Diary of a Cat Care B&B: Look-Alikes

by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger

11 Jul 2008 06:11 PM

Some guests at the cats-only boarding facility are family in name only; others are actually from the same litter... or at least the same bloodline!

We have a pair of brothers from the same litter who (thankfully) don't look alike. One cat is black and white; the other is an orange tabby. Their only common feature is a stunted tail -- about half as long as you'd expect a cat's tail to be. But with those matching tails, they're most definitely kin.

We have, however, had some guests from the same litter who are virtually identical.

Those can be tricky! While each guest does get his or her own condo, we do often put cats from the same family into the playroom together for exercise. Once they're in, the question is -- how do we put the right cat back into the right condo afterwards?

There's a pair of handsome white male cats who are nearly mirror images of each other. Even weighing them can be tricky -- there's barely a pound of difference between the two. But eventually, we figured out the trick: one cat has a slight almond-shape to his eyes and the other does not.

There's a pair of female Bengal cats who have stayed with us twice. They aren't quite as identical as the two white cats are... but they're close. The trick for telling these girls apart is the patterns on their coats. One cat has more of a striped pattern and the other has a slightly spotty pattern.

In order to help keep the guests straight, we write notes in the cat's chart and on their name card. For the two white cats, one card says "squinty eyes" and the other card says "round eyes". For the two Bengals, one card says "stripey" and the other says "spotty". The system has worked so far! (It'd be easier for us if all guests wore collars with ID tags, but not everyone makes their cat wear a collar.)

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thompsonsaraht (21) 12 Jul 2008 02:53 AM

I have two cats from the same litter that were almost identical for a long time. As they got older, one grew much faster and their coloring changed, one got darker, the other got lighter. Their mother had another litter, and the one we kept is now almost identical to the heavier one. Their coloring is a little different, but the only way to be sure is to pick them up, the younger one still isn't as heavy. As for the collars, not all cats will wear them. I don't like to use anything but the breakaway collars, and most of my cats have figured out how to take them off. I can put their collars on them, but minutes later the collar is laying in the middle of the floor. They're strictly indoor cats, so I've pretty much given up, though I would like to have them chipped, just in case.

Aimee Amodio (12040) 12 Jul 2008 07:38 AM

Sounds like you have some very clever cats on your hands! :)