This reflex is known as the cat righting reflex. [52] By the end of the Roman Empire in the 5th century, the Egyptian domestic cat lineage had arrived in a Baltic Sea port in northern Germany. Some cats, particularly longhaired cats, occasionally regurgitate hairballs of fur that have collected in their stomachs from grooming. [73], Most breeds of cat are noted fond of sitting in high places, or perching. [173] Feral cats can live in forests, grasslands, tundra, coastal areas, agricultural land, scrublands, urban areas, and wetlands. Herodotus expressed astonishment at the domestic cats in Egypt, because he had only ever seen wildcats. 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. Cats have excellent night vision and can see at only one-sixth the light level required for human vision. A raised tail indicates a friendly greeting, and flattened ears indicates hostility. A cat falling from heights of up to 3 meters (9.8ft) can right itself and land on its paws.[74]. In Ovid's Metamorphoses, when the deities flee to Egypt and take animal forms, the goddess Diana turns into a cat. [35][36], In 2003, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature ruled that the domestic cat is a distinct species, namely Felis catus. Cats reject novel flavors (a response termed neophobia) and learn quickly to avoid foods that have tasted unpleasant in the past. [113] Greek, Phoenician, Carthaginian and Etruscan traders introduced domestic cats to southern Europe. [210] The same disease can then become evident in a human. Some Western writers have stated Muhammad had a favorite cat, Muezza. Another possible explanation is that height gives the cat a better observation point, allowing it to survey its territory. ", "Cats protecting birds: modelling the mesopredator release effect", "The Tale of the Lighthouse-keeper's Cat: Discovery and Extinction of the Stephens Island Wren (, "Australian Feral Cats Eat More Than a Million Reptiles Per Day", "Study Traces Cat's Ancestry to Middle East", "Japan: Finale for the world's most elegant use of a dead cat", "EU Announces Strict Ban on Dog and Cat Fur Imports and Exports", "Switzerland Finds a Way to Skin a Cat for the Fur Trade and High Fashion", "Humane society launches national cat census", "Cats: Most interesting facts about common domestic pets", "Walter Chandoha, Photographer Whose Specialty Was Cats, Dies at 98", "Emerging and Re-Emerging Zoonoses of Dogs and Cats", "Reducing the risk of pet-associated zoonotic infections", "Qual a origem da lenda de que os gatos teriam sete vidas? Since 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. The people collected the embers and ashes of the fire and took them home, believing that they brought good luck. Others might also acquire infections from cat feces and parasites exiting the cat's body. At 1012 days, implantation occurs. [76] How cats are able to right themselves when falling has been investigated as the "falling cat problem". They are unfamiliar with and wary of humans and roam freely in urban and rural areas. This appears to be an adaptation to low light levels rather than representing true trichromatic vision. 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. [223] In mid-16th century France, cats would be burnt alive as a form of entertainment. [213][214], 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. The frequency and size of meals varies between individuals. [218] Although no species are sacred in Islam, cats are revered by Muslims. [101][102] Within such groups, one cat is usually dominant over the others. [87], Cats have an acute sense of smell, due in part to their well-developed olfactory bulb and a large surface of olfactory mucosa, about .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}5.8 square centimetres (2932 square inch) in area, which is about twice that of humans. [64]: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. [220] 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. It averages about 46cm (18in) in head-to-body length and 2325cm (910in) in height, with about 30cm (12in) long tails. [143] 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". 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". [6], The cat is similar in anatomy to the other felid species: it has a strong flexible body, quick reflexes, sharp teeth and retractable claws adapted to killing small prey. [104], 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. [176], Cats are common pets throughout the world, and their worldwide population as of 2007 exceeded 500million. They establish territories that vary considerably in size, in one study ranging from 7to 28 hectares (1769 acres). [4] A cat can either be a house cat, a farm cat or a feral cat; the latter ranges freely and avoids human contact. [198], 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[199]) and over the Internet,[200][201] but such a task does not seem simple to achieve. [210], In ancient Egypt, cats were worshipped, and the goddess Bastet often depicted in cat form, sometimes taking on the war-like aspect of a lioness. This also provides sure footing for hind paws when navigating rough terrain. [190][191], As well as being kept as pets, cats are also used in the international fur trade[192] and leather industries for making coats, hats, blankets, and stuffed toys;[193] and shoes, gloves, and musical instruments respectively[194] (about 24 cats are needed to make a cat-fur coat). [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. [9] [58] Most breeds are founded on random-bred domestic cats. [150], Female cats, called queens, are polyestrous with several estrus cycles during a year, lasting usually 21 days. The female utters a loud yowl as the male pulls out of her because a male cat's penis has a band of about 120150 backward-pointing penile spines, which are about 1mm (132in) long; upon withdrawal of the penis, the spines may provide the female with increased sexual stimulation, which acts to induce ovulation. [126] 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. The killing of cats in Medieval Ypres, Belgium, is commemorated in the innocuous present-day Kattenstoet (cat parade). They are usually ready to mate between early February and August. [66], Cats have protractible and retractable claws. At first, the female rejects the male, but eventually, the female allows the male to mate. [121] Female cats also fight over territory or to defend their kittens. [229], The cat family (Felidae) can pass down many colors and patterns to their offsprings. 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. [228] The myth is attributed to the natural suppleness and swiftness cats exhibit to escape life-threatening situations. [25] The word may be derived from Germanic and Northern European languages, and ultimately be borrowed from Uralic, cf. 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. [158] This surgery also prevents undesirable sex-related behavior, such as aggression, territory marking (spraying urine) in males and yowling (calling) in females. [43] Results of phylogenetic research confirm that the wild Felis species evolved through sympatric or parapatric speciation, whereas the domestic cat evolved through artificial selection. [147] 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. On one hand, as it is little altered from the wildcat, it can readily interbreed with the wildcat. Adult domestic cats typically weigh between 4 and 5kg (9 and 11lb). Neutering will decrease or eliminate this behavior in many cases, suggesting that the behavior is linked to sex hormones. Most adult cats are lactose intolerant; the sugar in milk is not easily digested and may cause soft stools or diarrhea. On islands, birds can contribute as much as 60% of a cat's diet. [82] It can detect an extremely broad range of frequencies ranging from 55Hz to 79,000Hz. [113][117][118], Cats are known for spending considerable amounts of time licking their coats to keep them clean. Even though purring as 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. 450-1100)-language text, Articles containing Ancient Egyptian-language text, Articles containing Northern Sami-language text, Articles containing Hungarian-language text, Articles containing Low German-language text, Articles containing Swedish-language text, Articles containing Norwegian-language text, Articles containing Lithuanian-language text, Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text, Articles containing Japanese-language text, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2020, Wikipedia articles with style issues from June 2022, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the Encyclopedia Americana with a Wikisource reference, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 1 August 2022, at 10:18. [170][171] Due to its ability to thrive in almost any terrestrial habitat, it is among the world's most invasive species. The feline ASIP gene consists of three coding exons. The cat (Felis catus) is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. [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. The first litter is usually smaller than subsequent litters. 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,[226][227] while in Arabic traditions, the number of lives is six. It can hear sounds too faint or too high in frequency for human ears, such as those made by mice and other small mammals. [216] In Norse mythology, Freyja, the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility, is depicted as riding a chariot drawn by cats. [64]:47, Outdoor cats are active both day and night, although they tend to be slightly more active at night. The Greeks later syncretized their own goddess Artemis with the Egyptian goddess Bastet, adopting Bastet's associations with cats and ascribing them to Artemis. Northern Sami gfi, "female stoat", and Hungarian hlgy, "lady, female stoat"; from Proto-Uralic *kw, "female (of a furred animal)". [151], Several males, called tomcats, are attracted to a female in heat. [119], Among domestic cats, males are more likely to fight than females. [128][129], Feral cats and free-fed house cats consume several small meals in a day. [88] Cats and many other animals have a Jacobson's organ in their mouths that is used in the behavioral process of flehmening. 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. Therefore, when drinking they lap with the tongue to draw liquid upward into their mouths. [137]:153, Domestic cats, especially young kittens, are known for their love of play. [165], About 250 heritable genetic disorders have been identified in cats, many similar to human inborn errors of metabolism. [231], This article is about the species that is commonly kept as a pet. [121] Among feral cats, the most common reason for cat fighting is competition between two males to mate with a female. It walks on the toes, with the bones of the feet making up the lower part of the visible leg. 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. [123], 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. [68] Cats can voluntarily extend their claws on one or more paws. [44] The domesticated cat and its closest wild ancestor are diploid and both possess 38 chromosomes[45] and roughly 20,000 genes. After about 20 to 30 minutes, once the female is finished grooming, the cycle will repeat. [176], Feral cats are domestic cats that were born in or have reverted to a wild state. ", "Nonhuman Primate Learning: The Importance of Learning from an Evolutionary Perspective", "Penile Spines of the Domestic Cat: Their Endocrine-behavior Relations", "In Vivo Embryogenesis, Embryo Migration and Embryonic Mortality in the Domestic Cat", "Determining the optimal age for gonadectomy of dogs and cats", "Me-wow! [153], The morula forms 124 hours after conception. This condition, pica, can threaten their health, depending on the amount and toxicity of the items eaten. [157] They can be surgically sterilized (spayed or castrated) as early as seven weeks to limit unwanted reproduction. [230] Three novel microsatellite markers linked to ASIP were isolated from a domestic cat BAC clone containing this gene and were used to perform linkage analysis in a pedigree of 89 domestic cats that segregated for melanism. [209] In some cases, the cat exhibits no symptoms of the disease. [155] The gestation of queens lasts between 64 and 67 days, with an average of 65 days. The South Island piopio, Chatham rail,[140] and the New Zealand merganser[183] 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. [166] 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. [79] 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. [41], The domestic cat is a member of the Felidae, a family that had a common ancestor about 1015 million years ago. [212], Ancient Greeks and Romans kept weasels as pets, which were seen as the ideal rodent-killers. But this was the last occasion when a monarch presided at the midsummer bonfire in Paris. [1][2] Felis catus domesticus was proposed by Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben in 1777. [161]: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. [219] He is reported to have loved cats so much, "he would do without his cloak rather than disturb one that was sleeping on it". The Late Latin word may be derived from another Afro-Asiatic[23] or Nilo-Saharan language. [64]: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. [119] The cat's tongue has backward-facing spines about 500 m long, which are called papillae. These clumps of fur are usually sausage-shaped and about 23cm (341+14in) long. [222], Many cultures have negative superstitions about cats. 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. The etymology of this word is unknown, but it may have simply arisen from a sound used to attract a cat. 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. [33] A group of cats can be referred to as a clowder or a glaring. [151][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. [90] Between these territories are neutral areas where cats watch and greet one another without territorial conflicts. In Japan, the maneki neko cat is a symbol of good fortune. [164], 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. 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. It registers directly by placing each hind paw close to the track of the corresponding fore paw, minimizing noise and visible tracks. [169], The domestic cat is a cosmopolitan species and occurs across much of the world. It can detect ultrasound, which enables it to detect ultrasonic calls made by rodent prey. [102], 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. In addition, bites are probably the main route of transmission of feline immunodeficiency virus. [138], In Australia, the impact of cats on mammal populations is even greater than the impact of habitat loss. In the early 1980s, it was about seven years,[161]:33[162] rising to 9.4 years in 1995[161]:33 and about 15 years in 2021. This keeps the claws sharp by preventing wear from contact with the ground and allows for the silent stalking of prey. [48] 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. [136] The strategy used depends on the prey species in the area, with cats waiting in ambush outside burrows, but tending to actively stalk birds. [39][40] In 2017, the IUCN Cat Classification Taskforce followed the recommendation of the ICZN in regarding the domestic cat as a distinct species, Felis catus. [42] [208] Both pedigreed and non-purebred companion ("moggy") cats are admissible, although the rules differ depending on the organization. [127], The shape and structure of cats' cheeks is insufficient to allow them to take in liquids using suction. This behavior mimics hunting and is important in helping kittens learn to stalk, capture, and kill prey. [7] Their body language, including position of ears and tail, relaxation of the whole body, and kneading of the paws, are all indicators of mood. The laryngeal muscles in control of the glottis [63], The cat skull is unusual among mammals in having very large eye sockets and a powerful specialized jaw. 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. [37][38] [21] It was suggested that the word 'cattus' is derived from an Egyptian precursor of Coptic au, "tomcat", or its feminine form suffixed with -t.[22]
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