Chat Aux Sphynx: Toesday

Showing posts with label Toesday. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Toesday: Merlin

Hello all! Merlin here again! It's two days until my 9th Gotcha Day!

Here are some close-ups of my toes. As you can see, when I was given a bath on Sunday, my mom and dad didn't clean my paws. I'm not fond of being bathed, and they didn't want to stress me out too much, so they left my paws for another day.

We Sphynx need to have our paws cleaned regularly because we have no fur. You see, our skin secretes oils, just like furred cats, but with us Sphynx, there is no fur for the oil to work itself through. So the oil builds up on our skin, and with our paws, it combines with litter dust to create a waxy substance that can stick to our paws, and especially our claws. You can't really see it in these photos, but we get quite a thick, waxy buildup on our claws that needs to be cleaned away.

If you click the photos to see them larger, you can see the tiny, fine little down hairs that I have on m feet. Out of the three of us (Dragonheart, Devi, and myself) I have the least amount of these hairs. However, since being on chemotherapy for cancer, I've started acquiring a bit more fuzz in certain places. I'm still extremely bald compared to Devi though!

If you can, be sure to visit on Thursday for my big 9th Gotcha Day celebration!

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Toesday

Can you guess whose dirty toes these are (they are from the same Sphynx)? Yes, we are all in need of baths at the moment. Our mom and dad have been putting them off, with the stress of the move, and then Merlin having a bad spell back at the beginning of the month. But we are all doing great now, so there may be baths coming up this weekend.

So any guesses as to whose toes?

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Toesday

Dragonheart here! Just providing a quick update on how things are going at our house.

Our mom is super busy with the last week of her graduate program. Our dad is busy doing his out-clearance, since he'll be taking the next couple of weeks off as we get the house ready to sell, and then he has to report for his new position the day after Labour Day, so we'll be separated from him again for a bit, but this time it will only be a few weeks.

Devi's stitches have dissolved, so her cone of shame has been removed, which has her very happy! We are still waiting to hear back from the vet about the biopsy results. We do know that she does not have skin cancer, which is a very good thing, but we are waiting for more detailed results as to whether there is anything else going on. We have almost finished the transition to the hypoallergenic food, and she still has new lesions appearing on her skin, but she may need to be completely on the diet for a while before we notice any difference.

Merlin continues to do great! He'll have his 9th birthday in a couple of weeks (September 2nd!) We are hopeful that he will be with us to celebrate that big day!

I'm doing fine. My gum hyperplasia is still there, but it doesn't appear to be bothering me too much, and I'm still eating and drinking. Our pet insurance will not cover the full cost of the CT scan, so since money will be tight until we sell our house, our mom is doing to offer her services as a digital scrapbook layout artist for those who are interested. Of course, that will have to wait until her graduate degree is done and we've finished with all the house stuff, because she wants to provide timely service.

Finally, here is a photo of my toes for Toesday. Excuse the dirt, but with everything going on, our mom and dad haven't wanted to add to the stress with baths.

Dragonheart's toes

Thanks again to all our friends. We will be back to visiting when all this chaos is finished!

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Tuxie Tongue Toesday: Dragonheart

Dragonheart here again! Dragonheart week continues with a couple of photos featuring my tongue cleaning my toes, for a tuxie, tongue toesday! Try saying that five times fast!

Dragonheart - Click to view larger

We hope all our friends are having a good week. It is very hot and humid here, but we fortunately have air conditioning, so we aren't roasting.

Most of you did a pretty good job at guessing the important event next Monday. Or at least you had portions of it correct! Be sure to visit next Monday, when we will have some special prizes to be won!

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Toesday Reveal!

Thanks to everyone who participated in our Toesday contest! We have two winners: Trout Talkin' Tabbies and The Island Cats! Both correctly identified the toes as belonging to: 1. Merlin, 2. Devi, and 3. Dragonheart. Congratulations!

They both win a digital scrapbook page made by our mom! Please email us to claim your prize! You can use the Email Us button at the top of our blog.

To recap whose toes are whose, we've included them below, along with the identifying name. You can click on any of the photos to view them larger.

1 - Merlin

2 - Devi

3 - Dragonheart

So which ones did you guess correctly? Lots of people knew that #2 was Devi, but the boys' toes were tougher to identify. Thanks again to everyone who made a guess! We hope you learned something about Sphynx toes!

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Toesday: Guess Whose Toes!

Hello everyone!

Today we have a contest for all of you! Can you guess which toes belong to which Sphynx? We will have a prize for those who guess correctly!

Did you know that Sphynx toes are special? We Sphynx frequently use our toes like fingers, catching and grabbing things with our toes. According to the Cat Fanciers' Association Sphynx breed standard: "Paws are oval with well-knuckled toes; five in front and four behind. The paw pads are thick, giving the appearance of walking on cushions." The TICA breed standard for Sphynx is similar: "Feet: Medium in size, oval shape with long, slender toes. The paw pads are thicker than in other breeds, giving the cat the appearance of walking on "air cushions". The toes are very long, slender and prominent."

Sphynx paws are also described as webbed, something you can see a bit more easily in this old photo of Dragonheart as a kitten, even though it's a bit blurry, or in the photo of Devi playing below it:

Click to view larger

Our toes do need to be cleaned regularly. Because we have no fur for oil to distribute itself through, oil builds up on our paws, toes, and claws, just like it does on the rest of our skin. Our claws, in particular, accumulate "black gunk" which is basically oil combined with dust, litter dust,

Good luck guessing whose toes are whose! Let us know in the comments. And did you learn anything about Sphynx toes, or did you already know all that?

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Cats on Tuesday: Toesday

Can you tell which toes are Dragonheart's and which toes are Merlin's? (If you click on the photos to enlarge them, you can see the bit of fuzz on our toes.)

Click here to see if you were right!

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Cats on Tuesday: Toesday

We Sphynx have unique toes! They are long, with thick paw pads. If you look closely (and click to enlarge) you can see the bit of "peach fuzz" hair on our toes!

Dragonheart's Toes:

Merlin's Toes:

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Cats on Tuesday: Toesday

Dragonheart's Toes:

Merlin's Toes:

Don't we Sphynx have super-cool paw pads?

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Cats on Tuesday: Toesday

We Sphynx have unique toes! Compared to other breeds, we have long toes and thick paw pads. :) Some say our thick paw pads give us the appearance of walking on cushions!

We Sphynx tend to get dirty toes, because we have no fur to absorb the oil our skin secretes. So oil builds up on our toes, in our claw sheaths, and on our claws, and attracts dirt and dust. So our toes, paw pads, claws, and claw sheaths need to be cleaned weekly, just like the rest of us!

(Click any of the photos below to see a larger image. If you do, you can see the tiny bit of hair that we have, especially on Merlin's toes!)

Dragonheart's Toes:

Merlin's Toes:

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Cats on Tuesday: Toes & Tummy

Dragonheart: Here you can see the toes on one of my back paws. You can see that my paw pads are two-toned! You can see the long, slender toes that are typical of the Sphynx breed, as well as the thick paw pads that we have!

Merlin: Here you can see my belly from two different angles! You can also see my toes if you click to make the photos larger!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Cats on Tuesday: Toesday

Here is a comparison between our back paws. As you can see, Merlin has brown paw pads, whereas Dragonheart's are two-toned: pink and dark brown (the brown on Dragonheart's toes is part of his colouring - it's not dirt. :P)

Dragonheart's Toes:

Merlin's Toes:

(Click either photo to view a larger image)

As you can see from these photos, we Sphynx have paw pads that are thicker than the paw pads of most other breeds. Some say this gives us the appearance of walking on air cushions. In fact, the CFA Sphynx Breed Standard states:

Paws are oval with well-knuckled toes; five in front and four behind. The paw pads are thick, giving the appearance of walking on cushions.

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Cats on Tuesday: Toesday

Here are some photos of my toes. Sphynx have long, slender toes, with thick paw pads. In these photos, I've just had a bath, so my paws are nice and shiny and clean. The colourful pad I'm sitting on is my "Cozy Calming Mat."

(Click a photo to view a larger image)

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Cats on Tuesday: Cozy Calming Mat

One of the gifts I received for my birthday is called a "Cozy Calming Mat."

It is very colourful! My humans placed it on my toychest, which is right next to the wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room. I have a good view of everything going on outside from there.

The mat is very soft and comfy. It has a buckwheat insert that can be removed, and microwaved for warmth, in the winter. Right now, it has been veyr warm in Munich, so I haven't tried the warming aspect of the mat yet.