Cat

Article Talk

This article is about the species commonly kept as a pet.

For the cat family, see Felidae. For other uses, see Cat
(disambiguation) and Cats (disambiguation).

The cat (Felis catus), also referred to as domestic

cat or house cat, is a small domesticated
carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated
species of the family Felidae. Advances in
archaeology and genetics have shown that the
domestication of the cat occurred in the Near East
around 7500 BC. It is commonly kept as a pet and
farm cat, but also ranges freely as a feral cat
avoiding human contact. Valued by humans for
companionship and its ability to kill vermin, the cat's
retractable claws are adapted to killing small prey
like mice and rats. It has a strong, flexible body,
quick reflexes, and sharp teeth, and its night vision
and sense of smell are well developed. It is a social
species, but a solitary hunter and a crepuscular
predator. Cat communication includes vocalizations
—including meowing, purring, trilling, hissing,
growling, and grunting–as well as body language. It
can hear sounds too faint or too high in frequency
for human ears, such as those made by small
mammals. It secretes and perceives pheromones.

Cat
Temporal range: 9,500 years ago – present

Various types of cats

Conservation status

Domesticated

Scientific classification

Domain: Eukaryota

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

Catus domesticus Erxleben, 1777[3]

F. angorensis Gmelin, 1788

F. vulgaris Fischer, 1829

Female domestic cats can have kittens from spring

to late autumn in temperate zones and throughout
the year in equatorial regions, with litter sizes often
ranging from two to five kittens. Domestic cats are
bred and shown at events as registered pedigreed
cats, a hobby known as cat fancy. Animal
population control of cats may be achieved by
spaying and neutering, but their proliferation and
the abandonment of pets has resulted in large
numbers of feral cats worldwide, contributing to the
extinction of bird, mammal, and reptile species.

As of 2017, the domestic cat was the second most

popular pet in the United States, with 95.6 million
cats owned and around 42 million households
owning at least one cat. In the United Kingdom,
26% of adults have a cat, with an estimated
population of 10.9 million pet cats as of 2020. As of
2021, there were an estimated 220 million owned
and 480 million stray cats in the world.

Etymology and naming

Taxonomy

Evolution

Characteristics

Senses

Main article: Cat senses

Vision

Reflection of camera flash from

the tapetum lucidum

A cat's nictitating membrane

shown as it blinks

Cats have excellent night vision and can see at one

sixth the light level required for human vision.[53]: 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.[69]
Large pupils are an adaptation to dim light. The
domestic cat has slit pupils, which allow it to focus
bright light without chromatic aberration.[70] At low
light, a cat's pupils expand to cover most of the
exposed surface of its eyes.[71] 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.[72] A response to middle
wavelengths from a system other than the rod cells
might be due to a third type of cone. This appears
to be an adaptation to low light levels rather than
representing true trichromatic vision.[73] Cats also
have a nictitating membrane, allowing them to blink
without hindering their vision.

Hearing

The domestic cat's hearing is most acute in the

range of 500 Hz to 32 kHz.[74] It can detect an
extremely broad range of frequencies ranging from
55 Hz to 79 kHz, whereas humans can only detect
frequencies between 20 Hz and 20 kHz. It can hear
a range of 10.5 octaves, while humans and dogs can
hear ranges of about 9 octaves.[75][76] Its hearing
sensitivity is enhanced by its large movable outer
ears, the pinnae, which amplify sounds and help
detect the location of a noise. It can detect
ultrasound, which enables it to detect ultrasonic
calls made by rodent prey.[77][78] Recent research
has shown that cats have socio-spatial cognitive
abilities to create mental maps of owners' locations
based on hearing owners' voices.[79]

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.[80] 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,[81] which they use to
communicate through urine spraying and marking
with scent glands.[82] 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.[83] About 70–80%
of cats are affected by nepetalactone.[84] 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.[85]

Taste

Cats have relatively few taste buds compared to

humans (470 or so, compared to more than 9,000
on the human tongue).[86] Domestic and wild cats
share a taste receptor gene mutation that keeps
their sweet taste buds from binding to sugary
molecules, leaving them with no ability to taste
sweetness.[87] They, however, possess taste bud
receptors specialized for acids, amino acids like
protein, and bitter tastes.[88]

Their taste buds possess the receptors needed to

detect umami. However, these receptors contain
molecular changes that make cat taste umami
different from that of humans. In humans, they
detect the amino acids glutamic acid and aspartic
acid, but in cats, they instead detect inosine
monophosphate and l-Histidine.[89] These
molecules are particularly enriched in tuna.[89] This,
it has been argued, is why cats find tuna so
palatable: as put by researchers into cat taste, "the
specific combination of the high IMP and free l-
Histidine contents of tuna, which produces a strong
umami taste synergy that is highly preferred by
cats".[89] One of the researchers in this research
has stated, "I think umami is as important for cats
as sweet is for humans".[90]

Cats also have a distinct temperature preference for

their food, preferring food with a temperature
around 38 °C (100 °F) which is similar to that of a
fresh kill; some cats reject cold food (which would
signal to the cat that the "prey" item is long dead
and therefore possibly toxic or decomposing).[86]

Whiskers

The whiskers of a cat are highly

sensitive to touch.

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.[53]: 47

Behavior

See also: Cat behavior

An alert cat at night, with pupils

dilated and ears directed at a
sound.

Outdoor cats are active both day and night,

although they tend to be slightly more active at
night.[91] Domestic cats spend the majority of their
time in the vicinity of their homes but can range
many hundreds of meters from this central point.
They establish territories that vary considerably in
size, in one study ranging 7–28 ha (17–69 acres).
[92]
The timing of cats' activity is quite flexible and
varied but being low-light predators, they are
generally crepuscular, which means they tend to be
more active near dawn and dusk. However, house
cats' behavior is also influenced by human activity
and they may adapt to their owners' sleeping
patterns to some extent.[93][94]

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.[95]

A common misconception is that a cat's behavioral

and personality traits correspond to its coat color.
These traits instead depend on a complex interplay
between genetic and environmental factors.[96]

Sociability

A cat sleeping in a shopkeeper's

money drawer in Myanmar

The social behavior of the domestic cat ranges from

widely dispersed individuals to feral cat colonies
that gather around a food source, based on groups
of co-operating females.[97][98] Within such groups,
one cat is usually dominant over the others.[99]
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. These territories are marked by urine
spraying, rubbing objects at head height with
secretions from facial glands, and by defecation.[82]
Between these territories are neutral areas where
cats watch and greet one another without territorial
conflicts. Outside these neutral areas, territory
holders usually chase away stranger cats, at first by
staring, hissing, and growling, and, if that does not
work, by short and violent, noisy attacks. Though
cats do not have a social survival strategy or herd
behavior, they always hunt alone.[100]

Life in proximity to humans and other domestic

animals has led to a symbiotic social adaptation in
cats, and cats may express great affection toward
humans or other animals. Ethologically, a cat's
human keeper functions as a mother surrogate.[101]
Adult cats live their lives in a kind of extended
kittenhood, a form of behavioral neoteny. Their
high-pitched sounds may mimic the cries of a
hungry human infant, making them particularly
difficult for humans to ignore.[102] Some pet cats
are poorly socialized. In particular, older cats show
aggressiveness toward newly arrived kittens, which
include biting and scratching; this type of behavior
is known as feline asocial aggression.[103]

Redirected aggression is a common form of

aggression which can occur in multiple cat
households. In redirected aggression, there is
usually something that agitates the cat: this could
be a sight, sound, or another source of stimuli
which causes a heightened level of anxiety or
arousal. If the cat cannot attack the stimuli, it may
direct anger elsewhere by attacking or directing
aggression to the nearest cat, pet, human or other
being.[104][105]

Domestic cats' scent rubbing behavior toward

humans or other cats is thought to be a feline
means of social bonding.[106]

Communication
Main article: Cat communication

Vocalizing domestic cat

A meow
0:02

Domestic cats use many vocalizations for

communication, including purring, trilling, hissing,
growling/snarling, grunting, and several different
forms of meowing.[107] 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 tail and ears are particularly
important social signal mechanisms; a raised tail
indicates a friendly greeting, and flattened ears
indicate 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 ones.[108] Feral cats are generally
silent.[109]: 208 Nose-to-nose touching is also a
common greeting and may be followed by social
grooming, which is solicited by one of the cats
raising and tilting its head.[97]

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.[110]
Post-nursing cats also often purr as a sign of
contentment: when being petted, becoming
relaxed,[111][112] or eating. Even though purring is
popularly interpreted as indicative of pleasure, it
has been recorded in a wide variety of
circumstances, most of which involve physical
contact between the cat and another, presumably
trusted individual.[110] Some cats have been
observed to purr continuously when chronically ill or
in apparent pain.[113]

The exact mechanism by which cats purr has long

been elusive, but it has been proposed that purring
is generated via a series of sudden build-ups and
releases of pressure as the glottis is opened and
closed, which causes the vocal folds to separate
forcefully. The laryngeal muscles in control of the
glottis are thought to be driven by a neural oscillator
which generates a cycle of contraction and release
every 30–40 milliseconds (giving a frequency of 33
to 25 Hz).[110][114][115]

Domestic cats observed in rescue facilities have

276 morphologically distinct facial expressions
based on 26 facial movements; each facial
expression corresponds to different social functions
that are likely influenced by domestication.[116]
Facial expressions have helped researchers detect
pain in cats. The feline grimace scale's five criteria
ear position, orbital tightening, muzzle tension,
whisker change, and head position indicated the
presence of acute pain in cats.[117][118]

Grooming

Cat tongue

Cats are known for spending considerable amounts

of time licking their coats to keep them clean.[119]
[120]
The cat's tongue has backward-facing spines
about 0.5 millimeter long, called lingual papillae,
which contain keratin making them rigid.[121] The
papillae act like a hairbrush, and some cats,
particularly long-haired cats, occasionally
regurgitate sausage-shaped 2–3 cm (0.79–1.18 in)
long hairballs of fur that have collected in their
stomachs from grooming. 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.[119]

Fighting

A domestic cat's arched back,

raised fur and open-mouthed hiss
are signs of aggression

Among domestic cats, males are more likely to fight

than females.[122] 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.[123]
Another common reason for fighting in domestic
cats is the difficulty of establishing territories within
a small home.[122] 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.[124]

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.[125] Often, the
ears are pointed down and back to avoid damage to
the inner ear and potentially listen for any changes
behind them while focused forward. Cats may also
vocalize loudly and bare their teeth in an effort to
further intimidate their opponents. Fights usually
consist of grappling and delivering slaps to the face
and body with the forepaws, as well as bites. Cats
also throw themselves to the ground in a defensive
posture to rake their opponent's belly with their
hind legs.[126]

Serious damage is rare, as the fights are usually

short in duration, with the loser running away with
little more than a few scratches to the face and
ears. Fights for mating rights are typically more
severe, and injuries may include deep puncture
wounds and lacerations. Normally, serious injuries
from fighting are limited to infections from
scratches and bites, though these can occasionally
kill cats if untreated. In addition, bites are probably
the main route of transmission of the feline
immunodeficiency virus.[127] 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.[128]
Cats are willing to threaten animals larger than them
to defend their territory, such as dogs and foxes.
[129]

Hunting and feeding