The cat (Felis catus), commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is the only
pheromones
.
Female domestic cats can have
spaying and neutering, but their proliferation and the abandonment of pets has resulted in large numbers of feral cats worldwide, contributing to the extinction of bird, mammal and reptile
species.
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.
The forms might also have derived from an ancient Germanic word that was imported 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 Sámigáđfi, 'female stoat', and Hungarianhölgy, '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 Dutchpoes or from Low Germanpuuskatte, related to Swedishkattepus, or Norwegianpus, pusekatt. Similar forms exist in Lithuanian puižė and Irishpuisín 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
spayed, especially in a cat-breeding context. A juvenile cat is referred to as a kitten. In Early Modern English, the word kitten was interchangeable with the now-obsolete word catling.[15]
A group of cats can be referred to as a clowder or a glaring.[16]
Taxonomy
The
Transcaucasus, later identified as a domestic cat.[17][18]
In 2003, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature ruled that the domestic cat is a distinct species, namely Felis catus.[19][20]
In 2007, the modern domesticated subspecies F. silvestris catus sampled worldwide was considered to have likely descended from the
phylogenetic research.[21][22][a] In 2017, the IUCN Cat Classification Taskforce followed the recommendation of the ICZN in regarding the domestic cat as a distinct species, Felis catus.[23]
agricultural practices spread, so did tame and domesticated cats.[30][34] Wildcats of Egypt contributed to the maternal gene pool of the domestic cat at a later time.[35]
The earliest known evidence for the occurrence of the domestic cat in
Etruscan traders introduced domestic cats to southern Europe.[36] During the Roman Empire they were introduced to Corsica and Sardinia before the beginning of the 1st millennium.[37] By the 5th century BC, they were familiar animals around settlements in Magna Graecia and Etruria.[38] By the end of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, the Egyptian domestic cat lineage had arrived in a Baltic Sea port in northern Germany.[35]
The
tamed independently in China around 5500 BC. This line of partially domesticated cats leaves no trace in the domestic cat populations of today.[39]
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
Hybridisation between domestic and other Felinae species is also possible, producing hybrids such as the Kellas cat in Scotland.[42][43]
Development of
cat breeds started in the mid 19th century.[44] An analysis of the domestic cat genome revealed that the ancestral wildcat genome was significantly altered in the process of domestication, as specific mutations were selected to develop cat breeds.[45] Most breeds are founded on random-bred domestic cats. Genetic diversity of these breeds varies between regions, and is lowest in purebred populations, which show more than 20 deleterious genetic disorders.[46]
The domestic cat has a smaller skull and shorter bones than the European wildcat.[47] 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.[48]
Adult domestic cats typically weigh 4–5 kg (8.8–11.0 lb).[27]
Skeleton
Cats have seven
caudal vertebrae in the tail (humans have only three to five vestigial caudal vertebrae, fused into an internal coccyx).[49]: 11 The extra lumbar and thoracic vertebrae account for the cat's spinal mobility and flexibility. Attached to the spine are 13 ribs, the shoulder, and the pelvis.[49]: 16 Unlike human arms, cat forelimbs are attached to the shoulder by free-floating clavicle bones which allow them to pass their body through any space into which they can fit their head.[50]
Skull
The cat skull is unusual among mammals in having very large
eye sockets and a powerful specialized jaw.[51]: 35 Within the jaw, cats have teeth adapted for killing prey and tearing meat. When it overpowers its prey, a cat delivers a lethal neck bite with its two long canine teeth, inserting them between two of the prey's vertebrae and severing its spinal cord, causing irreversible paralysis and death.[52] Compared to other felines, domestic cats have narrowly spaced canine teeth relative to the size of their jaw, which is an adaptation to their preferred prey of small rodents, which have small vertebrae.[52]
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.[51]: 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.[53]
Claws
Cats have protractible and retractable claws.[54] 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.[55] 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.[56]
Most cats have five claws on their front paws and four on their rear paws. The
proximal to the other claws. More proximally is a protrusion which appears to be a sixth "finger". This special feature of the front paws on the inside of the wrists has no function in normal walking but is thought to be an antiskidding device used while jumping. Some cat breeds are prone to having extra digits ("polydactyly").[57] Polydactylous cats occur along North America's northeast coast and in Great Britain.[58]
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.[59] 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.[60]
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.[61]
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.[62] 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.[63] How cats are able to right themselves when falling has been investigated as the "falling cat problem".[64]
Coats
Main article:
linkage analysis in 89 domestic cats segregated for melanism. The domestic cat family demonstrated a cosegregation between the ASIP allele and coat black coloration.[66]
Cats have excellent night vision and can see at one sixth the light level required for human vision.[51]: 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.[67] Large pupils are an adaptation to dim light. The domestic cat has slit pupils, which allow it to focus bright light without chromatic aberration.[68] At low light, a cat's pupils expand to cover most of the exposed surface of its eyes.[69] 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.[70] 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.[71] 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.[72] 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.[73][74]
Its hearing sensitivity is enhanced by its large movable outer ears, the
pinnae, which amplify sounds and help detect the location of a noise. It can detect ultrasound, which enables it to detect ultrasonic calls made by rodent prey.[75][76] Recent research has shown that cats have socio-spatial cognitive abilities to create mental maps of owners' locations based on hearing owners' voices.[77]
Smell
Cats have an acute sense of smell, due in part to their well-developed
scent glands.[80] Many cats also respond strongly to plants that contain nepetalactone, especially catnip, as they can detect that substance at less than one part per billion.[81] About 70–80% of cats are affected by nepetalactone.[82] This response is also produced by other plants, such as silver vine (Actinidia polygama) and the herb valerian; it may be caused by the smell of these plants mimicking a pheromone and stimulating cats' social or sexual behaviors.[83]
Taste
Cats have relatively few
l-Histidine.[87] These molecules are particularly enriched in tuna.[87] This has been argued is why cats find tuna so palatable: as put by researchers into cat taste, "the specific combination of the high IMP and free l-Histidine contents of tuna, which produces a strong umami taste synergy that is highly preferred by cats".[87] One of the researchers in this research has stated, "I think umami is as important for cats as sweet is for humans".[88]
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).[84]
Whiskers
To aid with navigation and sensation, cats have dozens of movable
blink reflexes to protect the eyes from damage.[51]
Outdoor cats are active both day and night, although they tend to be slightly more active at night.[89] 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).[90] 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.[91][92]
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.[93]
Sociability
The social behavior of the domestic cat ranges from widely dispersed individuals to
urine spraying, by rubbing objects at head height with secretions from facial glands, and by defecation.[80] Between these territories are neutral areas where cats watch and greet one another without territorial conflicts. Outside these neutral areas, territory holders usually chase away stranger cats, at first by staring, hissing, and growling, and, if that does not work, by short and violent, noisy attacks. Though, cats do not have a social survival strategy or herd behavior, they always hunt alone.[97]
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.[98] 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.[99] 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.[100]
Redirected aggression is a common form of aggression which can occur in multiple cat households. In redirected aggression, there is usually something that agitates the cat: this could be a sight, sound, or another source of stimuli which causes a heightened level of anxiety or arousal. If the cat cannot attack the stimuli, it may direct anger elsewhere by attacking or directing aggression to the nearest cat, dog, human or other being.[101][102]
Domestic cats' scent rubbing behavior toward humans or other cats is thought to be a feline means of social bonding.[103]
social hierarchy, with dominant individuals raising their tails less often than subordinate ones.[105] Feral cats are generally silent.[106]: 208 Nose-to-nose touching is also a common greeting and may be followed by social grooming, which is solicited by one of the cats raising and tilting its head.[94]
Purring may have developed as an evolutionary advantage as a signaling mechanism of reassurance between mother cats and nursing kittens, who are thought to use it as a care-soliciting signal.[107]
Post-nursing cats also often purr as a sign of contentment: when being petted, becoming relaxed,[108][109] or eating. Even though purring is popularly interpreted as indicative of pleasure, it has been recorded in a wide variety of circumstances, most of which involve physical contact between the cat and another, presumably trusted individual.[107] Some cats have been observed to purr continuously when chronically ill or in apparent pain.[110]
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
vocal folds to separate forcefully. The laryngeal muscles in control of the glottis are thought to be driven by a neural oscillator which generates a cycle of contraction and release every 30–40 milliseconds (giving a frequency of 33 to 25 Hz).[107][111][112]
Domestic cats observed in a rescue facility have total of 276 distinct facial expressions based on 26 different facial movements; each facial expression corresponds to different social functions that are likely influenced by domestication.[113]
Grooming
Cats are known for spending considerable amounts of time licking their coats to keep them clean.
gut, as well as regular grooming of the coat with a comb or stiff brush.[114]
Fighting
Among domestic cats, males are more likely to fight than females.
cat fighting is competition between two males to mate with a female. In such cases, most fights are won by the heavier male.[118] Another common reason for fighting in domestic cats is the difficulty of establishing territories within a small home.[117] Female cats also fight over territory or to defend their kittens. Neutering will decrease or eliminate this behavior in many cases, suggesting that the behavior is linked to sex hormones.[119]
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.[120] 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.[121]
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 of scratches and bites, though these can occasionally kill cats if untreated. In addition, bites are probably the main route of transmission of feline immunodeficiency virus.[122] 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.[123] Cats are willing to threaten animals larger than them to defend their territory, such as dogs and foxes.[124]
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.[125][126]
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
lactose intolerant; the sugar in milk is not easily digested and may cause soft stools or diarrhea.[128] Some also develop odd eating habits and like to eat or chew on things like wool, plastic, cables, paper, string, aluminum foil, or even coal. This condition, pica, can threaten their health, depending on the amount and toxicity of the items eaten.[129]
Cats hunt small prey, primarily birds and rodents,[130] and are often used as a form of pest control.[131][132] Other common small creatures such as lizards and snakes may also become prey.[133] Cats use two hunting strategies, either stalking prey actively, or waiting in ambush until an animal comes close enough to be captured.[134] The strategy used depends on the prey species in the area, with cats waiting in ambush outside burrows, but tending to actively stalk birds.[135]: 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.[136]
Certain species appear more susceptible than others; in one English village, for example, 30% of house sparrow mortality was linked to the domestic cat.
Prunella modularis) in Britain, 31% of deaths were a result of cat predation.[138] In parts of North America, the presence of larger carnivores such as coyotes which prey on cats and other small predators reduces the effect of predation by cats and other small predators such as opossums and raccoons on bird numbers and variety.[139]
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.[140]
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.[141] 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".[142] This hypothesis is inconsistent with the fact that male cats also bring home prey, despite males having negligible involvement in raising kittens.[135]: 153
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.[143] Cats also engage in play fighting, with each other and with humans. This behavior may be a way for cats to practice the skills needed for real combat, and might also reduce any fear they associate with launching attacks on other animals.[144]
Cats also tend to play with toys more when they are hungry.
intestines, a medical emergency which can cause serious illness, even death.[147] Owing to the risks posed by cats eating string, it is sometimes replaced with a laser pointer's dot, which cats may chase.[148]
estrus cycles during a year, lasting usually 21 days. They are usually ready to mate between early February and August[150] in northern temperate zones and throughout the year in equatorial regions.[151]
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.[152]
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.[153] Because ovulation is not always triggered by a single mating, females may not be impregnated by the first male with which they mate.[154] 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.[153]
The
morula forms 124 hours after conception. At 148 hours, early blastocysts form. At 10–12 days, implantation occurs.[155] The gestation of queens lasts between 64 and 67 days, with an average of 65 days.[150][156]
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
litter, with an average of three kittens. They produced a mean of 1.4 litters per year, but a maximum of three litters in a year. Of 169 kittens, 127 died before they were six months old due to a trauma caused in most cases by dog attacks and road accidents.[157] The first litter is usually smaller than subsequent litters. Kittens are weaned between six and seven weeks of age. Queens normally reach sexual maturity at 5–10 months, and males at 5–7 months. This varies depending on breed.[153] Kittens reach puberty at the age of 9–10 months.[150]
Cats are ready to go to new homes at about 12 weeks of age, when they are ready to leave their mother.
territory marking (spraying urine) in males and yowling (calling) in females. Traditionally, this surgery was performed at around six to nine months of age, but it is increasingly being performed before puberty, at about three to six months.[160] In the United States, about 80% of household cats are neutered.[161]
The average lifespan of pet cats has risen in recent decades. In the early 1980s, it was about seven years,[162]: 33 [163] rising to 9.4 years in 1995[162]: 33 and an average of about 13 years as of 2014 and 2023.[164][165] Some cats have been reported as surviving into their 30s,[166] with the oldest known cat dying at a verified age of 38.[167]
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.
neoplasia.[168] However, neutering decreases metabolism[169][170][171] and increases food intake,[171][172] both of which can cause obesity in neutered cats.[173]
animal models in the study of the human diseases.[175][176] Diseases affecting domestic cats include acute infections, parasitic infestations, injuries, and chronic diseases such as kidney disease, thyroid disease, and arthritis. Vaccinations are available for many infectious diseases, as are treatments to eliminate parasites such as worms, ticks, and fleas.[177]
Ecology
Habitats
The domestic cat is a
cosmopolitan species and occurs across much of the world.[46] It is adaptable and now present on all continents except Antarctica, and on 118 of the 131 main groups of islands, even on the isolated Kerguelen Islands.[178][179] Due to its ability to thrive in almost any terrestrial habitat, it is among the world's most invasive species.[180] It lives on small islands with no human inhabitants.[181] Feral cats can live in forests, grasslands, tundra, coastal areas, agricultural land, scrublands, urban areas, and wetlands.[182]
The unwantedness that leads to the domestic cat being treated as an invasive species is twofold. On one hand, 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.[183][43] However, its introduction to places where no native felines are present also contributes to the decline of native species.[184]
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.
Forum Romanum, with cats at some of these sites being fed and given medical attention by volunteers.[187]
Public attitudes toward feral cats vary widely, from seeing them as free-ranging pets to regarding them as vermin.[188]
Some feral cats can be successfully socialized and 're-tamed' for adoption; young cats, especially kittens[189] and cats that have had prior experience and contact with humans are the most receptive to these efforts.
On islands, birds can contribute as much as 60% of a cat's diet.
New Zealand merganser[192] are a few from a long list, with the most extreme case being the flightless Lyall's wren, which was driven to extinction only a few years after its discovery.[193][194] One feral cat in New Zealand killed 102 New Zealand lesser short-tailed bats in seven days.[195] In the United States, feral and free-ranging domestic cats kill an estimated 6.3–22.3 billion mammals annually.[136]
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.
Cats are common pets throughout the world, and their worldwide population as of 2007 exceeded 500 million.[197] As of 2017,[update] the domestic cat was the second most popular pet in the United States, with 95.6 million cats owned[198][199] and around 42 million households owning at least one cat.[200] In the United Kingdom, 26% of adults have a cat, with an estimated population of 10.9 million pet cats as of 2020.[update][201] As of 2021,[update] there were an estimated 220 million owned and 480 million stray cats in the world.[202][203][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]
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
Canadian Federation of Humane Societies[214]) and over the Internet.[215][216] General estimates for the global population of domestic cats range widely from anywhere between 200 million to 600 million.[217][218][219][220][221]Walter Chandoha made his career photographing cats after his 1949 images of Loco, a stray cat, were published. He is reported to have photographed 90,000 cats during his career and maintained an archive of 225,000 images that he drew from for publications during his lifetime.[222]
pedigreed and non-purebred companion ("moggy") cats are admissible, although the rules differ depending on the organization. Competing cats are compared to the applicable breed standard, and assessed for temperament.[223]
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.[228]
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.[229][230]
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.[231] 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.[36]
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
Abu Hurayrah ("father of the kitten"), in reference to his documented affection to cats.[238]
The ancient Egyptians mummified dead cats out of respect in the same way that they mummified people[239]
Some cultures are superstitious about black cats, ascribing either good or bad luck to them.
Superstitions and rituals
Many cultures have negative
cats would allegedly be burnt alive as a form of entertainment, particularly during midsummer festivals. According to Norman Davies, the assembled people "shrieked with laughter as the animals, howling with pain, were singed, roasted, and finally carbonized".[241] The remaining ashes were sometimes taken back home by the people for good luck.[242]
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,[243][244] while in Arabic traditions, the number of lives is six.[245] An early mention of the myth can be found in John Heywood's The Proverbs of John Heywood (1546):[246]
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.[247] 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.[248]
^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.".
References
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