Post by Hollow, Sky, Laurel, Jay, Rye on Nov 27, 2014 16:31:48 GMT
The first reason for not using eye colour in the prefix is common sense. Compared to the rest of its body, the eyes are not particularly large - even in the Singapura, who is well-known for its owlish eyes. I know people who don’t know their cat’s eye colour, particularly as eyes have a tendency to change in different lights. Personally, my eyes can appear either blue, green or hazel on any given day, even though they are naturally green.
The next reason is biological. Ordinarily, kittens are born with their eyes closed. Longhaired kittens tend to take a little longer to open their eyes, but this isn’t always the case. According to Wikipedia, “kittens open their eyes about seven to ten days after birth”. To be fair, Wiki isn’t always reliable, so I double-checked a few other sources. The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Cats, Cat Breeds and Cat Care says that kittens under a week old are blind and primarily deaf, and by three weeks they are open-eyed with improving mobility. As well as this, the books I read said that kittens have blue (or rather, a blue-grey) eye colour for a few weeks after their eyes open. The Nature Library: Cats, by Yvonne Rees, says that “eye colour changes at about eight weeks”.
So, don’t name the kitten after its eyes. They’re either closed or blue - though, I’m sure there are people out there who will say “my cat’s kittens were born with their eyes open and amber” and this might be true, I don’t know. The point is, so what? To me, even bi-coloured eyes come second to pelt colour, but I guess I’m old-fashioned, or something.
There was a Riverclan she-cat in Forest of Secrets who was never actually described. Her name was Greenflower, so presumably her eyes were green - or she was a green cat. She also vanished at some point with no warning and no one ever remembered her again. This is less of a point, and more just interesting Warriors trivia.
The next reason is biological. Ordinarily, kittens are born with their eyes closed. Longhaired kittens tend to take a little longer to open their eyes, but this isn’t always the case. According to Wikipedia, “kittens open their eyes about seven to ten days after birth”. To be fair, Wiki isn’t always reliable, so I double-checked a few other sources. The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Cats, Cat Breeds and Cat Care says that kittens under a week old are blind and primarily deaf, and by three weeks they are open-eyed with improving mobility. As well as this, the books I read said that kittens have blue (or rather, a blue-grey) eye colour for a few weeks after their eyes open. The Nature Library: Cats, by Yvonne Rees, says that “eye colour changes at about eight weeks”.
So, don’t name the kitten after its eyes. They’re either closed or blue - though, I’m sure there are people out there who will say “my cat’s kittens were born with their eyes open and amber” and this might be true, I don’t know. The point is, so what? To me, even bi-coloured eyes come second to pelt colour, but I guess I’m old-fashioned, or something.
There was a Riverclan she-cat in Forest of Secrets who was never actually described. Her name was Greenflower, so presumably her eyes were green - or she was a green cat. She also vanished at some point with no warning and no one ever remembered her again. This is less of a point, and more just interesting Warriors trivia.