About (OOC Intro)
Winged cats (Felivia domestica) are a breedable cyberpet that you can adopt and breed via a genetic code to get ever more exotic looking cats. They don't need to be fed or brushed, though they do need to be registered with the Nest Cat Lofts world in order to be officially recognized. Winged or flying cats are a common species found across the internet, and are a favourite for feline fanciers. This particular breed of winged cats have colourations based off of pigeon and domestic cat genetics! The bulk of the research used in creating the pigeon genetic guidelines for Felivia domestica come from Huntley Loft: Thanks to Ron Huntley for compiling all of that information. The information used to compile the feline guidelines come from Sarah Hartwell's hard work at messybeast.com. Thanks, Sarah!
Though winged cats don't need to be tended to, they can definitely be included in stories, or as pets for other characters. This world is currently focused on adopting and breeding winged cats, but will eventually include racing and showing minigames.
Terms
Felivia domestica: Winged cat, A cat with bird-like wings. They are typically on the cobby-ish side for body-build, are energetic, outgoing and friendly. Most winged cats have been raised under humanoid contact, and so are comfortable with being handled. Those bred at Nest Cat Lofts are more sociable than normal cats, tending to flock together for leisure or hunting purposes. Their main diet is comprised of small rodents, wherein a flock will divide into flushers, who chase prey out of hiding, and pouncers, who catch the prey to share with the flock. Winged cats are not sentient, but will show a great deal of affection for anyone they consider a part of their flock. Their personalities are varied: some are more timid than others.
Loft: Similar to a pigeon loft, winged cats call a loft home when they return home for the day. As they are usually nocturnal, most cats can be found curled up inside during the day. If cared for by humans, this is where the cats convene to be fed. A loft is also the webspace that the owner of the cyberpets can gather their cats. There is a limit of ten cats per page. Many loft owners separate their cats by gender, colour, or age. A Closed Loft is one that is not available for trading or breeding. An Open Loft is one where the owner allows his or her cats to be bred or traded with certain levels of permission. Always double-check with a loft owner before attempting to trade or breed with their cats!
Tom: A male winged cat.
Queen: A female winged cat.
Kitten: A young winged cat. Young, pale cats are sometimes known as 'squabs', because they are born hairless.
Inbreeding: The process of breeding two related cats together, usually in order to bring out more recessive traits. Inbreeding is not generally frowned upon, though there can be some drawbacks where certain genetic combinations are lethal.
Outbreeding: The process of breeding unrelated cats together, usually to bring new genetic possibilities to a line. Outbreeding can be done between lofts if certain requirements are met.
Life Cycle
Birth: Kittens are born in litters of two to nine, though most commonly in litters of four or five. They are born with their eyes closed, and with a thin layer of down on their wing-arms. Paler kittens (those showing the dilute gene) are actually born hairless. They will stay with their mother in a dark or dim nest for up to two weeks before their eyes begin to open, and those take another two to three weeks to able to adapt to extremes of dark and light. Both parents tend the nest, with the father bringing food to the mother (and later to the kittens, when they're weened) and the mother providing milk for her young.
Kittens: Kittens' teeth come in at about six weeks, and are generally weened from their mother's milk at the age of eight to nine weeks. They are up on their feet and lose their wobble at seven or eight weeks. Their first feathers begin to grow in and, like their baby teeth, will be shed for their adult set as they mature. They are usually out and around the loft at this point, exploring, playing, and causing a nuisance to the other cats. Kittens can sometimes be hassled by older, crotchety winged cats, so most kittens stay low in the loft, unable to fly and having to rely on their climbing abilities to get back to their nests. Their parents continue to bring in food, though as the kitten matures, this becomes replaced by their own hunting. Since many kittens are usually born at once in a season, roving gangs of two or more litters will learn to work together for their food.
Adulthood: Molting of downy baby feathers in exchange for swift and maneuverable flight feathers occurs at about five months, and at this point, kittens begin to lose their fat and begin to look more like sleek adults. Queens are physically mature at roughly eight to nine months of age, and toms are mature by nine to twelve months. Once their new feathers have come in, they begin practicing flight, often leaping from high places to pounce on anything that moves alluringly! Watch out!
By the time a cat is physically mature, it begins to fly further from its loft, honing its homing abilities. They begin to fly with the flock during the night and partake in nightly hunts. As breeding season comes around again, they're ready to breed.
Winged cats molt about once or twice per year, a process that can take two to three months but which progresses over the cat's entire body in patches. Wild winged cats tend to moult in spring and/or fall, but those kept as indoor pets may moult during other times.
Breeding: Toms become more jealous of 'their' queens: guarding and fighting over them (and sometimes fighting the queens, as well!) They become a little more hostile in general. Queens may share such traits. When raised in a loft, isolating a pair for up to a week is usually sufficient for them to bond. After this point, even if let out to join the rest of the flock, the pair will stay true to one another. Winged cats won't breed for life, though they seem to require less time to bond with one another in subsequent seasons.
Pregnancy lasts for about nine weeks, at which point the mother will give birth to a live litter. In the interim, the two cats are busy building a nest, finding suitable materials such as twigs, grass, and shredded furniture fabric or clothing to pad a bowl-like shape for their young.
Old Age
Winged cats can live from twelve to twenty years, the shorter-lived ones being wild, with the longer-living ones being treated well as pets. Loft cats tend to live somewhere in between, depending on how coddled they are by their owners. They pass beyond the ability to breed at the age of eight or nine. As they grow older, winged cats tend to participate in hunting less and less. Sometimes younger cats will provide for them, but this is more often the case in lofts where food is plentiful.