Muscles and bone are the very foundation of the conformation of a cat. There are 244 bones in the feline skeleton that lend support and substance to the cat's body. These bones also provide protection for the internal organs. In some breeds of cat the bones are as sturdy as a hardwood such as oak. However, some of the more delicate breeds have bones that are more flimsy and less substantial.
In all breeds the bone is surrounded by muscle. The muscles respond to a series of electrical impulses that are originally issued by the brain. Once these impulses are received, the muscles convert them into contractions using a series of chemical transformations. The muscles produce movement, movement which the bones follow. This movement is usually the gracefulness that defines the cat and its delicate body.
At cat shows, the head sets the standard for the body in a physical sense. Many judges spend more time studying the head of the cat than any other part of the body. While the points allotted to the rest of the cat should certainly be considered, there can be no argument that the head is of utmost importance.
The largest part of the head is the brain. The brain is located in the cranial cavity and is an enlarged and highly modified continuation of the spinal cord. The nervous system begins and ends here. The brain is divided into two egg-shaped hemispheres whose surfaces are marked by folds which are both thick and numerous. The hemispheres make up the greatest part of the developed brain, and the brain itself is held by the cranial cavity, which is designed to cushion and protect the brain. The rear wall of this compartment is formed by the occiptal bone, whose lower section is perforated by an opening that is almost circular. This opening is for the spinal cord.
Now the brain would be almost useless if it couldn't be kept informed of everything that happens in the body. This is where the cranial nerves come in. There are twelve pairs of cranial nerves. These of these -- optic, olfactory, and auditory -- are there purely to interpret the special sense of sight, scent, and sound. Five of the pairs -- oculomotor, abducens, hypoglossal, trochlear, and spinal accessory -- are for motor function. The remaining four -- trigeminal, facial, glosso-pharyngeal, and vagus -- are for both sensory and motor functions.
The head of the cat is the seat of most of the major functions of the body. Air intake, food intake, excretory abilities and many other functions are seated here. Though some of these processes are carried out in depth in other areas of the body (such as digestion), they are started in the head. For example, the head produces some digestive enzymes in the salivary glands, and so digestion begins in the mouth.
The head, by way of the pituitary gland (the principle control gland in the body), also influences the endocrine system. Almost a dozen separate function are controlled by hormones manufactured, released, or stored by the pituitary gland. Some of these many functions include growth and even the onset of estrus in female cats.
As the head is solely responsible for acquiring the oxygen and food the body needs, the head should never be ignored during your study of the cat. The brain does so much for the body, but it itself exists on the most simple of chemicals produced in the body. The brain, and the head, asks for very little in return for supplying essential life to the body.
A cat's heart beats 110 to 140 times per minute, sending blood rushing through the body in a mere 11 seconds. And though the circulatory system has many purposes, none is as important as sending oxygen throughout the body. And this is accomplished through the most numerous cell is the cat's body -- the red blood cell.
Red blood cells are so numerous in the cat that I'm not even going to bother typing out the numbers. I don't like seeing that many 0s in a row. But there are a lot and they only live for two to six weeks before they must be replaced. Thankfully, the cat's body is constantly making new red blood cells. This starts when tissue, anticipating a shortage of oxygen, sends out a hormone (erthropoietin) through the bloodstream and to the bone marrow in red blood cell construction sites. The hormone signals primitive cells to begin to grow.
The primitive cells develop into rubriblasts, which are sort of like adolescent red blood cells. Each of these rubriblasts divides into two separate cells, both of which continue dividing. Eventually, these two red blood cells (abbreviated to RBCs) become 16. The RBCs are composed mainly of water and hemoglobin. Each hemoglobin molecule contains four iron atoms. This allows for the transportation of over 1 billion molecules of oxygen throughout the cat's body.
The cells continue to grow until hemoglobin accounts for 95% of the dry weight of the red blood cell. This takes about three days (out of a six-day RBC production process). At this point, the cell ejects its nucleus in an act of self-sterilization. This leaves the cell free of all distractions. The cell can now work, and work it does. In fact, RBCs work themselves to death as they carry oxygen to the various organs of the body.
Even the shape of the red blood cell is important. It looks a little like an unperofrated doughnut and it is very flexible. So flexible that an RBC can squeeze through the smallest capillaries to deliver fresh oxygen and take away toxic carbon dioxide.
Without the all-important red blood cell, the cat would not be able to function. It is not an exaggeration to say that the red blood cell is the single most important cell in the circulatory system of the cat.
The circulatory system of the cat is comprised of the heart, a network of arteries and veins, and the spleen (which serves as a blood reservoir). A cat's heart rate, beating from 110 to 140 times a minute, is almost twice the normal heart rate of a human. The cat's body contains half a pint of blood, and this blood is circulated through the body once every 11 seconds. The blood, which is initially blue, goes through the heart to the lungs where it changes color, becoming crimson. The iron atoms in the blood discharge their carbon dioxide and grab some oxygen, which has been freshly inhaled through the lungs.
With the pulmonary part of its journey complete, the blood launches itself on a path through the body. It moves into the aorta and then into the smaller arteries that filter throughout the entire body. The blood slows slightly as it enters even the even smaller arterioles which regulate blood flow to the tissues of the body.
By the time the blood reaches the metarterioles (the conduits between arterioles and capillaries), the blood is moving at its slowest pace. The blood is now a purplish red after being stripped of most of its oxygen. The blood exits the capillaries through venules (little tiny veins) and begins its journey back to the heart. All this takes only 11 seconds.
The bloodstream is important, and not only because it allows for the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide throughout the body. The bloodstream is also responsible for the creation of the clots that patch up tears, control osmotic pressure, and adjust the cat's thermostat when the cat is either too warm or too cold by moving heat to other areas of the body. Excess heat is expelled from the body also thanks to the bloodstream. Blood is even responsible for shivering and the warming of the body. The bloodstream defends the cat against disease, helps with digestion after meals, and even helps the cat catch his breath after exertion. In other words, the circulatory system of the cat is perhaps one of the most important systems of all, and not just because it circulates blood.
