Cat Care Grooming Nutrition Disease Behavior

Like their big cat cousins, house cats are obligate carnivores, meaning they have to eat meat to stay healthy. One of the most unusual-looking cats is the Sphynx, a mostly hairless cat known for being robust and intelligent. In the U.S. alone, cats reign over about 45.3 million households. Cats Drop tests your timing and puzzle-solving skills as you stack cats higher and higher without toppling the tower. Balance multiple cats, solve tricky stacking challenges, or run your own cat-themed business.

Top 12 Most Popular Cat Breeds That Every Feline Lover Should Know

Many pet cats successfully hunt and kill rabbits, rodents, birds, lizards, frogs, fish, and large insects by instinct, but might not eat their prey. However, cats can be very affectionate towards their human companions, especially if they imprint on them at a very young age and are treated with consistent affection. It also is likely that wild cat kittens were sometimes found and brought home as pets. The senses of smell, hearing, and vision of cats are superior to those of humans.

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• Unlike dogs, who have undergone many physical changes since domestication and evolved to survive on an omnivorous diet, cats haven’t changed much, and still require a high-protein diet.
• Cats are ready to go to new homes at about 12 weeks of age, when they are ready to leave their mother.
• The Cat Group highlights serious welfare concerns relating to the keeping of hybrid cats as pets, and of hybrid cat breeding practices.

Some cats are born with extra toes — a condition called polydactylism. It turns out that for cats, playing hard to get pays off. Another study found that cats reduced their owners' negative moods. This layer is what makes cats' eyes shine green if a flashlight or headlight catches their eye in the dark.

The curved claws may become entangled in carpet or thick fabric, which may cause injury if the cat is unable to free itself. It is also possible to make a cooperative cat extend its claws by carefully pressing both the top and bottom of the paw. Unlike dogs and most mammals, cats walk by moving both legs on one side and then both legs on the other. However, since an adult cat is quite a bit heavier than a kitten, a pet cat should never be carried by the scruff, but should instead have their weight cat supported at the rump and hind legs, and also at the chest and front paws.

Lifespan and health

The family Felidae is part of the Feliformia, a suborder that diverged probably about 50.6 to 35 million years ago into several families. Several species exhibit melanism with all-black individuals, cougars are notable for lacking melanism but leucism and albinism are present in cougars along with many other felids. Pantherinae includes five Panthera and two Neofelis species, while Felinae includes the other 34 species in 12 genera. They are all obligate carnivores, and most are solitary predators ambushing or stalking their prey. The 41 extant Felidae species exhibit the greatest diversity in fur patterns of all terrestrial carnivores. A member of this family is also called a felid (/ˈfiːlɪd, -ləd/ FEE-lid, -⁠ləd).

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. However, the earliest known indication for the taming of an African wildcat was excavated close by a human Neolithic grave in Shillourokambos, southern Cyprus, dating to about 7500–7200 BCE. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA of all Felidae species indicates a radiation at 6.46 to 16.76 million years ago. Felis catus domesticus was proposed by Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben in 1777.

The retina of the cat’s eye is made extra sensitive to light by a layer of guanine, which causes the eye to shine at night in a strong light. Both lineages continued to breed with the African wildcat during their respective dispersals. Falling cats often land on their feet, using an instinctive righting reflex to twist their bodies around. The myth is attributed to the natural suppleness and swiftness cats exhibit to escape life-threatening situations. The killing of cats in medieval Ypres, Belgium, is commemorated in the innocuous present-day Kattenstoet (cat parade). For example, that encountering a black cat ("crossing one's path") leads to bad luck, or that cats are witches' familiar spirits used to augment a witch's powers and skills.

Compared with other animals, such as rats and dogs, few studies have been done on cat intelligence, Meyers-Manor told Live Science. But cats don't always make their smarts easy to measure. Cats are intelligent, and the widely held belief that dogs are smarter than cats may not be supported by science. Most cat breeds date to less than 100 years ago — although older breeds, like the Egyptian Mau or Persian, date back further. This means that most pedigreed cats are bred for traits such as color and fur length rather than, say, a waterproof coat for swimming or a strong herding instinct for guarding sheep. The recognized number of cat breeds varies depending on the organization.

Still, owners may buy grooming products to help the cat care for itself. With cats there is a limit to how far you can train them. The cycle ceases when the female cat is pregnant.

Claws

The cat's tongue can act as a hairbrush and can clean and untangle a cat's fur. Pregnant females ("queens") deliver their litters by themselves, guided by instinct. The position of their ears and tail are especially important in communication. Cats are quiet and mostly well-behaved animals, making them popular pets. They try to flip the fish out of the water and over the cat's shoulders using their front paw.