20 Comments on “Lopsided Cat Sits For His Annual Formal Portrait”

1. That is a super gorgeous shot, and cat! I think the next time I am in the US I might need to sneak over and kidnap the beauty!! ;)

2. O Great Scalzi, what a superb picture of Mighty Lopsided Cat.

   You should try to nail down the technical aspects of photography (as we have helpfully provided some key critiques) before attempting a more risky artistic approach. However, we think you have actually succeeded in this case. A very well executed effort, indeed.

   The Executive Committee of The Official Ghlaghghee Fan Club has voted against awarding you the coveted Seal of Approval Award on procedural grounds. If you had a recent history of superior quality images of the Beauteous Ghlaghghee there might have been a different outcome. But you haven’t, and there wasn’t.

   The Official Ghlaghghee Fan Club

3. Magnificent

4. So did ya’ll purchase a couch to go with the cat, or pick out a cat to go with the couch? Because it’s only a matter of time before the camouflage is so effective that someone sits on him. (Her?)

5. O Chang who is not Chang, has it ever occurred to you that you (and the Executive Committee) might be being just a *tiny* bit harsh?

6. Pretty picture, pretty cat.

   Wait…is that a male cat with both orange and black in his fur? If I understand cat-color genetics correctly, that means he has to have at least two X chromosomes (as the orange and black are both on X, though white is a separate issue). For a male that means he has to be at least XXY.

   Is he odd (I mean for a cat) in any other ways?

7. I have not done any sort of chromosomal analysis on Lopsided Cat, I must admit.

8. Take comfort in this, Scalzi: even if you never sell another novel (and there is no reason to think this would ever happen), I’m sure Cat Fancy magazine would snap you up.

   Srsly: beautiful photo.

9. I’m with Xopher – Is that a male tortoiseshell cat I see? I’ve heard of male calicos but never a tortoiseshell (of course, the genetics are the same as a male calico but still…) He’s a beautiful cat. I really don’t think I’ve ever seen a cat quite like Lopsided Cat before, and as someone who volunteers at a humane society with lots of cats, that is saying a lot.

10. What a beauty LC is! The couch looks pretty good, too.

    Member,
    Kodi Appreciation Society

    P.S. Has Kodi recovered from the painting men being in Her House?

11. Based on previous pictures, I don’t think that’s orange, but rather your basic tabby beige/brown. His outdoor lifestyle is probably rusting his coat a bit.

12. Having had both a calico and a torty, simultaneously, I spent some time trying to understand the coat-difference origin. The effort was mostly futile. Even Wikipedia’s relevant entries are . . . dense. Males are, indeed, rare. The situation is even more complicated than 46,XY vs 46,XX vs 46,XXY. Cat color is controlled by epigenetics. Different genes are brought on-line in response to the cat’s environment. I note that CC, the cloned cat, has a different color fur than her “mother.”

    Gorgeous cat. I appreciate the effort/patience required to avoid eyeshine.

13. Lopsided Cat is so handsome he’s almost as goodlooking as my Ari. Great pose and fantastic setting, that really makes his markings make sense as camouflage in an indoor environment.

    Obviously cats evolved as ambush predators who eat solicitors and small dogs.

14. Writing, photography and zombie beatdowns. Truly you’re a 21st Century Renaissance Man, Scalzi.

15. Xopher, he’s got white in his coat, so he is not a tortie male, but a calico. The tortie male is extremely rare because of the genetics, which (as Eofhan noted) are complicated. Cat coat color genetics are insane.

    He is a gorgeous cat though. I love Maine Coons and all Coon-like cats.

    (back to semi-lurking)

16. His coloration is actually more like that of a Maine Coon cat. Again, don’t ask me about his genetics, I don’t know (other than that he is to all outward appearances male).

    This search string brings up several more pictures of him for your further speculation.

17. We’ve got four pure Maine Coons, and one half-breed. To my eyes, Lopsided Cat looks like he has plenty of Maine Coon in his blood. The muzzle, the ears, the ruff around the neck are all right. There are around 60 color varieties of Maine Coon, so just about anything is possible. There are other clues: long tail, a small voice that is mostly trills and chirps, foot furnishings (long hair coming through paw pads), standing on their back legs, rectangular body, and a penchant for just being a big freaking kitten their entire life.

18. Lopsided Cat definitely does not have a small voice. You can hear him from a hundred yards away.

19. Hey, Scalzi,

    Good pic of Lopsided Cat.

    The Lopsided cat walks by himself, and all places are alike to him.

    Later, man.

    The Lopsided Cat Fan Club is just so

20. I have a male-main-coon-mix-kitty-thing too. He has that same almost rust color on his nose, in his mane, and on his tummy. You actually see it in a lot of the tabby-colored cats. It’s like an extreme tan or brown. I doubt Mr. Lop is anything other than XY.

    Also, torties can have white, and often do. Especially a white strip on their face. What makes a tortie a tortie is that the spots of white(ish), red(ish) and black(ish) are usually small and well mixed. More of a brindled look. A calico, in contrast, has large sections of white and their spots tend to be pretty big too.

    Disclosure: I also have a torie and calico