Cat

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This article is about the cat species that is commonly kept as a pet. For the cat family, see
Felidae. For other uses, see Cat (disambiguation) and Cats (disambiguation).

For technical reasons, "Cat #1" redirects here. For the album, see Cat 1 (album).

Domestic cat

Cat poster 1.jpg

Various types of domestic cat

Conservation status

Domesticated

Scientific classification edit

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Carnivora

Suborder: Feliformia

Family: Felidae

Subfamily: Felinae

Genus: Felis

Species: F. catus[1]

Binomial name

Felis catus[1]

(Linnaeus, 1758)[2]

Synonyms

F. catus domesticus Erxleben, 1777[3]

F. angorensis Gmelin, 1788

F. vulgaris Fischer, 1829

The cat (Felis catus) is a small carnivorous mammal.[1][2] It is the only domesticated species in
the family Felidae and often referred to as the domestic cat to distinguish it from wild members
of the family.[4] The cat is either a house cat, kept as a pet, or a feral cat, freely ranging and
avoiding human contact.[5] A house cat is valued by humans for companionship and for its
ability to hunt rodents. About 60 cat breeds are recognized by various cat registries.[6]

Cats are similar in anatomy to the other felid species, with a strong flexible body, quick reflexes,
sharp teeth and retractable claws adapted to killing small prey. They are predators who are most
active at dawn and dusk (crepuscular). Cats can hear sounds too faint or too high in frequency
for human ears, such as those made by mice and other small animals. Compared to humans,
they see better in the dark (they see in near total darkness) and have a better sense of smell, but
poorer color vision. Cats, despite being solitary hunters, are a social species. Cat communication
includes the use of vocalizations including mewing, purring, trilling, hissing, growling and
grunting as well as cat-specific body language.[7] Cats also communicate by secreting and
perceiving pheromones.[8]

Female domestic cats can have kittens from spring to late autumn, with litter sizes ranging from
two to five kittens.[9] Domestic cats can be bred and shown as registered pedigreed cats, a
hobby known as cat fancy. Failure to control the breeding of pet cats by spaying and neutering,
as well as abandonment of pets, has resulted in large numbers of feral cats worldwide,
contributing to the extinction of entire bird species, and evoking population control.[10]

It was long thought that cat domestication was initiated in Egypt, because cats in ancient Egypt
were venerated since around 3100 BC.[11][12] However, the earliest indication for the taming of
an African wildcat (F. lybica) was found in Cyprus, where a cat skeleton was excavated close by a
human Neolithic grave dating to around 7500 BC.[13] African wildcats were probably first
domesticated in the Near East.[14] The leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) was tamed
independently in China around 5500 BC, though this line of partially domesticated cats leaves no
trace in the domestic cat populations of today.[15][16]

As of 2017, the domestic cat was the second-most popular pet in the U.S. by number of pets
owned, after freshwater fish,[17] with 95 million cats owned.[18][19] As of 2017, it was ranked
the third-most popular pet in the UK, after fish and dogs, with around 8 million being owned.
[20] The number of cats in the United Kingdom has nearly doubled since 1965, when the cat
population was 4.1 million.[21]

Contents

1 Etymology

2 Alternative term

3 Associated terms

4 Taxonomy

5 Evolution

5.1 Before domestication

5.2 Domestication

6 Characteristics

6.1 Size

6.2 Skeleton

6.3 Skull

6.4 Ambulation

6.5 Claws

7 Senses

7.1 Vision

7.2 Hearing

7.3 Smell

7.4 Accessory smell

7.5 Taste

7.6 Whiskers

7.7 Heights
7.8 Balance

8 Physiology

8.1 Heat tolerance

8.2 Temperature regulation

8.3 Water conservation

8.4 Ability to swim

9 Nutrition

9.1 Food sources

9.2 Dietary components

9.2.1 Arginine

9.2.2 Taurine

9.2.3 Niacin

9.2.4 Vitamin A

9.2.5 Vitamin D

9.2.6 Essential fatty acids

10 Behavior

10.1 Sociability

10.2 Communication

10.3 Grooming

10.4 Fighting

10.5 Hunting and feeding

10.6 Play

10.7 Reproduction

10.8 Lifespan

11 Ecology
11.1 Habitats

11.2 Feral cats

11.3 Impact on prey species

11.4 Impact on birds

12 Interaction with humans

12.1 Cat show

12.2 Cat café

12.3 Ailurophobia

12.4 Cat bites

12.5 Infections transmitted from cats to humans

12.6 History and mythology

12.7 Superstitions and rituals

13 Genetics

14 Disease

15 See also

16 Notes

17 References

18 External links

Etymology

The origin of the English word cat (Old English catt) and its counterparts in other Germanic
languages (such as German Katze), descended from Proto-Germanic *kattōn-, is controversial. It
has traditionally thought to be a borrowing from Late Latin cattus, 'domestic cat', from catta
(used around 75 AD by Martial),[22][23] compare also Byzantine Greek κάττα, Portuguese and
Spanish gato, French chat, Maltese qattus, Lithuanian katė, and Old Church Slavonic kotъ (kot'),
among others.[24]

The Late Latin word is generally thought to originate from an Afro-Asiatic language, but every
proposed source word has presented problems. Many references refer to "Berber" (Kabyle)
kaddîska, 'wildcat', and Nubian kadīs as possible sources or cognates, but M. Lionel Bender
suggests the Nubian term is a loan from Arabic ‫طة‬ ‫ قق ط‬qiṭṭa.[25] Jean-Paul Savignac suggests the
Latin word is from an Ancient Egyptian precursor of Coptic ϣⲁⲩ šau, 'tomcat', or its feminine
form suffixed with -t,[26] but John Huehnergard says "the source [...] was clearly not Egyptian
itself, where no analogous form is attested."[25] Huehnergard opines it is "equally likely that the
forms might derive from an ancient Germanic word, imported into Latin and thence to Greek
and to Syriac and Arabic". Guus Kroonen also considers the word to be native to Germanic (due
to morphological alternations) and Northern Europe, and suggests that it might ultimately be
borrowed from Uralic, cf. Northern Sami gáđfi, 'female stoat', and Hungarian hölgy, 'stoat'; from
Proto-Uralic *käďwä, 'female (of a furred animal)'.[27] In any case, cat is a classic example of a
word that has spread as a loanword among numerous languages and cultures: a Wanderwort.

Alternative term

An alternative word is English puss (extended as pussy and pussycat). Attested only from the
16th century, it 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 simply arisen
from a sound used to attract a cat.[28][29]

Associated terms

A group of cats can be referred to as a clowder or a glaring.[30]

A male cat is called a tom or tomcat[31] (or a gib,[32] if neutered)

An unspayed female is called a queen,[33] 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.[34]

The male progenitor of a cat, especially a pedigreed cat, is its sire[35] and its mother is its dam.
[36]

A pedigreed cat is one whose ancestry is recorded by a cat fancier organization.

A purebred cat is one whose ancestry contains only individuals of the same breed.

Many pedigreed and especially purebred cats are exhibited as show cats.

Cats of unrecorded, mixed ancestry are referred to as domestic short-haired or domestic long-
haired cats (by coat type), or commonly as random-bred, moggies (chiefly British), or (using
terms borrowed from dog breeding) mongrels or mutt-cats.

The semi-feral cat, a mostly outdoor cat, is not owned by any one individual, but is generally
friendly to people and may be fed by several households.

Truly feral cats are associated with human habitation areas, foraging for food and sometimes
intermittently fed by people, but are typically wary of human interaction.[37]

Domestic vs. wild - while the African wildcat is the ancestral species from which domestic cats
are descended, and wildcats and domestic cats can completely interbreed, several intermediate
stages occur between domestic pet and pedigree cats on one hand and entirely wild animals on
the other.

Taxonomy

The scientific name Felis catus for the domestic cat was proposed by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th
edition of Systema Naturae published in 1758.[1][2] Felis catus domesticus was a scientific name
proposed by the German naturalist Erxleben in 1777.[3] Felis daemon proposed by Satunin in
1904 was a black cat specimen from the Transcaucasus, later identified as a domestic cat.[38]
[39]

In 2003, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) fixed the scientific
name for the wildcat as F. silvestris. The same commission ruled that the domestic cat is a
distinct taxon Felis catus.[40][41] Following results of phylogenetic research, the domestic cat
was considered a wildcat subspecies F. silvestris catus in 2007.[42][43]

In 2017, the IUCN Cat Classification Taskforce followed the recommendation of the ICZN in
regarding the domestic cat as a distinct species.[44]

Evolution

Main article: Cat evolution

Before domestication

The domestic cat is a member of the Felidae, a family that had a common ancestor about 10–15
million years ago.[45] The genus Felis diverged from the Felidae around 6–7 million years ago.
[46] Members of this genus include the jungle cat (F. chaus), European wildcat (F. silvestris),
African wildcat (F. lybica), Chinese mountain cat (F. bieti), sand cat (F. margarita) and black-footed
cat (F. nigripes).[47] Results of phylogenetic research confirm that these wild Felis species
evolved through sympatric or parapatric speciation, whereas the domestic cat evolved through
artificial selection.[48]

Domestication

See also: Evolution of the domesticated cat

Skulls of a wildcat (top left), a housecat (top right), and a hybrid between the two (bottom
centre)

A cat sitting under a chair, a mural in an Egyptian tomb dating to the 15th century BC

The earliest known indication for a tamed African wildcat was excavated close by a human grave
in Shillourokambos, southern Cyprus, dating to about 9,200 to 9,500 years before present. As
there is no evidence of native mammalian fauna on Cyprus, the inhabitants of this Neolithic
village most likely brought the cat and other wild mammals to the island from the Middle
Eastern mainland.[13] Scientists therefore assume that African wildcats were attracted to early
human settlements in the Fertile Crescent by rodents, in particular the house mouse (Mus
musculus), and were tamed by Neolithic farmers. This commensal relationship between early
farmers and tamed cats lasted thousands of years. As agricultural practices spread, so did tame
and domesticated cats.[14][6] Wildcats of Egypt contributed to the maternal gene pool of the
domestic cat at a later time.[49] The earliest known evidence for the occurrence of the domestic
cat in Greece dates to around 1200 BC. Greek, Phoenician, Carthaginian and Etruscan traders
introduced domestic cats to southern Europe.[50] By the 5th century BC, it was a familiar animal
around settlements in Magna Graecia and Etruria.[51] Domesticated cats were introduced to
Corsica and Sardinia during the Roman Empire before the beginning of the 1st millennium.[52]
The Egyptian domestic cat lineage is evidenced in a Baltic Sea port in northern Germany by the
end of the Roman Empire in the 5th century.[49]

During domestication, cats have undergone only minor changes in anatomy and behavior, and
they are still capable of surviving in the wild.[53][54] House cats often interbreed with feral cats,
[37] producing hybrids such as the Kellas cat in Scotland.[55] Hybridisation between domestic
and other small wild cat species is also possible.[56]

Several natural behaviors and characteristics of wildcats may have preadapted them for
domestication as pets. These traits include their small size, social nature, obvious body language,
love of play and relatively high intelligence.[57]:12–17 Captive Leopardus cats may also display
affectionate behavior toward humans, but have not been domesticated.[54]

Characteristics

Main article: Cat anatomy

Diagram of the general anatomy of a male

Size

Domestic cats are generally smaller than wildcats in both skull and limb measurements.[58]
Adult domestic cats typically weigh between 4 and 5 kg (9 and 10 lb)[48] although many breeds
have a wide range of sizes, with male American Shorthairs, a common breed, ranging from 3 and
7 kg (7 to 15 lb)[59] Some breeds, such as the Maine Coon, can occasionally exceed 11 kg (24 lb).
Very small cats, less than 2 kg (4 lb), have been reported.[60] The world record for the largest cat
is 21 kg (50 lb).[61][self-published source] The smallest adult cat ever officially recorded weighed
around 1 kg (2 lb).[61] Feral cats tend to be lighter, as they have more limited access to food
than house cats. The average feral adult male weighs 4 kg (9 lb), and the average adult female 3
kg (7 lb).[62] Cats average about 23–25 cm (9–10 in) in height and 46 cm (18 in) in head/body
length (males being larger than females), with tails averaging 30 cm (12 in) in length.[63]

Skeleton

Cats have seven cervical vertebrae (as do most mammals); 13 thoracic vertebrae (humans have
12); seven lumbar vertebrae (humans have five); three sacral vertebrae (as do most mammals,
but humans have five); and a variable number of caudal vertebrae in the tail (humans have only
vestigial caudal vertebrae, fused into an internal coccyx).[64]: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.[64] :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.[65]

Skull

Cat skull

The cat skull is unusual among mammals in having very large eye sockets and a powerful
specialized jaw.[66]: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.[67] 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.[67] 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.[66]:37 Although 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, they are nonetheless subject to occasional tooth loss and infection.[68]

Ambulation

Cats, like dogs, are digitigrades. They walk directly on their toes, with the bones of their feet
making up the lower part of the visible leg.[69] Cats are capable of walking very precisely
because, like all felines, they directly register; that is, they place each hind paw (almost) directly
in the print of the corresponding fore paw, minimizing noise and visible tracks. This also provides
sure footing for their hind paws when they navigate rough terrain. Unlike most mammals, when
cats walk, they use a "pacing" gait; that is, they move the two legs on one side of the body
before the legs on the other side. This trait is shared with camels and giraffes. As a walk speeds
up into a trot, a cat's gait changes to be a "diagonal" gait, similar to that of most other mammals
(and many other land animals, such as lizards): the diagonally opposite hind and fore legs move
simultaneously.[70]

Claws

Like almost all members of the Felidae, cats have protractable and retractable claws.[71] 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
the silent stalking of prey. The claws on the fore feet are typically sharper than those on the hind
feet.[72] 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. Most
cats have five claws on their front paws, and four on their rear paws.[73] The fifth front claw (the
dewclaw) is 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, is the carpal pad,
also found on the paws of big cats and dogs. It has no function in normal walking, but is thought
to be an antiskidding device used while jumping. Some breeds of cats are prone to polydactyly
(extra toes and claws).[73] These are particularly common along the northeast coast of North
America.[74]

Senses

Main article: Cat senses

Reflection of camera flash from the tapetum lucidum

Vision

Cats have excellent night vision and can see at only one-sixth the light level required for human
vision.[66]: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.[75] Another adaptation to dim light is the large pupils of cats' eyes. Unlike some big
cats, such as tigers, domestic cats have slit pupils.[76] These slit pupils can focus bright light
without chromatic aberration, and are needed since the domestic cat's pupils are much larger,
relative to their eyes, than the pupils of the big cats.[76] At low light levels, a cat's pupils will
expand to cover most of the exposed surface of its eyes.[77] However, domestic cats have rather
poor color vision and (like most nonprimate mammals) have only two types of cones, optimized
for sensitivity to blue and yellowish green; they have limited ability to distinguish between red
and green.[78] A 1993 paper reported a response to middle wavelengths from a system other
than the rods which might be due to a third type of cone. However, this appears to be an
adaptation to low light levels rather than representing true trichromatic vision.[79]

Hearing

Cats have excellent hearing and can detect an extremely broad range of frequencies. They can
hear higher-pitched sounds than either dogs or humans, detecting frequencies from 55 Hz to
79,000 Hz, a range of 10.5 octaves, while humans and dogs both have ranges of about 9 octaves.
[80][81] Cats can hear ultrasound, which is important in hunting[82] because many species of
rodents make ultrasonic calls.[83] However, they do not communicate using ultrasound like
rodents do. Cats' hearing is also sensitive and among the best of any mammal,[80] being most
acute in the range of 500 Hz to 32 kHz.[84] This sensitivity is further enhanced by the cat's large
movable outer ears (their pinnae), which both amplify sounds and help detect the direction of a
noise.[82]

Smell
Cats have an acute sense of smell, due in part to their well-developed olfactory bulb and a large
surface of olfactory mucosa, about 5.8 cm2 (0.90 in2) in area, which is about twice that of
humans.[85]

Accessory smell

Cats and many other animals have a Jacobson's organ in their mouths that is used in the
behavioral process of flehmening. It allows them to sense certain aromas in a way that humans
cannot. Cats are sensitive to pheromones such as 3-mercapto-3-methylbutan-1-ol,[86] which
they use to communicate through urine spraying and marking with scent glands.[87] 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.[88] About 70–80% of cats are affected by
nepetalactone.[89] 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.[90]

Taste

Cats have relatively few taste buds compared to humans (470 or so versus more than 9,000 on
the human tongue).[91] Domestic and wild cats share a gene mutation that keeps their sweet
taste buds from binding to sugary molecules, leaving them with no ability to taste sweetness.
[92] Their taste buds instead respond to acids, amino acids like protein, and bitter tastes.[93]
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 and routinely rejecting
food presented cold or refrigerated (which would signal to the cat that the "prey" item is long
dead and therefore possibly toxic or decomposing).[91]

The whiskers of a cat are highly sensitive to touch.

Whiskers

To aid with navigation and sensation, cats have dozens of movable whiskers (vibrissae) over their
body, especially their faces. These provide information on the width of gaps and on the location
of objects in the dark, both by touching objects directly and by sensing air currents; they also
trigger protective blink reflexes to protect the eyes from damage.[66]:47
Heights

File:BIOASTRONAUTICS RESEARCH Gov.archives.arc.68700.ogv

Comparison of cat righting reflexes in gravity vis-à-vis zero gravity

Most breeds of cat have a noted fondness for settling in high places, or perching. In the wild, a
higher place may serve as a concealed site from which to hunt; domestic cats may strike prey by
pouncing from a perch such as a tree branch, as does a leopard.[94] 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 meters can right itself and land on its paws.[95]

Balance

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.[96]
An individual cat always rights itself in the same way during a fall, provided it has sufficient time
to do so. The height required for this to occur is around 90 cm (3.0 ft).[97] Cats without a tail
also have this reflex.[98] Several explanations have been proposed for this phenomenon since
the late 19th century:

Cats rely on conservation of angular momentum.[99]

The rotation angle of the front body is larger than that of the rear body.[100]

The dynamics of the falling cat have been explained using the Udwadia–Kalaba equation.[101]

Physiology

Normal physiological values[102]:330

Body temperature 38.6 °C (101.5 °F)

Heart rate 120–140 beats per minute

Breathing rate 16–40 breaths per minute

Thermograph of various body parts of a cat

Cats are familiar and easily kept animals, and their physiology has been particularly well studied;
it generally resembles those of other carnivorous mammals, but displays several unusual
features probably attributable to cats' descent from desert-dwelling species.[103]
Heat tolerance

Cats are able to tolerate quite high temperatures: Humans generally start to feel uncomfortable
when their skin temperature passes about 38 °C (100 °F), but cats show no discomfort until their
skin reaches around 52 °C (126 °F),[66]:46 and can tolerate temperatures of up to 56 °C (133 °F)
if they have access to water.[104]

Temperature regulation

Cats conserve heat by reducing the flow of blood to their skin and lose heat by evaporation
through their mouths. Cats have minimal ability to sweat, with glands located primarily in their
paw pads,[105] and pant for heat relief only at very high temperatures[106] (but may also pant
when stressed). A cat's body temperature does not vary throughout the day; this is part of cats'
general lack of circadian rhythms and may reflect their tendency to be active both during the day
and at night.[107]:1

Water conservation

Cats' feces are comparatively dry and their urine is highly concentrated, both of which are
adaptations to allow cats to retain as much water as possible.[103] Their kidneys are so efficient,
they can survive on a diet consisting only of meat, with no additional water,[108] and can even
rehydrate by drinking seawater.[109][107]:29

Ability to swim

While domestic cats are able to swim, they are generally reluctant to enter water as it quickly
leads to exhaustion.[110]

Nutrition

Food sources

Cats are obligate carnivores: their physiology has evolved to efficiently process meat, and they
have difficulty digesting plant matter.[103] In contrast to omnivores such as rats, which only
require about 4% protein in their diet, about 20% of a cat's diet must be protein.[103] A cat's
gastrointestinal tract is adapted to meat eating, being much shorter than that of omnivores and
having low levels of several of the digestive enzymes needed to digest carbohydrates.[111]
These traits severely limit the cat's ability to digest and use plant-derived nutrients, as well as
certain fatty acids.[111] Despite the cat's meat-oriented physiology, several vegetarian or vegan
cat foods have been marketed that are supplemented with chemically synthesized taurine and
other nutrients, in attempts to produce a complete diet. Some of these products still fail to
provide all the nutrients cats require,[112] and diets containing no animal products pose the risk
of causing severe nutritional deficiencies.[113]

Cats do eat grass occasionally. A proposed explanation is that cats use grass as a source of folic
acid. Another is that it is used to supply dietary fiber, helping the cat defecate more easily and
expel parasites and other harmful material through feces and vomit.[114]

Dietary components

Arginine

Cats are unusually dependent on a constant supply of the amino acid arginine, and a diet lacking
arginine causes marked weight loss and can be rapidly fatal.[115] Arginine is an essential additive
in cat food because cats have low levels of the enzymes aminotransferase and pyrroline-5-
carboxylate which are responsible for the synthesis of ornithine and citrulline in the small
intestine. Citrulline would typically go on to the kidneys to make arginine, but because cats have
a deficiency in the enzymes that make it, citrulline is not produced in adequate quantities to
make arginine. Arginine is essential in the urea cycle in order to convert the toxic component
ammonia into urea that can then be excreted in the urine. Because of its essential role,
deficiency in arginine results in a buildup of toxic ammonia and leads to hyperammonemia.[116]
The symptoms of hyperammonemia include lethargy, vomiting, ataxia, hyperesthesia and can be
serious enough to induce death and coma in a matter of days if a cat is being fed an arginine-free
diet. The quick onset of these symptoms is due to the fact that diets devoid in arginine will
typically still contain all of the other amino acids, which will continue to be catabolized by the
body, producing mass amounts of ammonia that very quickly build up with no way of being
excreted.[citation needed]

Taurine

Another unusual feature is that the cat cannot produce taurine,[note 1] with a deficiency in this
nutrient causing macular degeneration, wherein the cat's retina slowly breaks down, causing
irreversible blindness.[103] This is due to the hepatic activity of cystinesulfinic acid
decarboxylase being low in cats. This limits the ability of cats to biosynthesize the taurine they
need from its precursor, the amino acid cysteine, which ultimately results in inadequate taurine
production needed for normal function. Deficiencies in taurine result in compensated function
of feline cardiovascular and reproductive systems. These abnormalities can also be accompanied
by developmental issues in the central nervous system along with degeneration of the retina.
[118]

Niacin

Niacin is an essential vitamin for the cat; dietary deficiency can lead to anorexia, weight loss and
an increase in body temperature.[119] Biosynthesis of niacin occurs by metabolism of
tryptophan via the kynurenine pathway to quinolinic acid, the niacin precursor. However, cats
have a high activity of picolinic acid carboxylase, which converts one of the intermediates to
picolinic acid instead of quinolinic acid.[120] As a result, niacin can become deficient and require
supplementation.[121]

Vitamin A

Preformed vitamin A is required in the cat for retinal and reproductive health. Vitamin A is
considered to be a fat-soluble vitamin and is seen as essential in a cat's diet. Normally, the
conversion of beta-carotenes into vitamin A occurs in the intestine (more specifically the
mucosal layer) of species, however cats lack the ability to undergo this process.[121] Both the
kidney and liver are contributors to the use of vitamin A in the body of the majority of species
while the cats liver does not produce the enzyme Beta-carotene 15,15'-monooxygenase which
converts the beta-carotene into retinol (vitamin A).[122] To summarize: cats do not have high
levels of this enzyme leading to the cleavage and oxidation of carotenoids not taking place.[120]

Vitamin D

Vitamin D3 is a dietary requirement for cats as they lack the ability to synthesize vitamin D3 from
sunlight.[123] Cats obtain high levels of the enzyme 7-dehydrocholestrol delta 7 reductase which
causes immediate conversion of vitamin D3 from sunlight to 7-dehydrocholesterol.[124] This fat
soluble vitamin is required in cats for bone formation through the promotion of calcium
retention, along with nerve and muscle control through absorption of calcium and phosphorus.
[124]

Essential fatty acids

Cats, like all mammals, need to get linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid, from their diet. Most
mammals can convert linoleic acid to arachidonic acid, as well as the omega 3 fatty acids
(eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid) through the activity of enzymes, but this
process is very limited in cats.[121] The Δ6-desaturase enzyme eventually converts linoleic acid,
which is in its salt form linoleate, to arachidonate (salt form of arachidonic acid) in the liver, but
this enzyme has very little activity in cats.[121] This means that arachidonic acid is an essential
fatty acid for cats as they lack the ability to create required amounts of linoleic acid. Deficiency
of arachidonic acid in cats is related to problems in growth, can cause injury and inflammation to
skin (e.g. around the mouth) decreased platelet aggregation, fatty liver, increase in birth defects
of kittens whose queens were deficient during pregnancy, and reproductive failure in queens.
[121] Arachidonic acid can also be metabolized to eicosanoids that create inflammatory
responses which are needed to stimulate proper growth and repair mechanisms in the cat.[125]

Cat food § Nutrient chart provides a list of the many nutrients cats require as well as the use of
the nutrients in the body and the effects of the deficiency.

Behavior

See also: Cat behavior and Cat intelligence

Cat lying on rice straw

Cat lying on rice straw

Vocalizing domestic cat

Outdoor cats are active both day and night, although they tend to be slightly more active at
night.[126][127] The timing of cats' activity is quite flexible and varied, which means house cats
may be more active in the morning and evening, as a response to greater human activity at
these times.[128] Although they spend the majority of their time in the vicinity of their home,
housecats can range many hundreds of meters from this central point, and are known to
establish territories that vary considerably in size, in one study ranging from 7 to 28 hectares
(17–69 acres).[127]

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.[129]
Sociability

Social grooming

Although wildcats are solitary, the social behavior of domestic cats is much more variable and
ranges from widely dispersed individuals to feral cat colonies that gather around a food source,
based on groups of co-operating females.[130][131] Within such groups, one cat is usually
dominant over the others.[132] Each cat in a colony holds a distinct territory, with sexually active
males having the largest territories, which are about 10 times larger than those of female cats
and may overlap with several females' territories.[87] These territories are marked by urine
spraying, by rubbing objects at head height with secretions from facial glands, and by defecation.
[87] 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 but
noisy and violent attacks. Despite some cats cohabiting in colonies, they do not have a social
survival strategy, or a pack mentality and always hunt alone.[133]

Cat with an Alaskan Malamute dog

File:Mothercatandkitten-malawi-2018.webm

A kitten suckling milk from its mother.

However, some pet cats are poorly socialized. In particular, older cats may show aggressiveness
towards newly arrived kittens, which may include biting and scratching; this type of behavior is
known as feline asocial aggression.[134]

Though cats and dogs are often characterized as natural enemies, they can live together if
correctly socialized.[135]

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, the
human keeper of a cat may function as a sort of surrogate for the cat's mother,[136] and adult
housecats live their lives in a kind of extended kittenhood,[137] a form of behavioral neoteny.
The high-pitched sounds housecats make to solicit food may mimic the cries of a hungry human
infant, making them particularly difficult for humans to ignore.[138]

Domestic cats' scent rubbing behavior towards humans or other cats is thought to be a feline
means for social bonding.[139]

Communication

Main article: Cat communication

Domestic cats use many vocalizations for communication, including purring, trilling, hissing,
growling/snarling, grunting, and several different forms of meowing.[7] By contrast, feral cats are
generally silent.[140]:208 Their types of body language, including position of ears and tail,
relaxation of the whole body, and kneading of the paws, are all indicators of mood. The tail and
ears are particularly important social signal mechanisms in cats;[141][142] for example, a raised
tail acts as a friendly greeting, and flattened ears indicates hostility. Tail-raising also indicates the
cat's position in the group's social hierarchy, with dominant individuals raising their tails less
often than subordinate animals.[142] 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.
[131]

Purring may have developed as an evolutionary advantage as a signalling mechanism of

reassurance between mother cats and nursing kittens. Post-nursing cats often purr as a sign of
contentment: when being petted, becoming relaxed,[143][144] or eating. The mechanism by
which cats purr is elusive. The cat has no unique anatomical feature that is clearly responsible
for the sound.[145] It was until recent times,[when?] believed that only the cats of the Felis
genus could purr. However, felids of the genus Panthera (tiger, lion, jaguar, and leopard) also
produce non-continuous sounds, called chuffs, similar to purring, but only when exhaling.[146]

Grooming

The hooked papillae on a cat's tongue act like a hairbrush to help clean and detangle fur.

File:Housecat Grooming Itself.webm

A tabby housecat uses its brush-like tongue to groom itself, licking its fur to straighten it.

Cats are known for spending considerable amounts of time licking their coats to keep them
clean.[147] The cat's tongue has backwards-facing spines about 500 μm long, which are called
papillae. These contain keratin which makes them rigid[148] so the papillae act like a hairbrush.
Some cats, particularly longhaired cats, occasionally regurgitate hairballs of fur that have
collected in their stomachs from grooming. These clumps of fur are usually sausage-shaped and
about 2–3 cm (0.8–1.2 in) long. Hairballs can be prevented with remedies that ease elimination
of the hair through the gut, as well as regular grooming of the coat with a comb or stiff brush.
[147]

Fighting

Among domestic cats, males are more likely to fight than females.[149] Among feral cats, the
most common reason for cat fighting is competition between two males to mate with a female.
In such cases, most fights are won by the heavier male.[150] Another common reason for
fighting in domestic cats is the difficulty of establishing territories within a small home.[149]
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.
[151]

An arched back, raised fur and an open-mouthed hiss can all be signs of aggression in a domestic
cat.

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.[141] 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. They may also vocalize loudly and bare their teeth
in an effort to further intimidate their opponent. Fights usually consist of grappling and
delivering powerful 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
powerful hind legs.[152]

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. However, 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.[153] 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.[154]

Hunting and feeding

A cat that is playing with a caught mouse. Cats play with their prey to weaken or exhaust them
before making a kill.

A domestic cat with its prey

Cats hunt small prey, primarily birds and rodents,[155] and are often used as a form of pest
control.[156][157] Domestic cats are a major predator of wildlife in the United States, killing an
estimated 1.4 to 3.7 billion birds and 6.9 to 20.7 billion mammals annually.[158][159] The bulk of
predation in the United States is done by 80 million feral and stray cats. Effective measures to
reduce this population are elusive, meeting opposition from cat enthusiasts.[158][159] In the
case of free-ranging pets, equipping cats with bells and not letting them out at night will reduce
wildlife predation.[155]

Free-fed feral cats and house cats tend to consume many small meals in a single day, although
the frequency and size of meals varies between individuals.[133] Cats use two hunting
strategies, either stalking prey actively, or waiting in ambush until an animal comes close enough
to be captured.[160] Although it is not certain, the strategy used may depend on the prey
species in the area, with cats waiting in ambush outside burrows, but tending to actively stalk
birds.[161]:153

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 it after capture. This behavior is due to an instinctive imperative to ensure that
the prey is weak enough to be killed without endangering the cat.[162] This behavior is referred
to in the idiom "cat-and-mouse game" or simply "cat and mouse".

Another poorly understood element of cat hunting behavior is the presentation of prey to
human guardians. Ethologist Paul Leyhausen proposed 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.[163] Anthropologist and
zoologist Desmond Morris, in his 1986 book Catwatching, suggests, when cats bring home mice
or birds, they are attempting to teach their human to hunt, or trying to help their human as if
feeding "an elderly cat, or an inept kitten".[164][165] Morris's hypothesis is inconsistent with the
fact that male cats also bring home prey, despite males having negligible involvement with
raising kittens.[161]:153

Domestic cats 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.[113]
[133] Cats may reject novel flavors (a response termed neophobia) and learn quickly to avoid
foods that have tasted unpleasant in the past.[133] They may also avoid sugary foods and milk.
Most adult cats are lactose intolerant; the sugars in milk are not easily digested and may cause
soft stools or diarrhea.[133][166] They can also develop odd eating habits. Some cats like to eat
or chew on other things, most commonly wool, but also 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.[167][168] See also Animal psychopathology § Pica.

Though cats usually prey on animals less than half their size, a feral cat in Australia has been
photographed killing an adult pademelon of around the cat's weight at 4 kg (8.8 lb).[169]

Since cats lack sufficient lips to create suction,[170] they use a lapping method with the tongue
to draw liquid upwards 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 upwards.[171]

Play

Main article: Cat play and toys

File:Play fight between cats.webmhd.webm

Play fight between kittens, age 14 weeks

Cat playing with a lizard

Cat playing with a lizard

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.[172] 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.[173]

Owing to the close similarity between play and hunting, cats prefer to play with objects that
resemble prey, such as small furry toys that move rapidly, but rapidly lose interest (they become
habituated) in a toy they have played with before.[174] Cats also tend to play with toys more
when they are hungry.[175] String is often used as a toy, but if it is eaten, it can become caught
at the base of the cat's tongue and then move into the intestines, a medical emergency which
can cause serious illness, even death.[176] Owing to the risks posed by cats eating string, it is
sometimes replaced with a laser pointer's dot, which cats may chase.[177]

Reproduction

See also: Kitten

When cats mate, the tomcat (male) bites the scruff of the female's neck as she assumes a
position conducive to mating known as lordosis behavior.

Radiography of a pregnant cat. The skeletons of two fetuses are visible on the left and right of
the uterus.

A newborn kitten

Female cats are seasonally polyestrous, which means they may have many periods of heat over
the course of a year, the season beginning in spring and ending in late autumn. Heat periods
occur about every two weeks and last about 4 to 7 days.[178] Multiple males will be attracted to
a female in heat. The males will 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
backwards-pointing penile spines, which are about 1 mm long; upon withdrawal of the penis,
the spines rake the walls of the female's vagina, which acts to induce ovulation. This act also
occurs to clear the vagina of other sperm in the context of a second (or more) mating, thus
giving the later males a larger chance of conception.[179]

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.[178]

Because ovulation is not always triggered by a single mating, females may not be impregnated
by the first male with which they mate.[180] 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.[178]

The morula forms 124 hours after conception. At 148 hours, early blastocysts form. At 10–12
days, implantation occurs.[181][182]

The gestation period of queens is between 64 and 67 days, with an average of 66 days.[183]
Data on 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.[9] 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.[178]

Cats are ready to go to new homes at about 12 weeks of age, when they are ready to leave their
mother.[184] They can be surgically sterilized (spayed or castrated) as early as 7 weeks to limit
unwanted reproduction.[185] This surgery also prevents undesirable sex-related behavior, such
as aggression, 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.[186] In the US, about
80% of household cats are neutered.[187]

Lifespan

Main articles: Cat health and Aging in cats

The average lifespan of pet cats has risen in recent decades. In the early 1980s, it was about
seven years,[188]:33[189] rising to 9.4 years in 1995[188]:33 and 15.1 years in 2018.[190] Some
cats have been reported as surviving into their 30s,[191] with the oldest known cat, Creme Puff,
dying at a verified age of 38.[192]

Spaying or neutering increases life expectancy: one study found neutered male cats live twice as
long as intact males, while spayed female cats live 62% longer than intact females.[188]:35
Having a cat neutered confers health benefits, because castrated males cannot develop
testicular cancer, spayed females cannot develop uterine or ovarian cancer, and both have a
reduced risk of mammary cancer.[193]

Despite widespread concern about the welfare of free-roaming cats, the lifespans of neutered
feral cats in managed colonies compare favorably with those of pet cats.[194]:45[195]:1358[196]
[197][198][199]

Ecology

Habitats

A Tabby cat in snowy weather

The domestic cat is a cosmopolitan species and occurs across much of the world.[53] It can live
on the highest mountains and in the hottest deserts.[200] It is adaptable and now present on all
continents except Antarctica, and on 118 of the 131 main groups of islands—even on isolated
islands such as the Kerguelen Islands.[201][202]

The domestic cat's ability to thrive in almost any terrestrial habitat has led to its designation as
one of the world's most invasive species.[203] 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 and possibly also the Iberian
Peninsula.[56]

Feral cats can live in forests, grasslands, tundra, coastal areas, agricultural land, scrublands,
urban areas, and wetlands.[204] Their habitats include small islands with no human inhabitants.
[205] The close relatives of the domestic cat, the African wildcat (Felis lybica) and the sand cat (F.
margarita) both inhabit desert environments.[42] Domestic cats still show similar adaptations
and behaviors.[103]
Feral cats

Main article: Feral cat

Feral farm cat

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.[10] The numbers
of feral cats is not known, but estimates of the US feral population range from 25 to 60 million.
[10] Feral cats may live alone, but most are found in large colonies, which occupy a specific
territory and are usually associated with a source of food.[206] Famous feral cat colonies are
found in Rome around the Colosseum and Forum Romanum, with cats at some of these sites
being fed and given medical attention by volunteers.[207]

Public attitudes towards feral cats vary widely, ranging from seeing them as free-ranging pets, to
regarding them as vermin.[208] One common approach to reducing the feral cat population is
termed 'trap-neuter-return', where the cats are trapped, neutered, immunized against diseases
such as rabies and the feline Panleukopenia and Leukemia viruses, and then released.[209]
Before releasing them back into their feral colonies, the attending veterinarian often nips the tip
off one ear to mark it as neutered and inoculated, since these cats may be trapped again.
Volunteers continue to feed and give care to these cats throughout their lives. Given this
support, their lifespans are increased, and behavior and nuisance problems caused by
competition for food are reduced.[206]

Impact on prey species

File:Cat chasing a pigeon.webm

A cat aiming for a pigeon.

Carrying half of a rabbit

To date, little scientific data is available to assess the impact of cat predation on prey populations
outside of agricultural situations. Even well-fed domestic cats may hunt and kill, mainly catching
small mammals, but also birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish, and invertebrates.[155][210] Hunting
by domestic cats may be contributing to the decline in the numbers of birds in urban areas,
although the importance of this effect remains controversial.[211] In the wild, the introduction
of feral cats during human settlement can threaten native species with extinction.[205] In many
cases, controlling or eliminating the populations of non-native cats can produce a rapid recovery
in native animals.[212] However, the ecological role of introduced cats can be more complicated.
For example, cats can control the numbers of rats, which also prey on birds' eggs and young, so a
cat population can protect an endangered bird species by suppressing mesopredators.[213]

In isolated landmasses, such as Australasia, there are often no other native, medium-sized
quadrupedal predators (including other feline species); this tends to exacerbate the impact of
feral cats on small native animals.[214] Native species such as the New Zealand kakapo and the
Australian bettong, for example, tend to be more ecologically vulnerable and behaviorally
"naive", when faced with predation by cats.[215] Feral cats have had a major impact on these
native species and have played a leading role in the endangerment and extinction of many
animals.[216]

Even in places with ancient and numerous cat populations, such as Western Europe, cats appear
to be growing in number and independently of their environments' carrying capacity (such as
the numbers of prey available).[217][218] This may be explained, at least in part, by an
abundance of food, from sources including feeding by pet owners and scavenging. For instance,
research in Britain suggests that a high proportion of cats hunt only "recreationally",[218] and in
South Sweden, where research in 1982 found that the population density of cats was as high as
2,000 per square kilometre (5,200/sq mi).[217]

In agricultural settings, cats can be effective at keeping mouse and rat populations low, but only
if rodent harborage locations (such as tall grass) are kept under control.[219][220] While cats are
effective at preventing rodent population explosions, they are not effective for eliminating pre-
existing severe infestations.[221]

Impact on birds

A black cat eating a house sparrow

The domestic cat is a significant predator of birds. UK assessments indicate they may be
accountable for an estimated 64.8 million bird deaths each year.[155] A 2012 study suggests
feral cats may kill several billion birds each year in the United States.[222] Certain species appear
more susceptible than others; for example, 30% of house sparrow mortality is linked to the
domestic cat.[223] In the recovery of ringed robins (Erithacus rubecula) and dunnocks (Prunella
modularis), 31% of deaths were a result of cat predation.[224] 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.[225] The proposal that cat populations will increase when
the numbers of these top predators decline is called the mesopredator release hypothesis.

On islands, birds can contribute as much as 60% of a cat's diet.[226] In nearly all cases, however,
the cat cannot be identified as the sole cause for reducing the numbers of island birds, and in
some instances, eradication of cats has caused a 'mesopredator release' effect;[227] where the
suppression of top carnivores creates an abundance of smaller predators that cause a severe
decline in their shared prey. Domestic cats are, however, known to be a contributing factor to
the decline of many species, a factor that has ultimately led, in some cases, to extinction. The
South Island piopio, Chatham rail,[224] and the New Zealand merganser[228] 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.[229][230]

Some of the same factors that have promoted adaptive radiation of island avifauna over
evolutionary time appear to promote vulnerability to non-native species in modern time. The
susceptibility of many island birds is undoubtedly due to evolution in the absence of mainland
predators, competitors, diseases, and parasites, in addition to lower reproductive rates and
extended incubation periods.[231] The loss of flight, or reduced flying ability is also characteristic
of many island endemics.[232] These biological aspects have increased vulnerability to extinction
in the presence of introduced species, such as the domestic cat.[233] Equally, behavioral traits
exhibited by island species, such as "predatory naivety"[234] and ground-nesting,[231] have also
contributed to their susceptibility.

Interaction with humans

Main article: Human interaction with cats

Cats are common pets throughout the world, and their worldwide population exceeds 500
million as of 2007.[235] Although cat guardianship has commonly been associated with women,
[236] a 2007 Gallup poll reported that men and women in the United States of America were
equally likely to own a cat.[237]

As well as being kept as pets, cats are also used in the international fur[238] and leather
industries for making coats, hats, blankets, and stuffed toys;[239] and shoes, gloves, and musical
instruments respectively[240] (about 24 cats are needed to make a cat-fur coat).[241] This use
has been outlawed in the United States, Australia, and the European Union.[242] Cat pelts have
been used for superstitious purposes as part of the practise of witchcraft,[243] and are still made
into blankets in Switzerland as folk remedies believed to help rheumatism.[244] In the Western
intellectual tradition, the idea of cats as everyday objects have served to illustrate problems of
quantum mechanics in the Schrödinger's cat thought experiment.

A few attempts to build a cat census have been made over the years, both through associations
or national and international organizations (such as the Canadian Federation of Humane
Societies's one[245]) and over the Internet,[246][247] but such a task does not seem simple to
achieve. General estimates for the global population of domestic cats range widely from
anywhere between 200 million to 600 million.[248][249][250][251][252][253]

Cats are popular as a subject of art and photography, Walter Chandoha made his career
photographing cats after his 1949 images of Loco, an especially charming stray taken in, were
published around the world. 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.[254]

Cat show

Main article: Cat show

A cat show is a judged event in which the owners of cats compete to win titles in various cat
registering organizations by entering their cats to be judged after a breed standard.[255][256]
Both pedigreed and companion (or moggy) cats are admissible, although the rules differ from
organization to organization. Cats are compared to a breed standard,[257] and the owners of
those judged to be closest to it are awarded a prize. Moggies are judged based on their
temperament. Often, at the end of the year, all of the points accrued at various shows are added
up and more national and regional titles are awarded.

Cat café

Main article: Cat café

A cat café is a theme café whose attraction is cats that can be watched and played with.[258]
Ailurophobia

Main article: Ailurophobia

Ailurophobia (Greek αἴλουρος (ailouros), 'cat' and φόβος (phóbos), 'fear') is a fear of cats. The
term may also be used to mean a hatred of cats.[259]

Cat bites

Main article: Cat bite

Cats may bite humans when provoked, during play or when aggressive. Complications from cat
bites can develop.[260] A cat bite differs from the bites of other pets. This is because the teeth
of a cat are sharp and pointed causing deep punctures. Skin usually closes rapidly over the bite
and traps microorganisms that cause infection.[261][260]

Infections transmitted from cats to humans

Main article: Feline zoonosis

Cats can be infected or infested with viruses, bacteria, fungus, protozoans, arthropods or worms
that can transmit diseases to humans.[262] In some cases, the cat exhibits no symptoms of the
disease,[263] However, the same disease can then become evident in a human. The likelihood
that a person will become diseased depends on the age and immune status of the person.
Humans who have cats living in their home or in close association are more likely to become
infected, however, those who do not keep cats as pets might also acquire infections from cat
feces and parasites exiting the cat's body.[262][264] Some of the infections of most concern
include salmonella, cat-scratch disease and toxoplasmosis.[263]

History and mythology

Main articles: Cultural depictions of cats and Cats in ancient Egypt

The ancient Egyptians mummified dead cats out of respect in the same way that they
mummified people.[4]
Ancient Roman mosaic of a cat killing a partridge from the House of the Faun in Pompeii

A 19th-century drawing of a tabby cat

In ancient Egypt, cats were sacred animals, with the goddess Bast often depicted in cat form,
sometimes taking on the war-like aspect of a lioness.[265]:220 Killing a cat was absolutely
forbidden[4] and the Greek historian Herodotus reports that, whenever a household cat died,
the entire family would mourn and shave their eyebrows.[4] Families took their dead cats to the
sacred city of Bubastis,[4] where they were embalmed and buried in sacred repositories.[4] 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.[266]:57–
58[267]

House cats seem to have been extremely rare among the ancient Greeks and Romans;[267]
Herodotus expressed astonishment at the domestic cats in Egypt, because he had only ever seen
wildcats.[267] Even during later times, weasels were far more commonly kept as pets[267] and
weasels, not cats, were seen as the ideal rodent-killers.[267] The usual ancient Greek word for
"cat" was ailouros, meaning "thing with the waving tail",[266]:57[267] but this word could also
be applied to any of the "various long-tailed carnivores kept for catching mice".[267] Cats are
rarely mentioned in ancient Greek literature,[267] but Aristotle does remark in his History of
Animals that "female cats are naturally lecherous."[266]:74[267] The Greeks later syncretized
their own goddess Artemis with the Egyptian goddess Bast, adopting Bastet's associations with
cats and ascribing them to Artemis.[266]:77–79 In Ovid's Metamorphoses, when the deities flee
to Egypt and take animal forms, the goddess Diana (the Roman equivalent of Artemis) turns into
a cat.[266]:79 Cats eventually displaced ferrets as the pest control of choice because they were
more pleasant to have around the house and were more enthusiastic hunters of mice.[268]
During the Middle Ages, many of Artemis's associations with cats were grafted onto the Virgin
Mary.[268] Cats are often shown in icons of Annunciation and of the Holy Family[268] and,
according to Italian folklore, on the same night that Mary gave birth to Jesus, a virgin cat in
Bethlehem gave birth to a kitten.[268] 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.[265]:223

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
maneki neko cat is a symbol of good fortune.[269] In Norse mythology, Freyja, the goddess of
love, beauty, and fertility, is depicted as riding a chariot drawn by cats.[270] In Jewish legend, the
first cat was living in the house of the first man Adam as a pet that got rid of mice.[271] The cat
was once partnering with the first dog before the latter broke an oath they had made which
resulted in enmity between the descendants of these two animals.[271] It is also written that
neither cats nor foxes are represented in the water, while every other animal has an incarnation
species in the water.[271] Although no species are sacred in Islam, cats are revered by Muslims.
Some Western writers have stated Muhammad had a favorite cat, Muezza.[272] He is reported
to have loved cats so much, "he would do without his cloak rather than disturb one that was
sleeping on it".[273] The story has no origin in early Muslim writers, and seems to confuse a
story of a later Sufi saint, Ahmed ar-Rifa'i, centuries after Muhammad.[274] One of the
companions of Muhammad was known as "Abu Hurayrah" (Father of the Kitten), in reference to
his documented affection to cats.[275]

Superstitions and rituals

Some cultures are superstitious about black cats, ascribing either good or bad luck to them.

Many cultures have negative superstitions about cats. An example would be the belief that a
black cat "crossing one's path" leads to bad luck, or that cats are witches' familiars used to
augment a witch's powers and skills. The killing of cats in Medieval Ypres, Belgium, is
commemorated in the innocuous present-day Kattenstoet (cat parade).[276] In medieval France,
cats would be burnt alive as a form of entertainment. According to Norman Davies, the
assembled people "shrieked with laughter as the animals, howling with pain, were singed,
roasted, and finally carbonized".[277]

"It was the custom to burn a basket, barrel, or sack full of live cats, which was hung from a tall
mast in the midst of the bonfire; sometimes a fox was burned. The people collected the embers
and ashes of the fire and took them home, believing that they brought good luck. The French
kings often witnessed these spectacles and even lit the bonfire with their own hands. In 1648
Louis XIV, crowned with a wreath of roses and carrying a bunch of roses in his hand, kindled the
fire, danced at it and partook of the banquet afterwards in the town hall. But this was the last
occasion when a monarch presided at the midsummer bonfire in Paris. At Metz midsummer fires
were lighted with great pomp on the esplanade, and a dozen cats, enclosed in wicker cages,
were burned alive in them, to the amusement of the people. Similarly at Gap, in the department
of the Hautes-Alpes, cats used to be roasted over the midsummer bonfire."[278]

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,[279][280] while in Turkish and Arabic traditions, the
number of lives is six.[281] The myth is attributed to the natural suppleness and swiftness cats
exhibit to escape life-threatening situations. 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.[282]

Genetics

The domesticated cat and its closest wild ancestor are both diploid organisms that possess 38
chromosomes[283] and roughly 20,000 genes.[284]

Disease

Main article: Feline diseases

Diseases which affect 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 and fleas.[285]

About 250 heritable genetic disorders have been identified in cats, many similar to human
inborn errors.[286] The high level of similarity among the metabolism of mammals allows many
of these feline diseases to be diagnosed using genetic tests that were originally developed for
use in humans, as well as the use of cats as animal models in the study of the human diseases.
[287][288]

See also

icon

Book: Cat

icon Cats portal

icon Mammals portal

Aging in cats

Animal testing on cats

Animal track
Cancer in cats

Cat and mouse (cat-and-mouse game)

Cat burning

Cat intelligence

Cat lady

Cat lover culture

Cats and the Internet

Dog–cat relationship

Dried cat

List of cat documentaries

List of cats

List of fictional cats and felines

Media coverage of cats

Pet door including cat flap

Pet first aid

Popular cat names

Big cat

Cats by location

Cats in ancient Egypt

Cats in Australia

Cats in New Zealand

Cats in the United States

Notes

Taurine is sometimes called an amino acid, and indeed is an acid containing an amino group;
however, it is not an amino acid in the usual biochemical meaning of the term, which refers to
compounds containing both an amino and a carboxyl group.[117]
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