DEAR PET TALK: Why does Reggie have spots? What kind of a cat is he? Is he going to bite me? Does he like to be petted?
— fourth grade students in Mrs. Thomas’s classroom, Crocker Elementary School, Fitchburg.
DEAR STUDENTS: We really enjoyed bringing TheraPAWS therapy pets to visit you all in your classroom recently! You had so many great questions about Reggie and Keifer, that we will answer all of these questions over the next two weeks.
Individual cat markings are like individual attributes of human beings — we are all different, and so it is with cats.
Reggie is a “Van” cat — his origins come from the area of Lake Van in Armenia. Now the cats that are from that area are actually very different — long-haired, Angora-style fur with orange spots, including an orange tail.
The classic “Van” is a cat known to love water and swimming. Here’s a fun story: In the mid-1950s, Westerners first discovered the Van through pictures by photographers Laura Lushington (1920-2015) and Sonia Halliday. Lushington had served in the British Women’s Auxiliary Air Force during World War II. After the war, she loved visiting the Holy Lands and the Near East to photograph religious sites. During one journey, the pair were given a pair of white and orange kittens. And anytime Laura and Sonia stopped during their journey, they were astounded to see the kittens jump into a pond or stream for a swim.
Vans were not brought to the United States until 1982, although The International Cat Association recognized them in 1979. However, I can tell you for a fact, that there were plenty of white cats with black spots in New England many years earlier, because when I was a child I had one! We used to call them “cow cats,” because they resembled Holstein cows. In my experience, the classic markings of a “cow cat” are: black tail, black spots on back and flanks, black “toe beans,” and two black spots on the head where motorcycle goggles would be positioned.
Reggie has all of those markings and, like a cow, is a slow-moving fellow. He also has a very rich and resonant purr, as you’ve heard. He also loves to hear children read stories to him, and the public will be able to meet him during Public Safety Day at Fitchburg Fire Department, 33 North St., Fitchburg, on Saturday, May 2, from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Sally Cragin is the director of Be PAWSitive: Therapy Pets and Community Education. Text questions to 978-320-1335.
