Where Are They Now?

paw-421485_960_720We’ve had cats as members of our family for roughly 19 years, and yet it wasn’t until last year that I learned they shed their claws. How could I not know that? I discovered it one morning after my daughter’s dog and our cat decided to engage in a clash of the Titans. Cleo (bulldog) ended up with a scratch on her nose, while Patches (Manx cat) lost a claw on the foot of the bed. I figured Patches was really hurt, but there was no blood, no limping, no nothing. She’s a cat. You don’t go poking around. She pokes back. She didn’t seem any worse for the excitement, and rather disinterested in my attention.

Over the next few days I began to notice another claw on the floor and then another. What was going on? So, I looked it up. Who knew cats shed their claws? All news to me! Our cats had always had indoor/outdoor privileges. It wasn’t until we moved to an apartment in Florida that Patches became a bona fide “house cat”. I think in the past her and Sophie had either shed their claws while outside, or because our homes were in the country I didn’t notice every little thing on the floor.

I became fascinated with this phenomenon. Patches would only let me see her claws when she was in a bad mood, and at those times I was only interested in getting outside of her reach, not making a scientific study of it. But, these sheds I could examine up close without any clear and present danger. I could identify which claw she shed by its size. They are all fascinating, but the big ones are impressive, and it’s these claws that brought me to this conclusion.

Dinosaurs! What happened to them? They turned into cats! That’s right, cat claws look like velociraptor claws! Don’t believe me? Look it up! And doesn’t it make more sense that the dinosaurs evolved into cats rather than birds? Cats stalk their prey, hiding in bushes, silently waiting, making a sneak attack. They are stealthy, lighting fast, and watching. Always watching. I saw the same thing in Jurassic Park! When was the last time you witnessed your parakeet do this? There may be an argument that pterodactyls are now pelicans. Definitely a resemblance,  but the big boys of the dinosaur age are definitely cats…if you believe in evolution between species, which I don’t, but if you did.

 

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