As our society progresses, perhaps we have the opportunity to start all over with a new interpretation of the many past misunderstandings and false associations we have entertained towards cats.

Are most cat lovers female?

A cumulative count of the members of the Taipei Cat Lovers' Club between July 1992 and July 1996 reveals that two-thirds of the members were women, and one-third men. The number of women was greater than men, but not to the extent one might expect. Folk custom researcher Chuang Po-ho, himself an ailurophile, believes that generally speaking, people with gentle, "yin" personalities are most likely to be attracted to cats. The veterinarian Tu Pai describes this kind of "impulse" as a "maternal instinct"; gentleness and a maternal nature are certainly not the exclusive purview of women.

Why cut off cats' tails?

In the countryside of Taiwan during earlier times, most cats that had an overly long tail which hung down, or the tip of whose tails were white, could rarely escape the fate of having their tails lopped off, in order to ward off bad luck. This custom is possibly the legacy of the 50 years of Japanese rule.

In Japan, it is commonly believed that a cat's tail holds magical powers, and if an old cat is injured so that its tail forks like a snake's tongue, this is seen as an ill omen of an even more virulent variety. Therefore, the Japanese developed the custom of cutting off cats' tails. In the past before the knowledge of genetics became common, many people believed that the short tails on some Japanese cats were the result of amputation. In fact, they are a genetic mutation.

White-pawed cats the most unlucky?

In its appraisal of the color of cats' fur, China's classic reference on cats, Xiang Mao Jing, offers no such indication. On the contrary, cats whose backs are black (or brown) and whose abdomens, legs, feet and claws are all white it considers the quintessential form of multicolored cat, giving them the sobriquet "ebony clouds covering the snow." Cats whose paws are their only white parts are also portrayed poetically, as "tramping the snow in search of plums." Therefore, white-pawed cats could actually be considered honorable, exemplary members of their breed.

Male cats' saliva the most toxic?

Lifok, a member of the Ami minority who lives in the Ilan area, says that 30 or 40 years ago, people considered themselves to be doomed if they were bitten by a cat. The older generation of his people all repeatedly warned that one must keep one's distance from wild cats, especially males with their highly explosive natures. For this reason, in their eyes, cats have remained veiled in malevolent mystery.

With the much improved scientific knowledge of current times, the mysterious visage of cats has been washed away by the cleansing ointment of modern medicine. Hsia Liang-chou, professor of animal husbandry at Pingtung Institute of Technology, makes it clear that contact with the saliva of cats, whether male or female, is not toxic. Nevertheless, any animal's teeth, if not cleaned for a long period of time, may cause tetanus.

"Cats love a place, dogs love people"?

Cats are saddled with the reputation of being selfish, and this is mostly due to their naturally territorial behavior. Dogs are social animals, and they are divided according to a social hierarchy. Therefore, after being domesticated, the loyalty they naturally feel to their pack leader is easily transferred to their human masters. Adult cats are independent creatures with a set domain in which they are active. For this reason, a cat may consider a house to be merely a space that it shares with human beings in order to adjust to the necessities of survival.

Nevertheless, Hsia Liang-chou observes that a cat that lives in close contact with people for a long time also acquires the ability to recognize individual people, and will go to locations 20 or 30 meters distant to meet their owners and accompany them home. A report published in the United States in 1962 related that one cat walked 1500 miles, for the sole purpose of finding its master.

Cats and dogs don't mix?

Almost everyone has heard some tale of a cat and a dog that were raised together from the time they were small and have grown up to be the best of friends. What fewer people are aware of is that the same result usually occurs if cats and dogs that have already reached adulthood are kept in cages adjacent to each other for long periods of time. Hsia Liang-chou says that the key is giving them the opportunity to be together for a long time.

Why are cats mostly the same size?

Tu Bai says that today's domestic cat has gone through 30,000 to 40,000 years of evolution. The reason that there has been no great change in their morphology is because they all come from a single species (of wild cat). At the same time, having small bodies, they often choose to engage in mating activities in the topmost branches of trees. The possibility of outside genes being introduced is thus made even more remote. By comparison, dogs remain active on the ground, and the source of their ancestry is more complicated. For this reason, they have a greater number of varieties than do cats.

Furthermore, the fashion of artificially breeding cats is not even 100 years old. But unless animals mutate by themselves, the chances of their having major changes due to the efforts of mankind are very small.

Are cats with tiger stripes the wildest?

Many people believe that because domestic cats that are striped like tigers have similar coloring to that of wild cats, their blood is possibly more closely related, and that even their personality is as untamed as a wild cat's. Hsia Liang-chou believes that this is not actually true. He attests that there are as many as 20 different varieties of cats with tiger-like stripes, yet there currently exists no documentary evidence to support such ideas.

Do cats have the power of prophecy?

According to one story, a Taiwanese triad leader once said he "could do without family and friends, but not without my cat," because his cat had inexplicably sensed the coming of a disaster in advance, so that its owner could luckily escape completely unharmed. The two seemed to have developed deep mutual feelings because of the narrow escape from death they shared. Recently, when typhoon Winnie hit Taiwan, and caused flooding in the Taipei district of Neihu, a remarkable story was widely circulated. The beloved cat of actress Chia Ching-wen licked family members awake, allowing them to flee in time.

The notion of some sort of psychic communication between cats or dogs and their owners is still considered anathema in the scientific community. In Britain biologists are trying to use scientific methods to break through this taboo; however, no research results have yet been independently corroborated.

Do cats naturally fear water?

Giving a cat a bath has always been a nightmare for keeper and kitten alike. Why are they so averse to water? According to the feline encyclopedia Cats 100 Percent Manual, the principal reason may be that a cat's physical constitution is incapable of adjusting to wetness. A cat's fur has very few oil secretions, and it is not water resistant. Under the exigencies of survival in the wild, in order to keep their bodies as light and agile as possible to maximize their skills as hunters, they naturally cannot afford to carelessly immerse themselves in water and increase their bodies' weight.

Yet we should not therefore leap to the conclusion that cats have an innate fear of water; their instinct for survival can activate a latent adaptability. Hsia Liang-chou remarks that wild cats will wait for their prey in the rain, and domestic cats will eventually grow accustomed to taking a bath.

p.106

For many years people in some parts of Taiwan have had the custom of hanging dead cats from a tree. (the photo shows an advertising leaflet from an experimental drama called "Moonlight Cats"; courtesy of Tai Yueh)

p.107

Tiger-skinned house cats share the appearance of their wild ancestors, and so are often misunderstood to be wild at heart.

p.108

Every cat living on its own has its particular territory.

Every cat living on its own has its particular territory.