Cat

I

Introduction

Cat, small, mainly carnivorous animal, Felis silvestris catus, member of the family Felidae, popular as a household pet, and valuable for killing mice and rats. Like other members of the cat family, the domestic cat has retractile claws; keen hearing and smell; remarkable night vision; and a compact, muscular, and highly supple body. Cats possess excellent memory and exhibit considerable aptitude for learning by observation and experience. The natural life span of a domestic cat is about 15 years. There are an estimated 600 million house cats in the world.

II

Origin of Species

Debate has surrounded the origin of the domestic cat. A common theory held that cats were first domesticated by ancient Egyptians perhaps as early as 2500 bc from the African or Near Eastern wildcat Felis silvestris libyca, also called the Caffre cat. Crusaders then transported the cat to Europe, where it interbred with the indigenous smaller wildcats Felis silvestris silvestris. The idea that domestic cats in different parts of the world had originated from, or interbred with, populations of local wildcats and other small cat species was proposed by a number of experts. For example, the longhaired breeds of domestic cats were said to come from the Asian Pallas’s cat, Felis manul.

However, a study published in 2007 compared the mitochondrial DNA of domestic cats and wildcats and concluded that the domestic cat derives only from Felis silvestris libyca. Members of this particular subspecies of wildcat were domesticated in the Middle East, likely around the time that farming villages first developed in the Fertile Crescent region between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago. Wildcats probably began associating with human settlements to prey on the rodents and other pests attracted by stored grains and cereals. Some of the wildcats then gave up their more aggressive wild behaviors to adapt to life with people.

The DNA study indicates that at least five individual female cats from the Middle East served as founders for all the domestic cats that were later carried around the world by humans. This new DNA evidence appears to contradict theories that domestic cats carry genes that come from other types of small cats and from wildcats found in different parts of the world. Some interbreeding between domestic cats and local wildcats probably took place, however. Over the centuries, cats have remained virtually the same in size, weighing about 3.6 kg (about 8 lb) when full-grown, and have preserved their instinct for solitary hunting.

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III

Physiology of the Cat

The body of a domestic cat is extremely flexible; its skeleton contains more than 230 bones (the human skeleton, although much larger, contains 206 bones), and its pelvis and shoulders are more loosely attached to its spine than in most other quadrupeds. The cat’s great leaping ability and speed are due in part to its powerful musculature. Its tail provides balance when jumping or falling.

The cat’s claws are designed for catching and holding prey. The sharp, hooked, retractile claws are sheathed in a soft, leathery pocket at the end of each toe, and are extended for fighting, hunting, and climbing. The cat marks its territory by scratching and scenting trees or other objects; its claws leave visible scratch marks, and the scent glands on its paw pads leave a scent mark.

The cat’s teeth are designed for biting, not for chewing. Its powerful jaw muscles and sharp teeth enable the cat to deliver a killing bite to its prey.

A

Senses

The cat’s vision is exceptionally well adapted for hunting, especially at night. It has excellent night vision; extensive peripheral vision; and binocular vision, which enables it to accurately judge distances. The cat’s daylight vision is not as good as that of humans; cats see movement much more easily than detail, and are thought to see only a limited range of colors.

The cat’s hearing is extremely sensitive. It can hear a wide range of sounds, including those in the ultrasonic range. Its ears are less sensitive to lower frequencies, which may explain why some domestic cats are more responsive to female voices than to male voices. The cat can turn its ears to focus on different sounds.

The cat has a highly developed sense of smell, which plays a vital role in finding food and in reproduction. Many of the social signals of domestic cats take the form of scents; for example, male cats can apparently smell a female cat that is receptive to male cats from a distance of hundreds of meters or yards.

The cat’s sense of taste is peculiarly specialized: It has little ability to detect sweetness, but is extremely sensitive to slight variations in the taste of water. The cat’s tongue is covered with rough protuberances, or papillae, that it uses to rasp meat from bones. It also uses its tongue to groom itself.

The cat’s whiskers, or vibrissae, are extremely sensitive to the slightest touch, and are used for testing obstacles and sensing changes in the environment. In extremely dim light, a cat may feel its way by using its whiskers.

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