Ancestors - Forefather, one who lived long ago; an early type of animal from which later types have developed.
Anesthesia - The use of drugs and various agents for the purposes of blocking the sensations of touch, pressure, or pain.
Artificial Respiration - Trying to start a cat or kitten breathing by forcing air into and out of the lungs.
Awn Hairs - Medium sized hairs making up part of the primary coat. A stripe of a different, usually darker, color.
Breed - A division of a species with separate and distinctive characteristics that were genetically predictable and consistently reproducible.
Breeder - A person who raises a specific breed of cat. The breeder uses the science of heredity to eliminate, improve, maintain or emphasize specific physical or mental characteristics of their breed according to an ideal set/written standard.
CFA - The Cat Fanciers' Association, Inc., is the largest cat registry in the world.
Characteristic - Something that makes a cat different from others, special part or quality.
Circulatory Collapse - The volume of circulating blood decreases, or the blood vessels collapse, and the heart loses most of its ability to pump blood. Decreasing the oxygen supply to the tissues.
Classic Tabby - Dense, clearly defined markings on the cat that are darker than the main color. They are unbroken on top and swirled on the sides, with rings on the tail and bars on the legs. The face is barred with lines, forming the letter M on the forehead.
Compact - Closely and firmly packed together.
Complications - Something happens that makes a disease more involved.
Conformation - The particular body shape of a cat, including size, shape, and characteristic of a breed. Also called type.
Contagious - Easily spread by contact from one animal or person to another.
Contaminate - To make impure, dirty, or infected by touching or mixing.
Contract - A written agreement between the breeder and buyer of a cat or kitten.
Convulsion - A sudden, sharp tightening or twitching of the muscles.
Dehydration - To lose water.
Dense Coat - Hairs close together, thick.
Diagnose - To examine a cat and study the symptoms to determine the disease.
Dilute - A lighter version of a basic color for example; blue, cream, and lilac.
Dinictis - The ancestor of the cat thought to have showed up 10 million years after the Miacis.
Disease - A condition of not being healthy; sickness, illness.
Disorder - A sickness; ailment.
Domestic Cat - Felis Catus. House cat.
Double Coat - Should appear thick, full, and plush with long guard hairs that show the primary coat color with a thick downy undercoat.
Examination - To closely inspect a cat in order to determine its condition.
Flehmen Response - Exposing the teeth by pulling back the upper lip. Usually in response to the odor of urine.
Foundation Stock - Cats first used to breed a line of cats.
General Anesthetic - Drug or other agent used to make the cat completely unconscious.
Guard Hairs - Coarse, thick, straight hairs that taper to a fine tip.
Hybrid Breed - Created by cat breeders who combined two or more existing breeds to create another breed.
Immune - Protected against a disease as by a vaccine.
Immunization - To protect against disease by giving antigens for that disease by way of a vaccine.
Incubation - Time it takes for a disease to develop or mature.
Indigenous - Cats native to a certain area.
Infection - A disease caused by a germ or virus.
Infectious - Tends to spread to other cats.
Isolated - Separated from other cats.
Lineage - Ancestry.
Lithe - Limber or supple.
Local Anesthetic - Drugs or other agent used to cause numbness in just a part of the cat's body.
Malnourished - A cat that has not been receiving adequate or correct food necessary for life and growth. Faulty nutrition.
Miliary Dermatitis - Small skin lesions, dry, scaly, skin, and thinning hair.
Mixed Breed Cat - The result of random matings of various cat breeds or of other mixed-breed cats. They are usually not registered, have no pedigree (record of ancestors), and are not purebreds.
Muscular - A cat with muscles that are well developed.
Mutation - A genetic change in a breed that alters a characteristic.
Muzzle - The nose, jaws, chin, and mouth on the cat's head.
Natural Breed - Created by nature but refined and stabilized by cat fanciers through selective breeding.
Nervous System - Two very complex, interconnected masses of circuity: the central nervous system which consists of the brain and spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system which consists of the cranial, spinal, and peripheral nerves.
Nose Break - An indentation of the nose at eye level or between the eyes.
Nutritionally Balanced Diet - A cat's food developed through research that will support a long, healthy, life and growth.
Obesity - When a cat's weight exceeds by 15 percent the optimum weight for its age and sex, it is considered to be obese.
Parasite - A plant or animal that subsists on a host animal. Pedigree a chart listing the line of descent of a purebred cat.
Pigmentation - Color producing cells.
Progenitor - An ancestor.
Protozoa - Simple, single cell organisms; some are capable of producing disease in animals and humans.
Purebred - A cat from a traceable line of mutual ancestry, in a controlled breeding program.
Recessive Gene - A gene that can be shown only when both members of a chromosome pair contain the same form of a specific gene.
Registration - Recording the information of a cat's birth and ancestry with an official organization.
Reputable - Respected. Able to be trusted.
Resilient - Springing back into place.
Respiration - Breathing rate. The process by which a cat takes in oxygen from the air and gives off carbon dioxide.
Retrovirus - A virus of the family Retroviridae. Examples are FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus) and FELV (Feline Leukemia).
Roman Shaped Nose - A nose with a bump or arch with the nostrils set low.
Single Coat - One coat, looks polished and satiny. Usually a fine fur which lies close to the body.
Specimen - An example of a breed.
Spontaneous Mutation - The result of unexplainable changes in genetic code.
Spotted Tabby - Broken stripes appearing as spots darker than the background color.
Standard - A specific written description of an ideal cat of a particular breed, against which cats are actually judged.
Stocky - A cat with a short, heavy build.
Susceptible - Easily affected by or open to.
Symptoms - Are characteristics or indicators reported by the patient.
TICA - The International Cat Association is one of the largest cat registeries with members, clubs, and judges who reside all over the world.
Ticked Tabby - Refers to 3 or more darker bands of color on each hair shaft.
Tranquilizer - A drug used for calming the nerves.
Treatment - The use of medicine or surgery to cure or heal.
Tubular - Shaped like a tube, long and slender.
Vaccinations - Process of giving a vaccine containing antigens to stimulate the cat to make antibodies.
Variant - Different in some aspect from others of the same kind.
Veterinarian - A qualified animal doctor who treats the diseases and injuries of animals.
Vomeronasal Organ - A sense organ located between the mouth and nasal cavity above the hard palate.
Wedge - The triangular head shape when looking at the cat from the front. The triangle has straight lines from the bases of the ears along the sides of the muzzle. The jaw line is smooth at the whiskers. The skull is flat with a straight nose.
Whisker Break - Indentation where the muzzle is attached to the skull.
Zoonotic - A disease that can be transferred between man and animals.
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