# found cat



## aparis2

Hello! Recently I found a cat in my yard and have taken it in (at least temporarily). I want to put up fliers with a picture and a description of the cat as well as my contact information to see if I can find its owner. Two of the neighborhoods nearby have a large Spanish- and Russian-speaking population respectively, so I was going to put some of the fliers in Spanish and Russian. I'm not fluent in Spanish, but I know more of it than I do of Russian, of which I only have a basic understanding. Nonetheless, here is the version (minus the photo) in English and my attempt in Russian:

Found Cat!
Is your cat missing?
This cat was found on Sunday, March 11th.
It has а tortoiseshell coloring, with missing fur on its backside.
If this is your cat, please contact: (XXX) XXX-XXXX.
Also, please have some way to identify that the cat is yours, i.e. a photo or tags.

Кошка обнаружили/нашли!
Пропадёт ваш кошка?
Эта кошка находили в воскресенье, 11 марта.
У неё черепахового цвета, с мехом отсутствует на заде.
Если она ваша кошка, пожалуйста, звоните: (XXX) XXX-XXXX.
Также, пожалуйста обладайте методом опознавать что кошка ваша, т.е. фото или ярлыки/бирки/тэги.

Really, there's not a specific part that I need help with; I'm kind of unsure of a lot of it—not so much the vocabulary (though I am unsure how to say tags) but more so the verbs, like when to use the proper case, etc. Any help with corrections you can give would be much appreciated! Thank you in advance!


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## Maroseika

Найдена кошка.
Вы не теряли кошку?
Кошка найдена в воскресенье 11 марта.
Цвет - пестрый (if you mean it is speckled), на спине (I'm not sure though where is the backside of a cat) залысины.
Если это ваша кошка, звоните по номеру....
Пожалуйста, позаботьтесь о доказательствах того, что эта кошка ваша (фотографии или... tags). 

I also don't know what stands for tags in Russian. Do you mean a collar tag? Then it is бирка or жетон.


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## Hoax

tortoiseshell it is черепаховый (black and orange and maybe white)


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## Maroseika

Hoax said:


> tortoiseshell it is черепаховый (black and orange and maybe white)


Exactly. But I've never heard черепаховая окраска about cats in Russian. That is why I wrote пестрая. 
Now I see there is such a term in Russian too, but is it reasonable to use professional term in the fliers? You know, I'm not a cat fan and I would understand it as gray colour. Diversity of colours is the last thing I'd think about.


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## Hoax

Maroseika said:


> Exactly. But I've never heard черепаховая окраска about cats in Russian. That is why I wrote пестрая.
> Althought, I'm not a cat fan.



widely used name of color


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## little green bird

It is common to say "черепаховый окрас" about cats, I'm quite sure about that.


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## Maroseika

little green bird said:


> It is common to say "черепаховый окрас" about cats, I'm quite sure about that.


If you are sure local Russian natives will understand this word, that's all right. But my dictionary of common lexis gives пестрый exactly for the tortoiseshell cats. I still strongly doubt that sombody having no idea about cat colours (like me), would ever interprete it in the right way.


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## little green bird

Yes, but its the same with the English phrase "tortoiseshell coloring". If *aparis2* is ok with using it in her English text, then "черепаховый окрас" will do well in Russian. I don't think that an average American knows more about cat colors, than an average Russian


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## Maroseika

Well, actually the English word can be not so specific, as the Russian one. But let the topicstarter decide. After all, concern of the cat is above all.


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## aparis2

Thank you to all! I was thinking maybe I'll put _Цвет черепаховый окрас_ and _(пестрый)_ in parenthesis. Might I ask why _У неё_ doesn't work in this instance? I know I only took two semesters of Russian (so I'm no expert), but I thought when _to have_ is talking about possession (like I have blue eyes), you use _У меня + genitive_.


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## Hoax

aparis2 said:


> Thank you to all! I was thinking maybe I'll put _Цвет черепаховый окрас_ and _(пестрый)_ in parenthesis. Might I ask why _У неё_ doesn't work in this instance? I know I only took two semesters of Russian (so I'm no expert), but I thought when _to have_ is talking about possession (like I have blue eyes), you use _У меня + genitive_.



You can say "у неё шерсть черепахового цвета" or " у неё черепаховый окрас", sentences are grammatically correct,  but it will be stylistically wrong usage of them in the fliers. Fliers need sentences to be precise, colloquial phrases are not suitable for them.


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## inna203

Никто не говорит "черепаховый окрас", разве что специалисты, да и то я не уверена


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## Hoax

inna203 said:


> Никто не говорит "черепаховый окрас", разве что специалисты, да и то я не уверена



I don't have a tortoiseshell cat but I know the meaning. And the owner of a tortoiseshell cat for sure knows what tortoiseshell means.


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## LilianaB

This is a tortoiseshell cat. I love cats but I would not know right away what a tortoiseshell would look like: their appearance may vary in fact. I think a simpler word should be used in Russian. 

http://www.squidoo.com/tortoiseshellcats


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## Maroseika

aparis2 said:


> I was thinking maybe I'll put _Цвет черепаховый окрас_ and _(пестрый)_ in parenthesis.


Цвет and окрас are synonyms, the former being a common word and the latter - professional, so you should choose something one: Цвет - черепаховый or Окрас - черепаховый.
Maybe with цвет the word пестрый will fit better, as both are not professional. Or if you want use both, than I'd suggest:
Цвет - пестрый (черепаховый окрас).


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## Sobakus

aparis2 said:


> I thought when _to have_ is talking about possession (like I have blue eyes), you use _У меня + genitive_.


Actually, it's у меня + Nominative.


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## aparis2

Thanks to all! And yes, I know tortoiseshell isn't a very common term. Most Americans probably wouldn't think it applies to cats either. That's why I often say tortoiseshell/calico. However, when we took the cat to the vet to get her checked out and "calico" was written on the description, the vet quickly crossed it out and said, "She's a tortoiseshell," confirming that there is, indeed, a difference.


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## alex97687

little green bird said:


> Yes, but its the same with the English phrase "tortoiseshell coloring". If *aparis2* is ok with using it in her English text, then "черепаховый окрас" will do well in Russian. I don't think that an average American knows more about cat colors, than an average Russian



 an average American - среднестатистический американец , обычный американец ?


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## little green bird

ну да, это я и имела в виду. а что?)


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## alex97687

little green bird said:


> ну да, это я и имела в виду. а что?)



У нас разный уровень английского языка ( у меня хуже), поэтому я сверяюсь со словарём , там значение an average - среднее число или значение. Вот я и уточнял. Спасибо за ответ . С уважением.


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## Sobakus

alex97687 said:


> У нас разный уровень английского языка ( у меня хуже), поэтому я сверяюсь со словарём , там значение an average - среднее число или значение. Вот я и уточнял. Спасибо за ответ . С уважением.


_An average_ - существительное, о чём свидетельствует артикль, словарь прав. Во фразе _an average American_ артикль относится к _American_, а _average_ - прилагательное "средний".


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## alex97687

Sobakus said:


> _An average_ - существительное, о чём свидетельствует артикль, словарь прав. Во фразе _an average American_ артикль относится к _American_, а _average_ - прилагательное "средний".


Век живи, век учись . Приятно общаться с умными людьми. Спасибо. С уважением


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## sagittaire

Wikipedia says that "_Calico cats_ are domestic cats with a spotted or parti-colored coat that is predominantly white, with patches of two other colours". So, calico cats are three-colored cats (трехцветные).

Whereas tortoiseshell cats are "пестрые" or "черепахового окраса". Here are two pictures illustrating the difference.

Interesting, I didn't know that.


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