681 when he attended a fixture between the Royal Household and the Duke of Albemarle's servants.

This is because, if the string is ingested, it can be caught in the cat’s stomach or intestines causing illness or, in extreme cases, death. In the period following the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell had some success in suppressing football games, although they became even more popular following the Restoration, in 1660. However, string is more often being replaced with a red dot laser pointer. ("Spurn" literally means to kick away, thus implying that the game involved kicking a ball between players.). This propensity is probably related to their hunting instinct. Shakespeare also mentions the game in A Comedy of Errors (Act II Scene 1):. This notorious love of string is often depicted in cartoons and photographs, which show kittens or cats playing with balls of yarn. Shakespeare's play King Lear (which was first published in 1608) contains the line: "Nor tripped neither, you base football player" (Act I Scene 4).

Many cannot resist a dangling piece of string, or a piece of rope drawn randomly and enticingly across the floor. That same year, the modern spelling of the word "football" is first recorded, when it was used disapprovingly by William Shakespeare. Domestic cats, especially young ones, are known for their love of string play. By 1608, the local authorities in Manchester were complaining that:. Many "people foods" are not good for cats; chocolate, for example, can be fatal due to the theobromine found in chocolate (see theobromine poisoning). All of these attempts failed to curb the people's desire to play the game. Additionally, cats have been known to develop a fondness for "people food" such as barbecued chicken, bread, french fries, pepperoni pizza, ice cream, tomato soup, carrot juice, olives, and carnitas burritos, as well as cat diet exotica such as corn kernels and diced cantaloupe. Despite evidence that Henry VIII of England played the game — in 1526, he ordered the first known pair of football boots — in 1540 Henry also attempted a ban.

This mostly happens when the vomeronasal, or Jacobson's, organ becomes sensitized to a specific food, at which point the cat will reject any food that doesn't fit the pattern it is expecting. In Scotland, football was banned by James I in 1424 and by James II in 1457. Cats can be fussy eaters. In England, the outlawing of sport was attempted by Richard II in 1389 and Henry IV in 1401. ^[12]. In France it was banned by Phillippe V in 1319, and again by Charles V in 1369. Eating vegetation in this way may aid the cat's digestive system and can prevent hairballs. Football featured in similar attempts by monarchs to ban recreational sport across Europe.

They do not eat a lot in one sitting, but prefer to have it as a snack. The reasons for the ban by Edward III, on June 12, 1349, were explicit: football and other recreations distracted the populace from practicing archery, which was necessary for war, and after the great loss of life that had occurred during the Black Death, England needed as many archers as possible. Cats are also known to munch on grass, leaves, shrubs and houseplants. King Edward II was so troubled by the unruliness of football in London that on April 13, 1314 he issued a proclamation banning it:. Some vegetarian owners feed their cats a vegetarian diet containing supplemental taurine. Between 1324 and 1667, football was banned in England alone by more than 30 royal and local laws. Despite this, however, the majority of brand-name cat foods are primarily grain based, often containing large amounts of corn or rice and supplemented with meats and essential vitamins. Numerous attempts have been made throughout history to ban football games, particularly the most rowdy and disruptive forms.

This contrasts with domesticated dogs, which commonly are fed a mixture of meat and vegetable products and have been adapted in some cases to a vegetarian diet. Calcio is still played, mostly as a tourist attraction. Lactose-free milk is perfectly safe, but still not a substitute for meat. The game was not played between January 1739 and May 1930, when it was revived to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the match mentioned above. Cow's milk is a poor source of taurine and adult cats are generally lactose intolerant. This is sometimes credited as the earliest known published rules of any football game. This condition is called central retinal degeneration (CRD). In 1580, Count Giovanni de' Bardi di Vernio wrote Discorso sopra 'l giuoco del Calcio Fiorentino.

Specifically this applies to taurine, the absence of which causes the cat's retina to slowly degenerate, causing eye problems and (eventually) irreversible blindness. While the troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor were besieging Florence, a game of calcio was organised as a show of defiance. In captivity, cats cannot be adapted to an unsupplemented vegetarian diet because they cannot synthesize all the amino acids they need from plant material. The most famous match took place on February 17, 1530. Cats, including the great cats, have a genetic anomaly that prevents them from tasting sweetness ^[11], which is probably related to their meat-only habits. The game is said to have originated as a military training exercise. Whereas bears and dogs commonly supplement their diet of meat with fruits, berries, roots, and honey when they can get them, cats feed exclusively on meat, usually freshly killed. Blows below the belt were allowed.

Unlike most carnivores, cats eat almost no vegetable matter apart from that found in the digestive tracts of their prey. For example, calcio players could punch, shoulder charge, and kick opponents. These papillae are small backward-facing hooks that contain keratin and assist in their grooming. The young aristocrats of the city would dress up in fine silk costumes and embroil themselves in a violent form of football. The cat's tongue has sharp spines, or papillae, designed to retain and rip flesh from a carcass. In the 16th century, the city of Florence celebrated the period between Epiphany and Lent by playing a game known as "o Calcio storico" ("kickball in costume") in the Piazza della Novere or the Piazza Santa Croce. While this is present in canines, it is highly developed in felines. (The earliest recorded football match in Ireland was one between Louth and Meath, at Slane, in 1712.).

The premolar and first molar together compose the carnassial pair on each side of the mouth, which efficiently functions to shear meat like a pair of scissors. The first reference to football in Ireland occurs in the Statute of Galway of 1527, which allowed the playing of football and archery but banned "hokie' — the hurling of a little ball with sticks or staves" as well as other sports. Cats have highly specialized teeth and a digestive tract suitable to the digestion of meat. However, the first clear reference to a ball being used did not occur until 1486.[3]. An exception is the leopard, which commonly hunts rabbits and many other smaller animals. In 1424, King James I of Scotland also attempted to ban the playing of "fute-ball". Although, theoretically, big cats can kill most of these species as well, they often do not due to the relatively low nutritional content that smaller animals provide. The first clear reference to football was not recorded until 1409, when King Henry IV of England issued an edict to ban it.

The domestic cat can hunt and eat about one thousand species—many big cats will eat fewer than 100. This reinforces the idea that the games played at the time did not necessarily involve a ball being kicked. They ambush and dispatch vertebrate prey using tactics similar to those of leopards and tigers by pouncing; they then deliver a lethal neck bite with their long canine teeth that severs the victim's spinal cord, or asphyxiate it by crushing the windpipe. Most of the early references to the game speak simply of "ball play" or "playing at ball". Relative to size, domestic cats are very effective predators. He described the activities of London youths during the annual festival of Shrove Tuesday. The scent glands on the underside of their paws release small amounts of scent onto the person or object being pawed, marking it as "theirs" in the same way they would urinate to mark their territory. 1174-1183).

Pawing is also a way for cats to mark their territory. The first description of football in England was given by William FitzStephen (c. As a result, cats that are hand-raised by humans may lack this reflex. Shrovetide games survive in a number of English towns (see below). It is instinctive to cats, and they use it when they are young to stimulate the mother cat's nipple to release milk during nursing. A legend that these games in England evolved from a more ancient and bloody ritual of kicking the "Dane's head" is unlikely to be true. The action is often referred to as paddy-pawing, making muffins or treading paws. These archaic forms of football would be played between neighbouring towns and villages, involving an unlimited number of players on opposing teams, who would clash in a heaving mass of people struggling to drag an inflated pig's bladder by any means possible to markers at each end of a town.

Cats often use this action alongside purring to show contentment and affection for their owners. Reports of a game played in Brittany, Normandy and Picardy, known as Choule or Soule, suggest that some of these football games could have arrived in England as a result of the Norman Conquest. When cats are happy, they are known to paw their owners, or that on which they sit, with a kneading motion. The game played in England at this time may have arrived with the Roman occupation, but there is little evidence to indicate this. Touching noses is a friendly greeting for cats, while a lowered head is a sign of submission. The Middle Ages saw a huge rise in popularity of annual Shrovetide football matches throughout Europe, particularly in England. Tailless cats, such as the Manx (cat), who possess only a small stub of a tail move the stub around as though they possessed a full tail, though it is not nearly as communicative as that of a fully tailed cat. However, the route towards the development of modern football games appears to lie in Western Europe and particularly England.

A scared cat may puff up its tail and the hair along its back and turn its body sideways to a threat in order to increase its apparent size. These games and others may well stretch far back into antiquity and have influenced football over the centuries. A tail held high is a sign of happiness, while half-raised shows less pleasure, and unhappiness is indicated with a tail held low. The ancient Aztec game of ollamalitzli also involved kicking a ball, but it generally had more similarities to basketball. Cats will twitch the tips of their tails when hunting or angry, while larger twitching indicates displeasure. Each match began with two teams facing each other in parallel lines, before attempting to kick the ball through each other team's line and then at a goal. Shorthair cats are more prone to this problem. In northern Canada and/or Alaska, the Inuit (Eskimos) played a game on ice called Aqsaqtuk.

Although this condition can be treated through the addition of a small amount of bran to each meal, it may require veterinary attention. An 1878 book by Robert Brough-Smyth, The Aborigines of Victoria, quotes a man called Richard Thomas as saying, in about 1841, that he had witnessed Aboriginal people playing the game: "Mr Thomas describes how the foremost player will drop kick a ball made from the skin of a possum and how other players leap into the air in order to catch it." It is widely believed that Marn Grook had an influence on the development of Australian Rules Football (see below). Anal irritation, possibly shown by the cat rubbing its bottom on the floor and frequent licking of the area, can be a sign that the cat's anal sacs are not being emptied when waste passes ^[10]. In Victoria, Australia, Indigenous Australians played a game called Marn Grook. During moments of excitement or other strong emotions, a cat's anal sac may discharge, releasing a foul-smelling brown liquid. For example, William Strachey of the Jamestown settlement is the first to record a game played by the Native Americans called Pahsaheman, in 1610. These scent-producing anal sacs are found in all predators; those of the skunk are used for self-defense, for example. There are a number of less well-documented references to prehistoric, ancient or traditional ball games, played by indigenous peoples all around the world.

When passing solid waste, cats, like many types of predators, release from anal glands a small amount of liquid that scents their feces, to mark their territory. The game appears to have vaguely resembled rugby. Since this feline expression often involves a mouth movement similar to the one they would use to kill their prey (their "killing bite"), they may be trying to practice this mouth movement in anticipation. The Roman game of Harpastu is believed to have been adapted from a team game known as "επισκυρος" (episkyros) or pheninda that is mentioned by Greek playwright, Antiphanes (388-311BC) and later referred to by Clement of Alexandria. When directed at out-of-reach prey, it is unknown whether this is a threatening sound, an expression of frustration, or an attempt to replicate a birdcall (or replicate the call of a bird's prey, for example a cicada). The Roman writer Cicero describes the case of a man who was killed whilst having a shave when a ball was kicked into a barbers shop. Cats are also known to make chirping noises when observing prey, or as a means of expressing interest in an object to nearby humans. The Greeks and Romans are known to have played many ball games some of which involved the use of the feet.

Cat scratches can easily become infected, and in extreme cases can result in cat scratch fever. In 1903 in a bid to restore ancient traditions the game was revived and it can now be seen played for the benefit of tourists at a number of festivals. With cats who are improperly socialised and do not know their own strength, this can result in inadvertent damage to human skin. The game survived through many years but appears to have died out sometime before the mid 19th century. Some may engage in nipping behavior or batting with their paws, either with claws extended or retracted. In kemari several individuals stand in a circle and kick a ball to each other, trying not to let the ball drop to the ground (much like keepie uppie). Most cats growl or hiss when angered or in danger. This is known to have been played within the Japanese imperial court in Kyoto from about 600AD.

For example, cats have been known to purr when hurt. Another Asian ball-kicking game, which may have been influenced by tsu chu, is kemari. However, purring may also be a way for the cat to calm itself down. It was not a game as such but more of a spectacle for the amusement of the Emperor and it may have been performed as long as 3000 years ago. In addition to purring, happy cats may blink slowly or partially close their eyes to break any possible stares and communicate their ease in the situation. It describes a practice known as tsu chu (Traditional Chinese:蹴鞠 or 蹴踘 ; Pinyin: cù jū) which involved kicking a leather ball through a hole in a piece of silk cloth strung between two 30 foot poles. It is possible for a cat to call out and purr simultaneously, although this is typical only in very vocal cats. Documented evidence of what is possibly the oldest organized activity resembling football can be found in a Chinese military manual written during the Han Dynasty in about 2nd century BC.

Currently, though, it is believed that purring is a result of rhythmic impulses to the cat's larynx. Football-like games predate recorded history in all parts of the world, though the earliest forms of football are not known. Until recently, there were many competing theories to explain how cats purr, including vibration of the cat's false vocal chords when inhaling and exhaling, the sound of blood hitting the aorta, vibration of the hyoid apparatus, or resonation directly in the lungs. Throughout the history of mankind the urge to kick at stones and other such objects is thought to have led to many early activities involving kicking and/or running with a ball. Cats purr among other cats—for example, when a mother meets her kittens. . Cats can also produce a purring noise that typically indicates that the cat is happy, but also can mean that it feels distress.
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Some cats, however, do not exercise their voices a lot, so their call may remain similar to that of a kitten through adulthood. In all football games, the winning team is the one that has the most points or goals when a specified length of time has elapsed. A kitten's call first starts out as a high-pitched squeak-like sound when very young, and then deepens over time. The object of all football games is to advance the ball by kicking, running with, or passing and catching, either to the opponent's end of the field where points or goals can be scored by, depending on the game, putting the ball across the goal line between posts and under a crossbar, putting the ball between upright posts (and possibly over a crossbar), or advancing the ball across the opponent's goal line while maintaining possession of the ball. Cats are capable of about 100 different vocalisations, compared to about 10 for dogs. Many of the modern games have their origins in England, but many peoples around the world have played games which involved kicking and/or carrying a ball since ancient times. Some cats are very vocal, and others rarely call out. All football games involve scoring points with a spherical or ellipsoidal ball (itself called a football), by moving the ball into, onto, or over a goal area or line defended by the opposing team.

Usually cats call out to indicate pain, request human attention (to be fed or played with, for example), or as a greeting. (See football (word) for more details.). The cat's pronunciation of this call varies significantly depending on meaning. In some cases, the word football has been applied to games which have specifically outlawed kicking the ball. Heinlein's The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, was written as "blert", while the sound made by Bill the Cat in Berkeley Breathed's comic strip Bloom County was generally described as "ack". While there is no conclusive evidence for this explanation, the word football has always implied a variety of games played on foot, not just those that involved kicking a ball. The sound of an increasingly annoyed cat is transcribed in James Joyce's Ulysses as "mkgnao", "mrkgnao" and "mrkrgnao" ^[9], and the sound made by Pixel, the title character of Robert A. While it is widely believed that the word football, or "foot ball", originated in reference to the action of a foot kicking a ball, there is a rival explanation, which has it that football originally referred to a variety of games in medieval Europe, which were played on foot.[1] These games were usually played by peasants, as opposed to the horse-riding sports often played by aristocrats.

The unique sound a small cat makes is written onomatopoeically as "meow" in American English; "meow" or "miaow" in British English; "miaou" or "miaw" in French; "miao" in Mandarin Chinese and Italian; "miau" in German, Spanish, Finnish, Lithuanian, Polish, Croatian, Romanian and Portuguese; "miau" or "מיאו" in Hebrew;"miyav" in Turkish; "mjäu" in Estonian; "mowa'a" in Arabic; "nyaa" or "nyan" in Japanese; "meong" or "ngeong" in Bahasa Indonesia; "ngiau" in Malay; "yaong" or "nyaong" in Korean; and various ways in other languages. (See also: Players who have converted from one football code to another.). Some scientists believe this is related to the cat's diet being naturally high in protein, though it is unclear whether it is the cause or the result of it. The English language word football is also applied to Rugby football (Rugby union and Rugby league), American football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, and Canadian football. According to National Geographic (December 8), cats cannot taste sugary foods due to a faulty sweet receptor gene. The most popular of these worldwide is Association football, which is called soccer in several countries. Whiskers point forward when the cat is inquisitive and friendly, and lie flat on the face when the cat is being defensive or aggressive. Football is the name given to a number of different, but related, team sports.

Whiskers are also an indication of the cat's attitude. Williams, Graham (1994); The Code War; Yore Publications, ISBN 1874427658. The whiskers also spread out roughly as wide as the cat's body making it able to judge if it can fit through an opening. Green, Geoffrey (1953); The History of the Football Association; Naldrett Press, London. It is thought that a cat may choose to rely on the whiskers in dim light where fully dilating the pupils would reduce its ability to focus on close objects. Mandelbaum, Michael (2004); The Meaning of Sports; Public Affairs, ISBN 1586482521. The upper two rows of whiskers can move independently from the lower two rows for even more precise measuring. Madden NFL.

Whiskers may detect very small shifts in air currents, enabling a cat to know it is near obstructions without actually seeing them. Fantasy football (American). Whiskers (technically called vibrissae) can aid with navigation and sensation. Blood Bowl. Whiskers may also be found on the cat's "elbows." The Sphynx (a nearly hairless breed) may have full length, short, or no whiskers at all. Based on American Football: