Cat
Cat Temporal range: 9,500 years ago – present
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Various types of cats | |
Domesticated
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Suborder: | Feliformia |
Family: | Felidae |
Subfamily: | Felinae |
Genus: | Felis |
Species: | F. catus[1]
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Binomial name | |
Felis catus[1] | |
Synonyms | |
The cat (Felis catus), commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small
Female domestic cats can have
As of 2017,[update] the domestic cat was the second most popular pet in the United States, with 95.6 million cats owned and around 42 million households owning at least one cat. In the United Kingdom, 26% of adults have a cat, with an estimated population of 10.9 million pet cats as of 2020.[update] As of 2021,[update] there were an estimated 220 million owned and 480 million stray cats in the world.
Etymology and naming
The origin of the English word cat,
The forms might also have derived from an ancient Germanic word that was absorbed into Latin and then into Greek, Syriac, and Arabic.[7] The word may be derived from Germanic and Northern European languages, and ultimately be borrowed from Uralic, cf. Northern Sámi gáđfi, 'female stoat', and Hungarian hölgy, 'lady, female stoat'; from Proto-Uralic *käďwä, 'female (of a furred animal)'.[8]
The English puss, extended as pussy and pussycat, is attested from the 16th century and may have been introduced from Dutch poes or from Low German puuskatte, related to Swedish kattepus, or Norwegian pus, pusekatt. Similar forms exist in Lithuanian puižė and Irish puisín or puiscín. The etymology of this word is unknown, but it may have arisen from a sound used to attract a cat.[9][10]
A male cat is called a tom or tomcat
Taxonomy
The
In 2003, the
Evolution
The domestic cat is a member of the Felidae, a
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mitochondrial DNA:[31] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Domestication
It was long thought that the domestication of the cat began in ancient Egypt, where cats were venerated from around 3100 BC,[32][33] However, the earliest known indication for the
The earliest known evidence for the occurrence of the domestic cat in
The
During domestication, cats have undergone only minor changes in anatomy and behavior, and they are still capable of surviving in the wild. Several natural behaviors and characteristics of wildcats may have
Development of
Characteristics
Size
The domestic cat has a smaller skull and shorter bones than the European wildcat.[48] It averages about 46 cm (18 in) in head-to-body length and 23–25 cm (9.1–9.8 in) in height, with about 30 cm (12 in) long tails. Males are larger than females.[49] Adult domestic cats typically weigh 4–5 kg (8.8–11.0 lb).[28]
Skeleton
Cats have seven
Skull
The cat skull is unusual among mammals in having very large
The premolar and first molar together compose the carnassial pair on each side of the mouth, which efficiently shears meat into small pieces, like a pair of scissors. These are vital in feeding, since cats' small molars cannot chew food effectively, and cats are largely incapable of mastication.[52]: 37 Cats tend to have better teeth than most humans, with decay generally less likely because of a thicker protective layer of enamel, a less damaging saliva, less retention of food particles between teeth, and a diet mostly devoid of sugar. Nonetheless, they are subject to occasional tooth loss and infection.[54]
Claws
Cats have protractible and retractable claws.[55] In their normal, relaxed position, the claws are sheathed with the skin and fur around the paw's toe pads. This keeps the claws sharp by preventing wear from contact with the ground and allows for the silent stalking of prey. The claws on the forefeet are typically sharper than those on the hindfeet.[56] Cats can voluntarily extend their claws on one or more paws. They may extend their claws in hunting or self-defense, climbing, kneading, or for extra traction on soft surfaces. Cats shed the outside layer of their claw sheaths when scratching rough surfaces.[57]
Most cats have five claws on their front paws and four on their rear paws. The
Ambulation
The cat is digitigrade. It walks on the toes, with the bones of the feet making up the lower part of the visible leg.[60] Unlike most mammals, it uses a "pacing" gait and moves both legs on one side of the body before the legs on the other side. It registers directly by placing each hind paw close to the track of the corresponding fore paw, minimizing noise and visible tracks. This also provides sure footing for hind paws when navigating rough terrain. As it speeds up from walking to trotting, its gait changes to a "diagonal" gait: The diagonally opposite hind and fore legs move simultaneously.[61]
Balance
Cats are generally fond of sitting in high places or perching. A higher place may serve as a concealed site from which to hunt; domestic cats strike prey by pouncing from a perch such as a tree branch. Another possible explanation is that height gives the cat a better observation point, allowing it to survey its territory. A cat falling from heights of up to 3 m (9.8 ft) can right itself and land on its paws.[62]
During a fall from a high place, a cat reflexively twists its body and rights itself to land on its feet using its acute sense of balance and flexibility. This reflex is known as the cat righting reflex.[63] A cat always rights itself in the same way during a fall, if it has enough time to do so, which is the case in falls of 90 cm (3.0 ft) or more.[64] How cats are able to right themselves when falling has been investigated as the "falling cat problem".[65]
Coats
The cat family (Felidae) can pass down many colors and patterns to their offspring. The domestic cat genes MC1R and ASIP allow color variety in their coats. The feline ASIP gene consists of three coding exons.
Senses
Vision
Cats have excellent night vision and can see at one sixth the light level required for human vision.[52]: 43 This is partly the result of cat eyes having a tapetum lucidum, which reflects any light that passes through the retina back into the eye, thereby increasing the eye's sensitivity to dim light.[68] Large pupils are an adaptation to dim light. The domestic cat has slit pupils, which allow it to focus bright light without chromatic aberration.[69] At low light, a cat's pupils expand to cover most of the exposed surface of its eyes.[70] The domestic cat has rather poor color vision and only two types of cone cells, optimized for sensitivity to blue and yellowish green; its ability to distinguish between red and green is limited.[71] A response to middle wavelengths from a system other than the rod cells might be due to a third type of cone. This appears to be an adaptation to low light levels rather than representing true trichromatic vision.[72] Cats also have a nictitating membrane, allowing them to blink without hindering their vision.
Hearing
The domestic cat's hearing is most acute in the range of 500 Hz to 32 kHz.[73] It can detect an extremely broad range of frequencies ranging from 55 Hz to 79 kHz, whereas humans can only detect frequencies between 20 Hz and 20 kHz. It can hear a range of 10.5 octaves, while humans and dogs can hear ranges of about 9 octaves.[74][75] Its hearing sensitivity is enhanced by its large movable outer ears, the
Smell
Cats have an acute sense of smell, due in part to their well-developed
Taste
Cats have relatively few
Cats also have a distinct temperature preference for their food, preferring food with a temperature around 38 °C (100 °F) which is similar to that of a fresh kill; some cats reject cold food (which would signal to the cat that the "prey" item is long dead and therefore possibly toxic or decomposing).[85]
Whiskers
To aid with navigation and sensation, cats have dozens of movable
Behavior
Outdoor cats are active both day and night, although they tend to be slightly more active at night.[90] Domestic cats spend the majority of their time in the vicinity of their homes but can range many hundreds of meters from this central point. They establish territories that vary considerably in size, in one study ranging 7–28 ha (17–69 acres).[91] The timing of cats' activity is quite flexible and varied but being low-light predators, they are generally crepuscular, which means they tend to be more active near dawn and dusk. However, house cats' behavior is also influenced by human activity and they may adapt to their owners' sleeping patterns to some extent.[92][93]
Cats conserve energy by sleeping more than most animals, especially as they grow older. The daily duration of sleep varies, usually between 12 and 16 hours, with 13 and 14 being the average. Some cats can sleep as much as 20 hours. The term "cat nap" for a short rest refers to the cat's tendency to fall asleep (lightly) for a brief period. While asleep, cats experience short periods of rapid eye movement sleep often accompanied by muscle twitches, which suggests they are dreaming.[94]
Sociability
The social behavior of the domestic cat ranges from widely dispersed individuals to
Life in proximity to humans and other domestic animals has led to a symbiotic social adaptation in cats, and cats may express great affection toward humans or other animals. Ethologically, a cat's human keeper functions as if a mother surrogates.[99] Adult cats live their lives in a kind of extended kittenhood, a form of behavioral neoteny. Their high-pitched sounds may mimic the cries of a hungry human infant, making them particularly difficult for humans to ignore.[100] Some pet cats are poorly socialized. In particular, older cats show aggressiveness toward newly arrived kittens, which include biting and scratching; this type of behavior is known as feline asocial aggression.[101]
Domestic cats' scent rubbing behavior toward humans or other cats is thought to be a feline means of social bonding.[104]
Communication
Domestic cats use many
The exact mechanism by which cats purr has long been elusive, but it has been proposed that purring is generated via a series of sudden build-ups and releases of pressure as the
Domestic cats observed in rescue facilities have 276 morphologically distinct facial expressions based on 26 facial movements; each facial expression corresponds to different social functions that are likely influenced by domestication.[114] Facial expressions have helped researchers detect pain in cats. The feline grimace scale's five criteria ear position, orbital tightening, muzzle tension, whisker change, and head position indicated the presence of acute pain in cats.[115][116]
Grooming
Cats are known for spending considerable amounts of time licking their coats to keep them clean.
Fighting
Among domestic cats, males are more likely to fight than females.
When cats become aggressive, they try to make themselves appear larger and more threatening by raising their fur, arching their backs, turning sideways, and hissing or spitting.[123] Often, the ears are pointed down and back to avoid damage to the inner ear and potentially listen for any changes behind them while focused forward. Cats may also vocalize loudly and bare their teeth in an effort to further intimidate their opponents. Fights usually consist of grappling and delivering slaps to the face and body with the forepaws, as well as bites. Cats also throw themselves to the ground in a defensive posture to rake their opponent's belly with their hind legs.[124]
Serious damage is rare, as the fights are usually short in duration, with the loser running away with little more than a few scratches to the face and ears. Fights for mating rights are typically more severe, and injuries may include deep puncture wounds and lacerations. Normally, serious injuries from fighting are limited to infections from scratches and bites, though these can occasionally kill cats if untreated. In addition, bites are probably the main route of transmission of the feline immunodeficiency virus.[125] Sexually active males are usually involved in many fights during their lives and often have decidedly battered faces with obvious scars and cuts to their ears and nose.[126] Cats are willing to threaten animals larger than them to defend their territory, such as dogs and foxes.[127]
Hunting and feeding
The shape and structure of cats' cheeks is insufficient to allow them to take in liquids using suction. Therefore, when drinking, they lap with the tongue to draw liquid upward into their mouths. Lapping at a rate of four times a second, the cat touches the smooth tip of its tongue to the surface of the water, and quickly retracts it like a corkscrew, drawing water upward.[128][129]
Feral cats and free-fed house cats consume several small meals in a day. The frequency and size of meals varies between individuals. They select food based on its temperature, smell and texture; they dislike chilled foods and respond most strongly to moist foods rich in amino acids, which are similar to meat. Cats reject novel flavors (a response termed
Cats hunt small prey, primarily birds and rodents,[133] and are often used as a form of pest control.[134][135] Other common small creatures such as lizards and snakes may also become prey.[136] Cats use two hunting strategies, either stalking prey actively, or waiting in ambush until an animal comes close enough to be captured.[137] The strategy used depends on the prey species in the area, with cats waiting in ambush outside burrows, but tending to actively stalk birds.[138]: 153 Domestic cats are a major predator of wildlife in the United States, killing an estimated 1.3 to 4.0 billion birds and 6.3 to 22.3 billion mammals annually.[139]
Certain species appear more susceptible than others; in one English village, for example, 30% of house sparrow mortality was linked to the domestic cat.
Perhaps the best-known element of cats' hunting behavior, which is commonly misunderstood and often appalls cat owners because it looks like torture, is that cats often appear to "play" with prey by releasing and recapturing it. This cat and mouse behavior is due to an instinctive imperative to ensure that the prey is weak enough to be killed without endangering the cat.[143]
Another poorly understood element of cat hunting behavior is the presentation of prey to human guardians. One explanation is that cats adopt humans into their social group and share excess kill with others in the group according to the dominance hierarchy, in which humans are reacted to as if they are at or near the top.[144] Another explanation is that they attempt to teach their guardians to hunt or to help their human as if feeding "an elderly cat, or an inept kitten".[145] This hypothesis is inconsistent with the fact that male cats also bring home prey, despite males having negligible involvement in raising kittens.[138]: 153
Play
Domestic cats, especially young kittens, are known for their love of play. This behavior mimics hunting and is important in helping kittens learn to stalk, capture, and kill prey.[146] Cats also engage in play fighting, both with each other and with humans. This behavior may be a way for cats to practice the skills needed for real combat, and it might also reduce the fear that they associate with launching attacks on other animals.[147]
Cats also tend to play with toys more when they are hungry.
Reproduction
The cat secretes and perceives
Several males, called tomcats, are attracted to a female in heat. They fight over her, and the victor wins the right to mate. At first, the female rejects the male, but eventually, the female allows the male to mate. The female utters a loud yowl as the male pulls out of her because a male cat's penis has a band of about 120–150 backward-pointing penile spines, which are about 1 mm (0.039 in) long; upon withdrawal of the penis, the spines may provide the female with increased sexual stimulation, which acts to induce ovulation.[155]
After mating, the female cleans her vulva thoroughly. If a male attempts to mate with her at this point, the female attacks him. After about 20 to 30 minutes, once the female is finished grooming, the cycle will repeat.[156] Because ovulation is not always triggered by a single mating, females may not be impregnated by the first male with which they mate.[157] Furthermore, cats are superfecund; that is, a female may mate with more than one male when she is in heat, with the result that different kittens in a litter may have different fathers.[156]
The
Data on the reproductive capacity of more than 2,300 free-ranging queens were collected during a study between May 1998 and October 2000. They had one to six kittens per
Cats are ready to go to new homes at about 12 weeks of age, when they are ready to leave their mother.
Lifespan and health
The average lifespan of pet cats has risen in recent decades. In the early 1980s, it was about seven years,[165]: 33 [166] rising to 9.4 years in 1995[165]: 33 and an average of about 13 years as of 2014 and 2023.[167][168] Some cats have been reported as surviving into their 30s,[169] with the oldest known cat dying at a verified age of 38.[170]
Neutering increases life expectancy; one study found castrated male cats live twice as long as intact males, while spayed female cats live 62% longer than intact females.
Disease
About 250 heritable
Ecology
Habitats
The domestic cat is a
The unwantedness that leads to the domestic cat being treated as an invasive species is twofold. As it is little altered from the wildcat, it can readily interbreed with the wildcat. This hybridization poses a danger to the genetic distinctiveness of some wildcat populations, particularly in Scotland and Hungary, possibly also the Iberian Peninsula, and where protected natural areas are close to human-dominated landscapes, such as Kruger National Park in South Africa.[186][44] However, its introduction to places where no native felines are present also contributes to the decline of native species.[187]
Ferality
Feral cats are domestic cats that were born in or have reverted to a wild state. They are unfamiliar with and wary of humans and roam freely in urban and rural areas.
Public attitudes toward feral cats vary widely, from seeing them as free-ranging pets to regarding them as vermin.[191]
Impact on wildlife
On islands, birds can contribute as much as 60% of a cat's diet.
In Australia, one study found feral cats to kill 466 million reptiles per year. More than 258 reptile species were identified as being predated by cats.
Interaction with humans
Cats are common pets throughout the world, and their worldwide population as of 2007 exceeded 500 million.[199] As of 2017,[update] the domestic cat was the second most popular pet in the United States, with 95.6 million cats owned[200][201] and around 42 million households owning at least one cat.[202] In the United Kingdom, 26% of adults have a cat, with an estimated population of 10.9 million pet cats as of 2020.[update][203] As of 2021,[update] there were an estimated 220 million owned and 480 million stray cats in the world.[204]
Cats have been used for millennia to control rodents, notably around grain stores and aboard ships, and both uses extend to the present day.[205][206] Cats are also used in the international fur trade[207] and leather industries for making coats, hats, blankets, stuffed toys,[208] shoes, gloves, and musical instruments.[209] About 24 cats are needed to make a cat-fur coat.[210] This use has been outlawed in the United States since 2000 and in the European Union (as well as the United Kingdom) since 2007.[211]
Cat pelts have been used for superstitious purposes as part of the practice of witchcraft,[212] and they are still made into blankets in Switzerland as traditional medicines thought to cure rheumatism.[213]
A few attempts to build a cat census have been made over the years, both through associations or national and international organizations (such as that of the
Pet humanization is a form of anthropomorphism in which cats are kept for companionship and treated more like human family members than traditional pets.[223] This trend of pet culture involves providing cats with a higher level of care, attention and often even luxury, similar to the way humans are treated.[224]
Shows
A
Infection
Cats can be
History and mythology
In ancient Egypt, cats were revered, and the goddess Bastet often depicted in cat form, sometimes taking on the war-like aspect of a lioness. The Greek historian Herodotus reported that killing a cat was forbidden, and when a household cat died, the entire family mourned and shaved their eyebrows. Families took their dead cats to the sacred city of Bubastis, where they were embalmed and buried in sacred repositories. Herodotus expressed astonishment at the domestic cats in Egypt, because he had only ever seen wildcats.[230]
Ancient Greeks and Romans kept weasels as pets, which were seen as the ideal rodent-killers. The earliest unmistakable evidence of the Greeks having domestic cats comes from two coins from Magna Graecia dating to the mid-fifth century BC showing Iokastos and Phalanthos, the legendary founders of Rhegion and Taras respectively, playing with their pet cats. The usual ancient Greek word for 'cat' was ailouros, meaning 'thing with the waving tail'. Cats are rarely mentioned in ancient Greek literature. Aristotle remarked in his History of Animals that "female cats are naturally lecherous." The Greeks later syncretized their own goddess Artemis with the Egyptian goddess Bastet, adopting Bastet's associations with cats and ascribing them to Artemis. In Ovid's Metamorphoses, when the deities flee to Egypt and take animal forms, the goddess Diana turns into a cat.[231][232]
Cats eventually displaced weasels as the pest control of choice because they were more pleasant to have around the house and were more enthusiastic hunters of mice. During the Middle Ages, many of Artemis's associations with cats were grafted onto the Virgin Mary. Cats are often shown in icons of Annunciation and of the Holy Family and, according to Italian folklore, on the same night that Mary gave birth to Jesus, a cat in Bethlehem gave birth to a kitten.[233] Domestic cats were spread throughout much of the rest of the world during the Age of Discovery, as ships' cats were carried on sailing ships to control shipboard rodents and as good-luck charms.[37]
Several ancient religions believed cats are exalted souls, companions or guides for humans, that are all-knowing but mute so they cannot influence decisions made by humans. In Japan, the
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A 19th-century drawing of a tabby cat
-
Some cultures are superstitious about black cats, ascribing either good or bad luck to them.
Superstitions and rituals
Many cultures have negative
According to a myth in many cultures, cats have multiple lives. In many countries, they are believed to have nine lives, but in Italy, Germany, Greece, Brazil and some Spanish-speaking regions, they are said to have seven lives,[245][246] while in Arabic traditions, the number of lives is six.[247] An early mention of the myth can be found in John Heywood's The Proverbs of John Heywood (1546):[248]
Husband, (quoth she), ye studie, be merrie now,
And even as ye thinke now, so come to yow.
Nay not so, (quoth he), for my thought to tell right,
I thinke how you lay groning, wife, all last night.
Husband, a groning horse and a groning wife
Never faile their master, (quoth she), for my life.
No wife, a woman hath nine lives like a cat.
The myth is attributed to the natural suppleness and swiftness cats exhibit to escape life-threatening situations.[249] Also lending credence to this myth is the fact that falling cats often land on their feet, using an instinctive righting reflex to twist their bodies around. Nonetheless, cats can still be injured or killed by a high fall.[250]
See also
- Aging in cats
- Ailurophobia
- Animal testing on cats
- Animal track
- Cancer in cats
- Cat bite
- Cat café
- Cat collar
- Cat fancy
- Cat lady
- Cat food
- Cat meat
- Cat repeller
- Cats and the Internet
- Cats in Australia
- Cats in New Zealand
- Cats in the United States
- Cat–dog relationship
- Dried cat
- List of cat breeds
- List of cat documentaries, television series and cartoons
- List of individual cats
- List of fictional felines
- List of feline diseases
- Perlorian
- Pet door
- Pet first aid
- Popular cat names
Notes
- ^ Driscoll, Macdonald & O'Brien 2009 did not conclude a date for genetic divergence, noting from archaeological evidence that "the broadest range of dates for domestication to be from 11,000 to 4,000 B.P.".
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External links
- The dictionary definition of cat at Wiktionary
- Data related to Felis catus at Wikispecies
- Media related to Felis silvestris catus at Wikimedia Commons
- Animal Care at Wikibooks
- Quotations related to Cat at Wikiquote
- Encyclopedia Americana. 1920. .
- Biodiversity Heritage Library bibliography for Felis catus
- View the cat genome in Ensembl
- High-resolution images of the cat's brain
- Scientific American. "The Origin of the Cat". 1881. p. 120.