Jump to content

Cats

Add links
Listen to this article
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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).

Hello

Domestic cat[1]
Six different breeds of cats
Conservation status
Domesticated
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Felinae
Genus: 'Felis'
Species: ''F. catus''
Binomial name
Felis catus[2]
Synonyms

Felis silvestris catus (subjective synonym)[4]
Felis catus domestica (invalid junior synonym)[5]

Meow The domestic cat[1][2] (Felis catus[2] or Felis silvestris catus[4]) is a small, usually furry, domesticated, and carnivorous[6] mammal. They are often called a housecat when kept as an indoor pet,[7] or simply a csat when there is no need to distinguish them from other felids and felines. Cats are often valued by humans for companionship, and their ability to hunt vermin and household pests.

Cats are similar in anatomy to the other felids, with strong, flexible bodies, quick reflexes, sharp retractable claws, and teeth o hunting small prey. Cat senses fit a crepuscular (active during the early morning and evening) and predatory ecological niche. Cats can hear sounds too faint or too high in frequency for human ears, such as those made by mice and other small animals. (removed text in first revision) Like most other mammals, cats have poorer color vision and a better sense of smell than humans.[citation needed] Cats are okay (Added text in first revision) (then changed in third revision) Despite being solitary hunters, cats are a social species, and cat communication includes the use of a variety of vocalizations (mewing, purring, trilling, hissing, growling, and grunting), as well as cat pheromones, and types of cat-specific body language.[8] this is a second revision addition

Cats have a high breeding rate. Under controlled breeding, they can be bred and shown as registered pedigree pets, a hobby known as cat fancy. Failure to control the breeding of pet cats by neutering, and the abandonment of former household pets, has resulted in large numbers of feral cats worldwide, requiring population control.[9]

Since cats were cult animals in ancient Egypt, they were commonly believed to have been domesticated there,[10] but there may have been instances of domestication as early as the Neolithic from around 9500 years ago (7500 BC).[11] A genetic study in 2007 concluded that domestic cats are descended from African wildcats (Felis silvestris lybica), having diverged around 8000 BC in West Asia.[10][12] Cats are the most popular pet in the world, and are now found in almost every place where humans live.[13]

New section

[edit]

Test

Nomenclature and etymology

[edit]

The English word 'cat' (Old English catt) is in origin a loanword, introduced to many languages of Europe from Latin catikus (changed in third revision) [14] and Byzantine Greek κάττα, including Portuguese and Spanish gato, French chat, German Katze, Lithuanian katė and Old Church Slavonic kotka, among others.[15] The ultimate source of the word is Afroasiatic, presumably from Late Egyptian čaute,[16] the feminine of čaus "wildcat". The word was introduced, together with the domestic animal itself, to the Roman Republic by the first century BC.[citation needed] An alternative word with cognates in many languages is English 'puss' ('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 puiscín. The etymology of this word is unknown, but it may have simply arisen from a sound used to attract a cat.[17][18]

A group of cats is referred to as a "clowder" or a "glaring",[19] a male cat is called a "tom" or "tomcat"[20] (or a "gib",[21] if neutered), an unaltered female is called a "queen",[22] and a prepubescent juvenile is referred to as a "kitten". Although spayed females have no commonly used name, in some rare instances, an immature or spayed female is referred to as a "molly".[citation needed] The male progenitor of a cat, especially a pedigreed cat, is its "sire",[23] and its female progenitor is its "dam".[24] In Early Modern English, the word 'meowing' was interchangeable with the now-obsolete word 'catling'.[25]

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.

While the African wildcat is the ancestral subspecies 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 those entirely wild animals on the other. The semiferal 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. Feral cats are associated with human habitation areas and may be fed by people or forage in rubbish, but are typically wary of human interaction.[26]

Cats are sometimes friendly. (edited in third revision).

Cats can get hungry. Cats can be kind companions.

Change 956476 had a related patch set uploaded (by DLynch; author: DLynch):

[mediawiki/extensions/VisualEditor@master] Update edit check tag labels

Taxonomy and evolution

[edit]
Main article: Cat evolution
The African wildcat, Felis silvestris lybica, is the ancestor of the domestic cat.

The felids are a rapidly evolving family of mammals that share a common ancestor only 10–15 million years ago[27] and include lions, tigers, cougars and many others. Within this family, domestic cats (Felis catus) are part of the genus Felis, which is a group of small cats containing about seven species (depending upon classification scheme).[1][28] Members of the genus are found worldwide and include the jungle cat (Felis chaus) of southeast Asia, European wildcat (F. silvestris silvestris), African wildcat (F. s. lybica), the Chinese mountain cat (F. bieti), and the Arabian sand cat (F. margarita), among others.[29]

The domestic cat was first classified as Felis catus by Carolus Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae in 1758.[1][3] Because of modern phylogenetics, domestic cats are usually regarded as another subspecies of the wildcat, F. silvestris.[1][4][30] This has resulted in mixed usage of the terms, as the domestic cat can be called by its subspecies name, Felis silvestris catus.[1][4][30] Wildcats have also been referred to as various subspecies of F. catus,[30] but in 2003, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature fixed the name for wildcats as F. silvestris.[31] The most common name in use for the domestic cat remains F. catus, following a convention for domesticated animals of using the earliest (the senior) synonym proposed.[31] Sometimes, the domestic cat has been called Felis domesticus[32] or Felis domestica,[1] as proposed by naturalist J. C. P. Erxleben in 1777 but these are not valid taxonomic names and have been used only rarely in scientific literature,[33] because Linnaeus's binomial takes precedence.[34] A population of Transcaucasian black feral cats was once classified as Felis daemon (Satunin 1904) but now this population is considered to be a part of domestic cat.[35]

All the cats in this genus share a common ancestor that probably lived around 6–7 million years ago in Asia.[36] The exact relationships within the Felidae are close but still uncertain,[37][38] e.g. the Chinese mountain cat is sometimes classified (under the name Felis silvestris bieti) as a subspecies of the wildcat, like the North African variety F. s. lybica.[4][37]

In comparison to dogs cats have not undergone major changes during the domestication process, as the form and behavior of the domestic cat is not radically different from those of wildcats and domestic cats are perfectly capable of surviving in the wild.[39][40] Fully domesticated house cats often interbreed with feral F. catus populations.[26] This limited evolution during domestication, means that hybridisation can occur with many other felids notably the Asian leopard cat.[41] Several natural behaviors and characteristics of wildcats may have preadapted them for domestication as pets.[40] These traits include their small size, social nature, obvious body language, love of play and relatively high intelligence;[42]: 12–17  they may also have an inborn tendency towards tameness.[40]

Cats have either a mutualistic or commensal relationship with humans. Two main theories are given about how cats were domesticated. In one, people deliberately tamed cats in a process of artificial selection, as they were useful predators of vermin.[43] This has been criticized as implausible, because the reward for such an effort may have been too little; cats generally do not carry out commands and although they do eat rodents, other species such as ferrets or terriers may be better at controlling these pests.[4] The alternative idea is that cats were simply tolerated by people and gradually diverged from their wild relatives through natural selection, as they adapted to hunting the vermin found around humans in towns and villages.[4]

Genetics

[edit]
Main article: Cat genetics

The domesticated cat, and its closest wild ancestor, are both diploid organisms that possess 38 chromosomes[44] and roughly 20,000 genes.[45] About 250 heritable genetic disorders have been identified in cats, many similar to human inborn errors.[46] 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.[47][48]

Anatomy

[edit]
Main article: Cat anatomy
Diagram of the general anatomy of a male

Domestic cats are similar in size to the other members of the genus Felis, typically weighing between 4 and 5 kg (8.8 and 11.0 lb).[37] However, some breeds, such as the Maine Coon, can occasionally exceed 11 kg (25 lb). Conversely, very small cats (less than 1.8 kg (4.0 lb)) have been reported.[49] The world record for the largest cat is 21.3 kg (47 lb).[50] The smallest adult cat ever officially recorded weighed around 1.36 kg (3.0 lb).[50] Feral cats tend to be lighter as they have more limited access to food than house cats. In the Boston area, the average feral adult male will weigh 3.9 kg (8.6 lb) and average feral female 3.3 kg (7.3 lb).[51] Cats average about 23–25 cm (9–10 in) in height and 46 cm (18.1 in) in head/body length (males being larger than females), with tails averaging 30 cm (11.8 in) in length.[52]

Cats have seven cervical vertebrae, as do almost all mammals; 13 thoracic vertebrae (humans have 12); seven lumbar vertebrae (humans have five); three sacral vertebrae like most mammals (humans have five); and a variable number of caudal vertebrae in the tail (humans retain three to five caudal vertebrae, fused into an internal coccyx).[53]: 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.[53] : 16  Unlike human arms, cat forelimbs are attached to the shoulder by free-floating clavicle bones which allow them to pass their bodies through any space into which they can fit their heads.[54]

Cat skull

The cat skull is unusual among mammals in having very large eye sockets and a powerful and specialized jaw.[55]: 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.[56] Compared to other felines, domestic cats have narrowly spaced canine teeth, which is an adaptation to their preferred prey of small rodents, which have small vertebrae.[56] 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.[55]: 37 

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.[57] 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.[58]

Like almost all members of the Felidae, cats have protractable and retractable claws.[59] 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.[60] 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.[61] 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 of 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).[61] These are particularly common along the northeast coast of North America.[62]

Physiology

[edit]
Normal physiological values[63]: 330 
Body temperature 38.6 °C (101.5 °F)
Heart rate 120–140 beats per minute
Breathing rate 16–40 breaths per minute
Thermograph

Cats are familiar and easily kept animals, and their physiology has been particularly well studied; it generally resembles that of other carnivorous mammals, but displays several unusual features probably attributable to cats' descent from desert-dwelling species.[32] For instance, cats are able to tolerate quite high temperatures: Humans generally start to feel not 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),[55]: 46  and can tolerate temperatures of up to 56 °C (133 °F) if they have access to water.[64]

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,[65] and pant for heat relief only at very high temperatures[66] (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.[67]: 1  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.[32] Their kidneys are so efficient, they can survive on a diet consisting only of meat, with no additional water,[68] and can even rehydrate by drinking seawater.[67]: 29 [69]

Cats are obligate carnivores: their physiology has evolved to efficiently process meat, and they have difficulty digesting plant matter.[32] 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.[32] 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.[70] Another unusual feature is that the cat cannot produce taurine, with taurine deficiency causing macular degeneration, wherein the cat's retina slowly degenerates, causing irreversible blindness.[32] Since cats tend to eat all of their prey, they obtain minerals by digesting animal bones, and a diet composed only of meat may cause calcium deficiency.[32]

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.[71] These traits severely limit the cat's ability to digest and use plant-derived nutrients, as well as certain fatty acids.[71] 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. However, some of these products still fail to provide all the nutrients cats require,[72] and diets containing no animal products pose the risk of causing severe nutritional deficiencies.[73]

Cats do eat grass occasionally. A proposed explanations is that cats use grass as a source of folic acid. Another proposed explanation is that it is used to supply dietary fiber.[74]

Senses

[edit]
Main article: Cat senses
Reflection of camera flash from the tapetum lucidum

Cats have excellent night vision and can see at only one-sixth the light level required for human vision.[55]: 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] Indeed, 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]

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 probably important in hunting rather than intra-specific communication[82] because many species of rodents make ultrasonic calls.[83] 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]

Cats' whiskers are highly sensitive to touch.

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] 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]

Cats have relatively few taste buds compared to humans. 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.[91] Their taste buds instead respond to amino acids, bitter tastes, and acids.[92]

To aid with navigation and sensation, cats have dozens of movable whiskers (vibrissae) over their bodies, 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.[55]: 47 

Health

[edit]
Main article: Cat health

The average lifespan of pet cats has risen in recent years. wee! In the early 1980s it was about seven years,[93]: 33 [94] rising to 9.4 years in 1995[93]: 33  and 12.1 years in 2013.[95] However, cats have been reported as surviving into their 30s,[96] with the oldest known cat, Creme Puff, dying at a verified age of 38.[97]

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.[93]: 35  Non-neutered cats in the U.S. are four times as likely to be hit by a car as a neutered cat, and are three times more likely to require treatment for an animal bite.[95] 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.[98]

Despite widespread concern about the welfare of free-roaming cats, the lifespans of neutered feral cats in managed colonies compare favourably with those of pet cats.[99]: 45 [100]: 1358  Neutered cats in managed colonies can also live long lives.[101][102][103][104]

Diseases

[edit]

Cats can suffer from a wide range of health problems, including infectious diseases, parasites, injuries, and chronic disease. Vaccinations are available for many of these diseases, and domestic cats are regularly given treatments to eliminate parasites such as worms and fleas.

Poisoning

[edit]

In addition to obvious dangers such as rodenticides, insecticides, and herbicides, cats may be poisoned by many chemicals usually considered safe by their human guardians,[105] because their livers are less effective at some forms of detoxification than those of many other animals, including humans and dogs.[32][106] Some of the most common causes of poisoning in cats are antifreeze and rodent baits.[107] Cats may be particularly sensitive to environmental pollutants.[105][108] When a cat has a sudden or prolonged serious illness without any obvious cause, it has possibly been exposed to a toxin.

Many human medicines should never be given to cats. For example, the painkiller paracetamol (or acetaminophen, sold as Tylenol and Panadol) is extremely toxic to cats: even very small doses need immediate treatment and can be fatal.[109][110] Even aspirin, which is sometimes used to treat arthritis in cats, is much more toxic to them than to humans[110] and must be administered cautiously.[105] Similarly, application of minoxidil (Rogaine) to the skin of cats, either accidentally or by well-meaning guardians attempting to counter loss of fur, has sometimes been fatal.[111] Essential oils can be toxic to cats and cases have been reported of serious illnesses caused by tea tree oil, including flea treatments and shampoos containing it.[112]

Other common household substances that should be used with caution around cats include mothballs and other naphthalene products.[105] Phenol-based products (e.g. Pine-Sol, Dettol (Lysol) or hexachlorophene)[105] are often used for cleaning and disinfecting near cats' feeding areas or litter boxes, but these can sometimes be fatal.[113] Ethylene glycol, often used as an automotive antifreeze, is particularly appealing to cats, and as little as a teaspoonful can be fatal.[114] Some human foods are toxic to cats; for example chocolate can cause theobromine poisoning, although (unlike dogs) few cats will eat chocolate.[115] Large amounts of onions or garlic are also poisonous to cats.[105] Many houseplants are also dangerous,[116] such as Philodendron species and the leaves of the Easter lily (Lilium longiflorum), which can cause permanent and life-threatening kidney damage.[117]

Behavior

[edit]

Template:See also Free-ranging cats are active both day and night, although they tend to be slightly more active at night.[118][119] The timing of cats' activity is quite flexible and varied, which means house cats may be more active in the morning and evening (crepuscular behavior), as a response to greater human activity at these times.[120] 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).[119]

Cats conserve energy by sleeping more than most animals, especially as they grow older. The daily duration of sleep varies, usually 12–16 hours, with 13–14 being the average. Some cats can sleep as much as 20 hours in a 24-hour period. 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.[121]

Sociability

[edit]
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 form around a food source, based on groups of co-operating females.[122][123] Within such groups, one cat is usually dominant over the others.[33] 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.[124]

Domestic cats use many vocalizations for communication, including purring, trilling, hissing, growling/snarling, grunting, and several different forms of meowing.[8] By contrast, feral cats are generally silent.[125]: 208  Their types of body language, including position of ears and tail, relaxation of whole body, and kneading of paws, are all indicators of mood. The tail and ears are particularly important social signal mechanisms in cats,[126][127] e.g. with a raised tail acting as a friendly greeting, and flattened ears indicating 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.[127] 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.[123]

Cat with an Alaskan Malamute dog

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.[128]

Though cats and dogs are believed to be natural enemies, they can live together if correctly socialized.[129]

For cats, life in proximity to humans and other animals kept by them amounts to a symbiotic social adaptation. They may express great affection towards their human (and even other) companions, especially if they psychologically imprint on them at a very young age and are treated with consistent affection.[130] Ethologically, the human keeper of a cat may function as a sort of surrogate for the cat's mother,[citation needed] and adult housecats live their lives in a kind of extended kittenhood,[131] 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 hard for humans to ignore.[132]

Grooming

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

Cats are known for spending considerable amounts of time licking their coat to keep it clean.[133] The cat's tongue has backwards-facing spines about 500 μm long, which are called papillae. These contain keratin which makes them quite rigid[134] 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 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.[133] Some cats can develop a compulsive behavior known as psychogenic alopecia, or excessive grooming.[135][clarification needed]

Fighting

[edit]

Among domestic cats, males are more likely to fight than females.[136] 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.[137] Another common reason for fighting in domestic cats is the difficulty of establishing territories within a small home.[136] 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.[citation needed]

Indicating aggression

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.[126] 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.[138]

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.[139] 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 noses.

Hunting and feeding

[edit]
A cat that has caught a mouse

Cats hunt small prey, primarily birds and rodents,[140] and are often used as a form of pest control.[141][142] Domestic cats are a major predator of wildlife in the United States, killing an estimated 1.4–3.7 billion birds and 6.9–20.7 billion mammals annually.[143][144] 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.[143][144] In the case of free-ranging pets, equipping cats with bells and not letting them out at night will reduce wildlife predation.[140] Cats wearing one type of device killed 19 times fewer birds than uncollared cats.[145] 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.[124] Cats use two hunting strategies, either stalking prey actively, or waiting in ambush until an animal comes close enough to be captured. 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.[146]: 153 

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.[147][clarification needed] Another possible explanations is that height gives the cat a better observation point, allowing it to survey its territory. During a fall from a high place, a cat can reflexively twist its body and right itself using its acute sense of balance and flexibility.[148][clarification needed] This is known as the cat righting reflex. An individual cat always rights itself in the same way, provided it has the time to do so, during a fall. The height required for this to occur is around 90 cm (3 ft). Cats without a tail (e.g. Manx cats) also have this ability, since a cat mostly moves its hind legs and relies on conservation of angular momentum to set up for landing, and the tail is little used for this feat.[149] This leads to the proverb "a cat always lands on its feet".

One 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.[150] 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".[151][152] Morris's theory is inconsistent with the fact that male cats also bring home prey, despite males having no involvement with raising kittens.[146]: 153 

Domestic cats select food based on its temperature, smell, and texture, strongly disliking chilled foods and responding most strongly to moist foods rich in amino acids, which are similar to meat.[73][124] Cats may reject novel flavors (a response termed neophobia) and learn quickly to avoid foods that have tasted unpleasant in the past.[124] They may also avoid sugary foods and milk; since they are lactose intolerant, these sugars are not easily digested and may cause soft stools or diarrhea.[124][153] They can also develop odd eating habits. Some cats like to eat or chew on other things, most commonly wool, but also plastic, paper, string, aluminum foil/Christmas tree tinsel, or even coal. This condition, pica, can threaten their health, depending on the amount and toxicity of the items eaten.[154][155]

Though cats usually prey on animals more than half their size, a feral cat in Australia had been photographed to kill an adult pademelon weighing around the cat's size at 4 kg (8.8 lb).[156]

Since cats cannot fully close their lips around something to create suction, 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, drawing water upwards.[157]

Play

[edit]
Main article: Cat play and toys
Play fight between kittens, age 14 weeks

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.[158] 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.[159]

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.[160] Cats also tend to play with toys more when they are hungry.[161] 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.[162] Owing to the risks posed by cats eating string, it is sometimes replaced with a laser pointer's dot, which cats may chase.[163] While concerns have been raised about the safety of playing with lasers, John Marshall, an ophthalmologist at St Thomas' Hospital, has stated it would be "virtually impossible" to blind a cat with a laser pointer.[164]

Reproduction

[edit]
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.

Template:See also

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.[165] 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;[166] upon withdrawal of the penis, the spines rake the walls of the female's vagina, which is a trigger for 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.[citation needed]

After mating, the female washes her vulva thoroughly. If a male attempts to mate with her at this point, the female will attack him. After about 20 to 30 minutes, once the female is finished grooming, the cycle will repeat.[165]

Because ovulation is not always triggered by a single mating, females may not be impregnated by the first male with which they mate.[167] 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.[165]

A newborn kitten

At 124 hours after conception, the morula forms. At 148 hours, early blastocysts form. At 10–12 days, implantation occurs.[168][169]

The gestation period for cats is between 64 and 67 days, with an average of 66 days.[170] The size of a litter usually is three to five kittens, with the first litter usually smaller than subsequent litters. Kittens are weaned between six and seven weeks old, and cats normally reach sexual maturity at 5–10 months (females) and to 5–7 months (males), although this can vary depending on breed.[165] Females can have two to three litters per year, so may produce up to 150 kittens in their breeding span of around ten years.[165]

Cats are ready to go to new homes at about 12 weeks of age,[171] when they are ready to leave their mother. They can be surgically sterilized (spayed or castrated) as early as 7 weeks to limit unwanted reproduction.[172] 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 prior to puberty, at about three to six months.[173] In the US, about 80% of household cats are neutered.[174]

Vocalizations

[edit]
Main article: Cat communication

The cat is a very vocal animal. Known for its trademark purring, it also produces a wide variety of other sounds.

The mechanism by which cats purr is elusive. The cat has no unique anatomical feature that is clearly responsible for the sound.[175] It was, until recent times, believed that only the cats of the Felis genus could purr. However, felids of the Panthera genus (tiger, lion, jaguar and leopard) also produce sounds similar to purring, but only when exhaling.[176]

Ecology

[edit]

Habitats

[edit]
A black cat in snowy weather.

Cats are a cosmopolitan species and are found across much of the world.[39] Geneticist Stephen James O'Brien, of the National Cancer Institute in Frederick, Maryland, remarked on how successful cats have been in evolutionary terms: "Cats are one of evolution's most charismatic creatures. They can live on the highest mountains and in the hottest deserts."[177] They are extremely adaptable and are now present on all continents except Antarctica, and on 118 of the 131 main groups of islands—even on sub-Antarctic islands such as the Kerguelen Islands.[178][179]

Feral cats can live in forests, grasslands, tundra, coastal areas, agricultural land, scrublands, urban areas, and wetlands.[180] Their habitats even include small oceanic islands with no human inhabitants.[181] Further, the close relatives of domestic cats, the African wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica) and the Arabian sand cat (Felis margarita) both inhabit desert environments,[4] and domestic cats still show similar adaptations and behaviors.[32] The cat's ability to thrive in almost any terrestrial habitat has led to its designation as one of the world's worst invasive species.[182]

As domestic cats are little altered from wildcats, they can readily interbreed. This hybridization poses a danger to the genetic distinctiveness of some wildcat populations, particularly in Scotland and Hungary and possibly also the Iberian Peninsula.[41]

Feral cats

[edit]
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.[9] The numbers of feral cats is not known, but estimates of the US feral population range from 25 to 60 million.[9] 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.[183] 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.[184]

Public attitudes towards feral cats vary widely, ranging from seeing them as free-ranging pets, to regarding them as vermin.[185] One common approach to reducing the feral cat population is termed 'trap-neuter-return', where the cats are trapped, neutered, immunized against rabies and the feline leukemia virus, and then released. 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.[183]

Impact on prey species

[edit]
Carrying a rabbit.

To date, few scientific data are available to assess the impact of cat predation on prey populations. Even well-fed domestic cats may hunt and kill, mainly catching small mammals, but also birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish, and invertebrates.[140][186] 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.[187] In the wild, the introduction of feral cats during human settlement can threaten native species with extinction.[181] In many cases, controlling or eliminating the populations of non-native cats can produce a rapid recovery in native animals.[188] 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.[189]

In the Southern Hemisphere, cats are a particular problem in landmasses such as Australasia, where cat species have never been native and few equivalent native medium-sized mammalian predators occurred.[190] Native species such as the New Zealand kakapo and the Australian bettong, for example, tend to be more ecologically vulnerable and behaviorally "naive" to predation by feral cats.[191] 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.[192]

Cat numbers in the UK are growing and their abundance is far above the "natural" carrying capacity, because their population sizes are independent of their prey's dynamics: i.e. cats are "recreational" hunters, with other food sources.[193] Population densities can be as high as 2,000 individuals per km2[194] and the trend is an increase of 0.5 million cats annually.

Impact on birds

[edit]
Eating a house sparrow

The domestic cat is probably a significant predator of birds. UK assessments indicate they may be accountable for an estimated 64.8 million bird deaths each year.[140] Certain species appear more susceptible than others; for example, 30% of house sparrow mortality is linked to the domestic cat.[195] In the recovery of ringed robins (Erithacus rubecula) and dunnocks (Prunella modularis), 31% of deaths were a result of cat predation.[196] 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.[197] The proposal that cat populations will increase when the numbers of these top predators decline is called the mesopredator release hypothesis. However, a new study suggests cats are a much greater menace than previously thought and feral cats kill several billion birds each year in the United States.[198]

On islands, birds can contribute as much as 60% of a cat's diet.[199] 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;[200] 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 Islands rail,[196] the Auckland Islands Merganser,[201] and the common diving petrel[202] are a few from a long list, with the most extreme case being the flightless Stephens Island wren, which was driven to extinction only a few years after its discovery.[203][204]

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.[205] The loss of flight, or reduced flying ability is also characteristic of many island endemics.[206] These biological aspects have increased vulnerability to extinction in the presence of introduced species, such as the domestic cat.[207] Equally, behavioral traits exhibited by island species, such as "predatory naivety"[208] and ground-nesting,[205] have also contributed to their susceptibility.

Cats and humans

[edit]
Main article: Cats and humans

Cats are common pets in Europe and North America, and their worldwide population exceeds 500 million.[10] Although cat guardianship has commonly been associated with women,[209] a 2007 Gallup poll reported that men and women were equally likely to own a cat.[210]

According to the Humane Society of the United States, as well as being kept as pets, cats are also used in the international fur trade,[211] for making coats, gloves, hats, shoes, blankets, and stuffed toys. About 24 cats are needed to make a cat fur coat.[212] This use has now been outlawed in the United States, Australia, and the European Union.[213] However, some cat furs are still made into blankets in Switzerland as folk remedies believed to help rheumatism.[214]

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[215]) and over the net,[216][217] 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.[218][219][220][221][222][223]

History and mythology

[edit]
Main articles: Cultural depictions of cats and Cats in ancient Egypt
A 19th century drawing of a tabby cat

Traditionally, historians thought ancient Egypt was the site of cat domestication, owing to the clear depictions of house cats in Egyptian paintings about 3,600 years old.[4] However, in 2004, a Neolithic grave excavated in Shillourokambos, Cyprus, contained the skeletons, laid close to one another, of both a human and a cat. The grave is estimated to be 9,500 years old, pushing back the earliest known feline–human association significantly.[12][224][225] The cat specimen is large and closely resembles the African wildcat (F. s. lybica), rather than present-day domestic cats. This discovery, combined with genetic studies, suggests cats were probably domesticated in the Middle East, in the Fertile Crescent around the time of the development of agriculture and then they were brought to Cyprus and Egypt.[4]

Direct evidence for the domestication of cats 5,300 years ago in Quanhucun in China has been published. The cats are believed to have been attracted to the village by rodents, which in turn were attracted by grain cultivated and stored by humans.[226]

In ancient Egypt, cats were sacred animals, with the goddess Bastet often depicted in cat form, sometimes taking on the war-like aspect of a lioness.[227]: 220  The Romans are often credited with introducing the domestic cat from Egypt to Europe;[227]: 223  in Roman Aquitaine, a first- or second-century epitaph of a young girl holding a cat is one of two earliest depictions of the Roman domesticated cat.[228] However, cats possibly were already kept in Europe prior to the Roman Empire, as they may have been present in Britain in the late Iron Age.[43] Domestic cats were spread throughout much of the rest of the world during the Age of Discovery, as they were carried on sailing ships to control shipboard rodents and as good-luck charms.[227]: 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.

Although no species are sacred in Islam, cats are revered by Muslims. Some Western writers have stated Muhammad had a favorite cat, Muezza.[229] He is reported to have loved cats so much, "he would do without his cloak rather than disturb one that was sleeping on it".[230] 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.[231]

Freyja, the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility in Norse mythology, is depicted as riding a chariot drawn by cats.

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).[citation needed]

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, and some Spanish-speaking regions, they are said to have seven lives,[232] while in Turkish and Arabic traditions, the number of lives is six.[233] The myth is attributed to the natural suppleness and swiftness cats exhibit to escape life-threatening situations.[234] 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.[235]

See also

[edit]

Template:Side box

  • [[Archivo:
  1. REDIRECCIÓN Plantilla:Iconos|20px|Ver el portal sobre Cats]] Portal:Cats. Contenido relacionado con Mammals.

Template:Colbegin

Template:Colend

Cats by location

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wozencraft, W. Christopher (16 November 2005). "Species Felis catus". In Wilson, Don E., and Reeder, DeeAnn M., eds (ed.). [http://google.com/books?id=JgAMbNSt8ikC&pg=PA534–535 Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference] (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols. (2142 pp.). pp. 534–535. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help); External link in |title= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  2. ^ a b c "ITIS Standard Report Page: Felis catus". ITIS Online Database. Reston, Virginia: Integrated Taxonomic Information System. 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  3. ^ a b Linnaeus, Carolus (1766) [1758]. Systema naturae per regna tria naturae: secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (12th ed.). Holmiae (Laurentii Salvii). p. 62. Retrieved 2 April 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Driscoll, C. A.; MacDonald, D. W.; O'Brien, Stephen J. (2009). "In the Light of Evolution III: Two Centuries of Darwin Sackler Colloquium: From Wild Animals to Domestic Pets – An Evolutionary View of Domestication". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 106 (S1): 9971–9978. Bibcode:2009PNAS..106.9971D. doi:10.1073/pnas.0901586106. PMC 2702791. PMID 19528637. Invalid <ref> tag; name "Driscoll" defined multiple times with different content
  5. ^ "ITIS Standard Report Page: Felis catus domestica". op. cit. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  6. ^ Test reference for the reference preview feature.
  7. ^ Housecat (Education.Yahoo.com online ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 2010. Retrieved 6 October 2010. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  8. ^ a b Moelk, Mildred (April 1944). "Vocalizing in the House-cat; A Phonetic and Functional Study". The American Journal of Psychology. 57 (2): 184–205. doi:10.2307/1416947. JSTOR 1416947.
  9. ^ a b c Rochlitz, Irene (2007). The Welfare of Cats. "Animal Welfare" series. Berlin: Springer. pp. 141–175. ISBN 1-4020-6143-9.
  10. ^ a b c Wade, Nicholas (29 June 2007). "Study Traces Cat's Ancestry to Middle East". New York Times. New York: NYTC. Retrieved 2 April 2008.
  11. ^ Vigne JD, Guilaine J, Debue K, Haye L, Gérard P (April 2004). "Early taming of the cat in Cyprus". Science. 304 (5668): 259. doi:10.1126/science.1095335. PMID 15073370.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ a b "Oldest Known Pet Cat? 9500-year-old Burial Found on Cyprus". National Geographic News. National Geographic Society. 8 April 2004. Retrieved 6 March 2007.
  13. ^ Driscoll, Carlos A.; Clutton-Brock, Juliet; Kitchener, Andrew C.; O'Brien, Stephen J. (10 June 2009). "The Evolution of House Cats". Scientific American. New York: Nature Pubg. Group. Retrieved 26 August 2009.
  14. ^ McKnight, George H. (1923). English Words and Their Background. New York: D. Appleton and Company  – via Questia (subscription required) . p. 130.
  15. ^ "Cat". The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  16. ^ Jean-Paul Savignac, Dictionnaire français-gaulois, s.v. "chat" (Paris: Errance, 2004), 82.
  17. ^ "Puss". The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  18. ^ Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language. New York: Gramercy Books, 1996, p. 1571.
  19. ^ "What do you call a group of ...?". Oxford Dictionaries Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  20. ^ "Tom cat, tom-cat". The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  21. ^ "Gib, n.2". The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  22. ^ "Queen cat". The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  23. ^ "Sire". The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  24. ^ "Dam, n.2". The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  25. ^ "Catling". The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  26. ^ a b Bradshaw; Horsfield, G. F.; Allen, J. A.; Robinson, I. H. (1999). "Feral Cats: Their Role in the Population Dynamics of Felis catus". Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 65 (3): 273–283. doi:10.1016/S0168-1591(99)00086-6.
  27. ^ Johnson, Warren; O'Brien, Stephen J. (1997). "Phylogenetic Reconstruction of the Felidae Using 16S rRNA and NADH-5 Mitochondrial Genes". Journal of Molecular Evolution. 44 (0): S98–S116. doi:10.1007/PL00000060. PMID 9071018.
  28. ^ "ITIS Standard Report Page: Felis". ITIS Online Database. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  29. ^ Stefoff, Rebecca (November 2003). Cats. New York: Benchmark Books. p. 34. ISBN 0-7614-1577-7.
  30. ^ a b c Wozencraft, W. Christopher (16 November 2005). "Species Felis silvestris". In Wilson, Don E., and Reeder, DeeAnn M., eds (ed.). [http://google.com/books?id=JgAMbNSt8ikC&pg=PA536–537 Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference] (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols. (2142 pp.). pp. 536–537. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help); External link in |title= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  31. ^ a b "Opinion 2027". Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature. 60. International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). 2003. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011.
  32. ^ a b c d e f g h i MacDonald, M. L.; Rogers, Q. R.; Morris, J. G. (1984). "Nutrition of the domestic cat, a mammalian carnivore". Annual Review of Nutrition. 4: 521–562. doi:10.1146/annurev.nu.04.070184.002513. PMID 6380542.
  33. ^ a b Baron, Alan; Stewart, C. N.; Warren, J. M. (1 January 1957). "Patterns of Social Interaction in Cats (Felis domestica)". Behaviour. 11 (1): 56–66. doi:10.1163/156853956X00084. JSTOR 4532869.
  34. ^ Vella, Carolyn M.; Shelton, Lorraine M.; McGonagle, John J.; Stanglein, Terry W. (1999). Robinson's Genetics for Cat Breeders and Veterinarians (4th ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. p. 3. ISBN 0-7506-4069-3.
  35. ^ "Catalogue of the Specimens of Caucasian Large Mammalian Fauna in the Collection of The National Museum of Georgia". Caucasian-large-mammalian.narod.ru. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  36. ^ Johnson, Warren E.; Eizirik, E.; Pecon-Slattery, J.; Murphy, W. J.; Antunes, A.; Teeling, E.; O'Brien, Stephen J. (2006). "The Late Miocene Radiation of Modern Felidae: A Genetic Assessment". Science. 311 (5757): 73–77. Bibcode:2006Sci...311...73J. doi:10.1126/science.1122277. PMID 16400146.
  37. ^ a b c Mattern, Michelle Y.; McLennan, Deborah A. (2000). "Phylogeny and Speciation of Felids". Cladistics. 16 (2): 232–253. doi:10.1111/j.1096-0031.2000.tb00354.x.
  38. ^ Masuda, R.; Lopez, J. V.; Slattery, J. P.; Yuhki, N.; O'Brien, Stephen J. (1996). "Molecular Phylogeny of Mitochondrial Cytochrome b and 12S rRNA Sequences in the Felidae: Ocelot and Domestic Cat Lineages". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 6 (3): 351–365. doi:10.1006/mpev.1996.0085. PMID 8975691.
  39. ^ a b Lipinski, Monika J.; Froenicke, Lutz; Baysac, Kathleen C.; Billings, Nicholas C.; Leutenegger, Christian M.; Levy, Alon M.; Longeri, Maria; Niini, Tirri; Ozpinar, Haydar (January 2008). "The Ascent of Cat Breeds: Genetic Evaluations of Breeds and Worldwide Random-bred Populations". Genomics. 91 (1): 12–21. doi:10.1016/j.ygeno.2007.10.009. PMC 2267438. PMID 18060738.
  40. ^ a b c Cameron-Beaumont, Charlotte; Lowe, Sarah E.; Bradshaw, John W. S. (2002). "Evidence Suggesting Pre-adaptation to Domestication throughout the Small Felidae" (PDF). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 75 (3): 361–366. doi:10.1046/j.1095-8312.2002.00028.x. Retrieved 29 September 2009.
  41. ^ a b Oliveira, R.; Godinho, R.; Randi, E.; Alves, P. C. (2008). "Hybridization Versus Conservation: Are Domestic Cats Threatening the Genetic Integrity of Wildcats (Felis silvestris silvestris) in Iberian Peninsula?". Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B, Biol. Sci. 363 (1505): 295329861. doi:10.1098/rstb.2008.0052. PMC 2606743. PMID 18522917.
  42. ^ Fogle, Bruce (ed.) (1981). Interrelations Between People and Pets. Charles C. Thomas Publications. ISBN 0-398-04169-5. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  43. ^ a b O'Connor, T. P. (2007). "Wild or Domestic? Biometric Variation in the Cat Felis silvestris". International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. 17 (6): 581–595. doi:10.1002/oa.913.
  44. ^ Nie, W.; Wang, J.; O'Brien, P. C. (2002). "The Genome Phylogeny of Domestic Cat, Red Panda and Five Mustelid Species Revealed by Comparative Chromosome Painting and G-banding". Chromosome Research. 10 (3): 209–222. doi:10.1023/A:1015292005631. PMID 12067210.
  45. ^ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Citation/CS1/Suggestions' not found.
  46. ^ O'Brien, Stephen J.; Johnson, W.; Driscoll, C.; Pontius, J.; Pecon-Slattery, J.; Menotti-Raymond, M. (2008). "State of Cat Genomics". Trends in Genetics. 24 (6): 268–279. doi:10.1016/j.tig.2008.03.004. PMID 18471926.
  47. ^ Sewell, A. C.; Haskins, M. E.; Giger, U. (2007). "Inherited Metabolic Disease in Companion Animals: Searching for Nature's Mistakes". Veterinary Journal. 174 (2): 252–259. doi:10.1016/j.tvjl.2006.08.017. PMC 3132193. PMID 17085062.
  48. ^ O'Brien, Stephen J.; Menotti-Raymond, M.; Murphy, W. J.; Yuhki, N. (2002). "The Feline Genome Project". Annual Review of Genetics. 36: 657–686. doi:10.1146/annurev.genet.36.060602.145553. PMID 12359739.
  49. ^ Hartwell, Sarah (2002–2011). "Dwarf, Midget and Miniature Cats (Including 'Tea-cup' Cats)". MessyBeast.com. self-published. Retrieved 27 January 2015.[self-published source]
  50. ^ a b Wilson, Julia (2002–2008). "Cat World Records". Cat-World.com.au. self-published. Archived from the original on 1 August 2008. Retrieved 7 September 2012.[self-published source]
  51. ^ "Feline Veterinary care by The Boston Cat Hospital/Feline Fast Cats". The Boston Cat Hospital. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  52. ^ "Domestic Cat". Animal Bytes. SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment. 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011. This is a tertiary source that clearly includes information from other sources and names them, but does not cite them in detail.
  53. ^ a b Walker, Warren F. (1982). Study of the Cat with Reference to Human Beings (4th Revised ed.). Thomson Learning. ISBN 0-03-057914-7.
  54. ^ Gillis, Rick (ed.) (22 July 2002). "Cat Skeleton". Zoolab: A Website for Animal Biology. La Crosse, WI: University of Wisconsin. Archived from the original on 6 December 2006. Retrieved 7 September 2012. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  55. ^ a b c d e *Case, Linda P. (2003). The Cat: Its Behavior, Nutrition, and Health. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Pr. ISBN 0-8138-0331-4.
  56. ^ a b Smith, Patricia; Tchernov, Eitan (1992). Structure, Function and Evolution of teeth. Freund Publishing House Ltd. p. 217. ISBN 965-222-270-4.
  57. ^ Lacquaniti, F.; Grasso, R.; Zago, M. (1 August 1999). "Motor Patterns in Walking". News Physiol. Sci. 14 (4): 168–174. PMID 11390844.
  58. ^ Christensen, Wendy (2004). Outwitting Cats. Globe Pequot. p. 23. ISBN 1-59228-240-7.
  59. ^ Russell, Anthony P.; Bryant, Harold N. (2001). "Claw Retraction and Protraction in the Carnivora: The Cheetah (Acinonyx Jubatus) as an Atypical Felid". Journal of Zoology. 254 (1): 67–76. doi:10.1017/S0952836901000565.
  60. ^ Armes, Annetta F. (22 December 1900). "Outline of Cat Lessons". The School Journal. LXI. E. L. Kellogg & Co: 659. Retrieved 12 November 2007.
  61. ^ a b Danforth CH (April 1947). "Heredity of polydactyly in the cat" (PDF). The Journal of Heredity. 38 (4): 107–12. PMID 20242531.
  62. ^ Lettice LA, Hill AE, Devenney PS, Hill RE (April 2008). "Point mutations in a distant sonic hedgehog cis-regulator generate a variable regulatory output responsible for preaxial polydactyly". Human Molecular Genetics. 17 (7): 978–85. doi:10.1093/hmg/ddm370. PMID 18156157.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  63. ^ Kahn, Cynthia M.; Line, Scott (2007). Hollander, Joseph Lee (ed.). The Merck/Merial Manual for Pet Health. Merck. ISBN 0-911910-99-9.
  64. ^ Subcommittee on Dog and Cat Nutrition (2006). Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. p. 292. ISBN 0-309-08628-0.
  65. ^ "How do cats sweat?". Cat Health,com. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  66. ^ Adams, T.; Morgan, M. L.; Hunter, W. S.; Holmes, K. R. (1970). "Temperature Regulation of the Unanesthetized Cat During Mild Cold and Severe Heat Stress". Journal of Applied Physiology. 29 (6): 852–858. PMID 5485356.
  67. ^ a b Committee on Animal Nutrition (1986). Nutrient Requirements of Cats (2nd ed.). National Academy Pr.
  68. ^ Prentiss, Phoebe G. (1959). "Hydropenia in Cat and Dog: Ability of the Cat to Meet its Water Requirements Solely from a Diet of Fish or Meat". American Journal of Physiology. 196 (3): 625–632. PMID 13627237.
  69. ^ Wolf, A. V. (1959). "Potability of Sea Water with Special Reference to the Cat". American Journal of Physiology. 196 (3): 633–641. PMID 13627238.
  70. ^ Morris, J. G.; Rogers, Q. R. (1 December 1978). "Arginine: An Essential Amino Acid for the Cat". Journal of Nutrition. 108 (12): 1944–1953. PMID 722344.
  71. ^ a b Zoran, D. L. (2002). "The Carnivore Connection to Nutrition in Cats" (PDF). Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. 221 (11): 1559–1567. doi:10.2460/javma.2002.221.1559. PMID 12479324.[dead link]
  72. ^ Gray, C. M.; Sellon, R. K.; Freeman, L. M. (2004). "Nutritional Adequacy of Two Vegan Diets for Cats". Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. 225 (11): 1670–1675. doi:10.2460/javma.2004.225.1670. PMID 15626215.
  73. ^ a b Zaghini, G.; Biagi, G. (2005). "Nutritional Peculiarities and Diet Palatability in the Cat". Vet. Res. Commun. 29 (Supplement 2): 39–44. doi:10.1007/s11259-005-0009-1. PMID 16244923.
  74. ^ "Cat Health 101: Why Do Cats Eat Grass?". AnimalPlanet.com. 16 November 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  75. ^ Ollivier, F. J.; Samuelson, D. A.; Brooks, D. E.; Lewis, P. A.; Kallberg, M. E.; Komaromy, A. M. (2004). "Comparative Morphology of the Tapetum Lucidum (among Selected Species)". Veterinary Ophthalmology. 7 (1): 11–22. doi:10.1111/j.1463-5224.2004.00318.x. PMID 14738502.
  76. ^ a b Malmström T, Kröger RH (2006). "Pupil shapes and lens optics in the eyes of terrestrial vertebrates". J. Exp. Biol. 209 (Pt 1): 18–25. doi:10.1242/jeb.01959. PMID 16354774.
  77. ^ Hammond, P.; Mouat, G. S. V. (1985). "The relationship between feline pupil size and luminance". Experimental Brain Research. 59 (3): 485–490. doi:10.1007/BF00261338.
  78. ^ Loop, M. S.; Bruce, L. L. (1978). "Cat Color Vision: The Effect of Stimulus Size". Science. 199 (4334): 1221–1222. Bibcode:1978Sci...199.1221L. doi:10.1126/science.628838O. PMID 628838.
  79. ^ Guenther, Elke; Zrenner, Eberhart (April 1993). "The Spectral Sensitivity of Dark- and Light-adapted Cat Retinal Ganglion Cells". Journal of Neuroscience. 13 (4): 1543–1550. PMID 8463834.
  80. ^ a b Heffner, Rickye S. (November 2004). "Primate hearing from a mammalian perspective" (PDF). The Anatomical Record. Part A, Discoveries in Molecular, Cellular, and Evolutionary Biology. 281 (1): 1111–1122. doi:10.1002/ar.a.20117. PMID 15472899. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 September 2006. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
  81. ^ Heffner, Henry E. (May 1998). "Auditory awareness". Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 57 (3–4): 259–268. doi:10.1016/S0168-1591(98)00101-4.
  82. ^ a b Sunquist, Melvin E.; Sunquist, Fiona (2002). Wild Cats of the World. University of Chicago Press. p. 10. ISBN 0-226-77999-8.
  83. ^ Blumberg, M. S. (1992). "Rodent ultrasonic short calls: locomotion, biomechanics, and communication". Journal of Comparative Psychology. 106 (4): 360–365. doi:10.1037/0735-7036.106.4.360. PMID 1451418.
  84. ^ Heffner, Rickye S. (1985). "Hearing range of the domestic cat" (PDF). Hearing Research. 19 (1): 85–88. doi:10.1016/0378-5955(85)90100-5. PMID 4066516. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
  85. ^ Moulton, David G. (1 August 1967). "Olfaction in mammals". American Zoology. 7 (3): 421–429. doi:10.1093/icb/7.3.421.
  86. ^ Miyazaki, M.; Yamashita, T; Suzuki, Y.; Saito, Y.; Soeta, S.; Taira, H.; Suzuki, A. (2006). "A major urinary protein of the domestic cat regulates the production of felinine, a putative pheromone precursor". Chem. Biol. 13 (10): 1071–1079. doi:10.1016/j.chembiol.2006.08.013. PMID 17052611.
  87. ^ a b c Sommerville, B. A. (1998). "Olfactory Awareness". Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 57 (3–4): 269–286. doi:10.1016/S0168-1591(98)00102-6.
  88. ^ Grognet, Jeff (June 1990). "Catnip: Its uses and effects, past and present". The Canadian Veterinary Journal. 31 (6): 455–456. PMC 1480656. PMID 17423611.
  89. ^ Turner, Ramona (29 May 2007). "How does catnip work its magic on cats?". Scientific American.
  90. ^ Tucker, Arthur; Tucker, Sharon (1988). "Catnip and the catnip response". Economic Botany. 42 (2): 214–231. doi:10.1007/BF02858923.
  91. ^ "Why Cats Can't Taste Sweets". Petside. 13 March 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  92. ^ Bradshaw, John W. S. (1 July 2006). "The Evolutionary Basis for the Feeding Behavior of Domestic Dogs (Canis familiaris) and Cats (Felis catus)". Journal of Nutrition. 136 (7): 1927S–1931. PMID 16772461.
  93. ^ a b c Kraft W (February 1998). "Geriatrics in canine and feline internal medicine". European Journal of Medical Research. 3 (1–2): 31–41. PMID 9512965.
  94. ^ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Citation/CS1/Suggestions' not found.
  95. ^ a b "State of Pet Health 2013 Report", Banfield Pet Hospital. The report reflects data from 460,000 cats seen at more than 800 animal hospitals in 43 US states in 2013. For life expectancy estimates, cats euthanized at an age of over one year old were included in the data (p. 2).
  96. ^ Example: "Me-wow! Texas Woman Says Cat is 30 Years Old – Although She Can't Hear or See Very Well, Caterack the Cat Is Still Purring". MSNBC.MSN.com. New York: Microsoft. 30 September 2009. Archived from the original on 2 October 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2009.
  97. ^ Guinness World Records (reprint ed.). Bantam. 2010. p. 320. ISBN 978-0-553-59337-2. The oldest cat ever was Creme Puff, who [sic] was born on August 3, 1967 and lived until August 6, 2005 – 38 years and 3 days in total.
  98. ^ "Cat Care: Spay–Neuter". ASPCA.org. New York: American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011. This is a tertiary source that clearly includes information from other sources but does not name them.
  99. ^ Levy, Julie K.; Gale, David W.‌; Gale, Leslie A. (January 2003). "Evaluation of the effect of a long-term trap-neuter-return and adoption program on a free-roaming cat population". Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. 222 (1): 42–6. doi:10.2460/javma.2003.222.42. PMID 12523478.
  100. ^ Levy, Julie K.; Crawford, P. Cynda (November 2004). "Humane strategies for controlling feral cat populations". Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. 225 (9): 1354–60. doi:10.2460/javma.2004.225.1354. PMID 15552308.
  101. ^ A number of the four remaining colony cats at the Parliament Hill Cat Sanctuary in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada were 15 and 16 years old in 2013. "A beloved Parliament Hill attraction uses up its nine lives", Karan Smith, The Globe and Mail, 1 February 2013.
  102. ^ J. Remfry, Feral Cats in the United Kingdom (JAVMA Vol. 208, No. 4, 15 February 1996, pp. 520-523), at p. 522, available online at pp. 24-27 of "AVMA Animal Welfare Forum: The welfare of cats", 3 November 1995.
  103. ^ Zorro, the last cat of a colony at the Merrimack River in Newburyport, Massachusetts, died in 2009 at age 16. "Trap-Neuter-Return Effectively Stabilizes and Reduces Feral Cat Populations: Trap-Neuter-Return Humanely Stabilized and Reduced in Size the Merrimack River Colony", Alley Cat Allies, accessed 18 August 2014; an earlier article in the LA Times was written when Zorro was the last remaining living cat: "Advocates report success with trap, neuter, return approach to stray cats", Los Angeles Times, 29 September 2009.
  104. ^ The last cat in a managed colony in Washington, D.C. died at age 17. "Trap-Neuter-Return Effectively Stabilizes and Reduces Feral Cat Populations: Washington, D.C. Cat Colony Stabilized and Eventually Reduced to Zero", Alley Cat Allies, accessed 18 August 2014.
  105. ^ a b c d e f "Toxic to Cats". VetInfo.com. 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011. This is a tertiary source that clearly includes information from other sources but does not name them.
  106. ^ Williams, R. T. (1 February 1978). "Species Variations in the Pathways of Drug Metabolism". Environmental Health Perspectives. 22: 133–138. doi:10.2307/3428562. JSTOR 3428562. PMC 1637137. PMID 417918.
  107. ^ Rowland, J. (1987). "Incidence of Ethylene Glycol Intoxication in Dogs and Cats Seen at Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital". Vet Hum Toxicol. 29 (1): 41–44. PMID 3824875.
  108. ^ Potera, C. (2007). "Chemical Exposures: Cats as Sentinel Species". Environmental Health Perspectives. 115 (12): A580. doi:10.1289/ehp.115-a580a. PMC 2137107. PMID 18087575.
  109. ^ Allen, A. L. (1 June 2003). "The Diagnosis of Acetaminophen Toxicosis in a Cat". Canadian Veterinary Journal. 44 (6): 509–510. PMC 340185. PMID 12839249.
  110. ^ a b Villar, D.; Buck, W. B.; Gonzalez, J. M. (1998). "Ibuprofen, Aspirin and Acetaminophen Toxicosis and Treatment in Dogs and Cats". Vet. Hum. Toxicol. 40 (3): 156–162. PMID 9610496.
  111. ^ DeClementi, Camille; Bailey, Keith L.; Goldstein, Spencer C.; Orser, Michael Scott (2004). "Suspected Toxicosis after Topical Administration of Minoxidil in Two Cats". Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care. 14 (4): 287–292. doi:10.1111/j.1476-4431.2004.04014.x.
  112. ^ Bischoff K, Guale F (April 1998). "Australian tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) oil poisoning in three purebred cats". Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation. 10 (2): 208–10. doi:10.1177/104063879801000223. PMID 9576358.
  113. ^ Rousseaux, C. G.; Smith, R. A.; Nicholson, S. (1986). "Acute Pine-Sol Toxicity in a Domestic Cat". Veterinary and Human Toxicology. 28 (4): 316–317. PMID 3750813.
  114. ^ "Antifreeze Warning". Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA). Archived from the original on 9 May 2007. Retrieved 15 May 2007.
  115. ^ "Death by Chocolate? Methylxanthine Toxicosis" (PDF). Veterinary Technician. 2001. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
  116. ^ "Plants and Your Cat". Cat Fanciers' Association. Archived from the original on 17 January 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2007.
  117. ^ Langston, Cathy E. (1 January 2002). "Acute Renal Failure Caused by Lily Ingestion in Six Cats". Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. 220 (1): 49–52, 36. doi:10.2460/javma.2002.220.49. PMID 12680447.
  118. ^ Germain, E.; Benhamou, S.; Poulle, M.-L. (2008). "Spatio-temporal Sharing between the European Wildcat, the Domestic Cat and their Hybrids". Journal of Zoology. 276 (2): 195–203. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2008.00479.x.
  119. ^ a b Barratt, David G. (1 June 1997). "Home Range Size, Habitat Utilisation and Movement Patterns of Suburban and Farm Cats Felis catus". Ecography. 20 (3): 271–280. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0587.1997.tb00371.x. JSTOR 3682838.
  120. ^ Randall, Walter; Johnson, R. F.; Randall, S.; Cunningham, J. T. (1985). "Circadian rhythms in food intake and activity in domestic cats". Behavioral Neuroscience. 99 (6): 1162–1175. doi:10.1037/0735-7044.99.6.1162. PMID 3843546.
  121. ^ Jouvet, Michel (1979). "What Does a Cat Dream About?". Trends in Neurosciences. 2: 280–282. doi:10.1016/0166-2236(79)90110-3.
  122. ^ Pontier, Dominique; Eugenia Natoli (1996). "Male Reproductive Success in the Domestic Cat (Felis catus L.): A Case History". Behavioural Processes. 37 (1): 85–88. doi:10.1016/0376-6357(95)00070-4.
  123. ^ a b Crowell-Davis, S. L.; Curtis, T. M.; Knowles, R. J. (2004). "Social Organization in the Cat: A Modern Understanding" (PDF). Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery. 6 (1): 19–28. doi:10.1016/j.jfms.2003.09.013. PMID 15123163. Retrieved 21 May 2008.
  124. ^ a b c d e Bradshaw JW, Goodwin D, Legrand-Defrétin V, Nott HM (1996). "Food selection by the domestic cat, an obligate carnivore". Comp. Biochem. Physiol. A Physiol. 114 (3): 205–9. doi:10.1016/0300-9629(95)02133-7. PMID 8759144.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  125. ^ Jensen, Per (2009). The Ethology of Domestic Animals. "Modular Text" series. Wallingford, England: CABI. ISBN 1-84593-536-5.
  126. ^ a b "Cat Behavior: Body Language". AnimalPlanet.com. 2007. Archived from the original on 24 February 2009. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  127. ^ a b Cafazzo, S.; Natoli, E. (2009). "The Social Function of Tail Up in the Domestic Cat (Felis silvestris catus)". Behav. Processes. 80 (1): 60–66. doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2008.09.008. PMID 18930121.
  128. ^ Levine, E.; Perry, P.; Scarlett, J.; Houpt, K. (2005). "Intercat Aggression in Households Following the Introduction of a New Cat" (PDF). Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 90 (90): 325–336. doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2004.07.006. Retrieved 8 April 2009.
  129. ^ "Dogs and Cats – Getting Along". Petuniversity.com. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  130. ^ "Tips to make your cat more social". Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  131. ^ "The Cat Body: Adolescence and Sexual Maturity". AnimalPlanet.com (Animal.Discovery.com). Discovery Communications. 2007. "Cat Guide" section. Archived from the original on 30 June 2008.
  132. ^ McComb, K.; Taylor, A. M.; Wilson, C.; Charlton, B. D. (2009). "The Cry Embedded within the Purr". Curr. Biol. 19 (13): R507–508. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2009.05.033. PMID 19602409.
  133. ^ a b Ewing, Tom (2006). "A Hairy Dilemma: When Hair Balls Aren't Harmless". Cat Watch. Feline Health Center, Cornell University. Archived from the original on 20 June 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
  134. ^ Boshel, J.; Wilborn, W. H; Singh, B. B.; Peter, S.; Stur, M. (1982). "Filiform Papillae of Cat Tongue". Cells Tissues Organs. 114 (2): 97–105. doi:10.1159/000145583. PMID 17728549.
  135. ^ Moon-Fanelli, Alice. "Feline Compulsive Behavior" (PDF). Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine. Retrieved 21 December 2011. (Archive)
  136. ^ a b Lindell, Ellen M. (December 1997). "Intercat Aggression: A Retrospective Study Examining Types of Aggression, Sexes of Fighting Pairs, and Effectiveness of Treatment". Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 55 (1–2): 153–162. doi:10.1016/S0168-1591(97)00032-4.
  137. ^ Akihiro Yamane; Teruo Doi; Yuiti Ono (1996). "Mating Behaviors, Courtship Rank and Mating Success of Male Feral Cat (Felis catus)". Journal of Ethology. 14 (1): 35–44. doi:10.1007/BF02350090.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  138. ^ "Aggression Between Family Cats". The Humane Society of the United States. 2002. Archived from the original on 14 December 2004.
  139. ^ Pedersen, N. C.; Yamamoto, J. K.; Ishida, T.; Hansen, H. (1989). "Feline Immunodeficiency Virus Infection". Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology. 21 (1): 111–29. doi:10.1016/0165-2427(89)90134-7. PMID 2549690.
  140. ^ a b c d Woods M, McDonald RA, Harris S. (2003). "Predation of wildlife by domestic cats Felis catus in Great Britain". Mammal Review. 23 (2): 174–188. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2907.2003.00017.x.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  141. ^ Clones, Cats, And Chemicals: Thinking Scientifically About Controversial Issues – Page 9, Irwin L. Slesnick – 2004
  142. ^ Pests of Crops in Warmer Climates and Their Control – Page 120, Dennis S. Hill – 2008
  143. ^ a b Loss, Scott R.; Will, Tom; Marra, Peter P. (29 January 2013). "The impact of free-ranging domestic cats on wildlife of the United States". Nature Communications. 4: Article number: 1396. Bibcode:2013NatCo...4E1396L. doi:10.1038/ncomms2380. We estimate that free-ranging domestic cats kill 1.4–3.7 billion birds and 6.9–20.7 billion mammals annually.
  144. ^ a b Natalie Angier (29 January 2013). "That Cuddly Kitty Is Deadlier Than You Think". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  145. ^ Willson, S.K., Okunlola, I.A. and Novak, J.A. (2015). "Birds be safe: Can a novel cat collar reduce avian mortality by domestic cats (Felis catus)?". Global Ecology and Conservation. 3: 359–366. doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2015.01.004.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  146. ^ a b Turner, Dennis C.; Bateson, Patrick (eds.) (2000). The Domestic Cat: The Biology of its Behaviour (2nd ed.). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-63648-5. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)
  147. ^ Nash, Holly. "Why Do Cats Like High Places?". PetEducation.com. Drs. Foster & Smith Inc. Archived from the original on 2 January 2008.
  148. ^ "Falling Cats". Archived from the original on 26 October 2005. Retrieved 24 October 2005.
  149. ^ Nguyen, Huy D. (1998). "How Does a Cat Always Land on Its Feet?". Dynamics II (ME 3760) Course Materials. Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Medical Engineering. Retrieved 15 May 2007. This is a tertiary source that clearly includes information from other sources but does not name them.
  150. ^ Leyhausen, Paul (1978). Cat Behavior: The Predatory and Social Behavior of Domestic and Wild Cats. New York: Garland STPM Pr. ISBN 978-0-8240-7017-5.
  151. ^ Desmond, Morris (1986). Catwatching: Why Cats Purr and Everything Else You Ever Wanted to Know. Crown Publishing.[clarification needed]
  152. ^ Why Do Cats Bring Home Dead Animals?
  153. ^ Kienzle, E. (1994). "Blood Sugar Levels and Renal Sugar Excretion after the Intake of High Carbohydrate Diets in Cats" (PDF). Journal of Nutrition. 124 (12 Supplement): 2563S–2567S. PMID 7996238.
  154. ^ Bradshaw, John W. S. (April 1997). "Factors affecting pica in the domestic cat". Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 52 (3–4): 373–379. doi:10.1016/S0168-1591(96)01136-7.
  155. ^ "Pica: The Un-finicky Feline – Chewing or Eating Cords, Fabric, Houseplants, Etc". University of California School of Veterinary Medicine. Retrieved 6 September 2009. This is a tertiary source that clearly includes information from other sources but does not name them.
  156. ^ http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-30/scientists-catch-a-feral-cat-killing-a-large-mammal-on-camera-f/6357868
  157. ^ Wade, Nicholas (11 November 2010). "For Cats, a Big Gulp With a Touch of the Tongue". New York Times. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
  158. ^ Poirier, F. E.; Hussey, L. K. (1 July 1982). "Nonhuman Primate Learning: The Importance of Learning from an Evolutionary Perspective". Anthropology and Education Quarterly. 13 (2): 133–148. doi:10.1525/aeq.1982.13.2.05x1830j. JSTOR 3216627.
  159. ^ Byers, John A.; Bekoff, Marc (1998). Animal Play: Evolutionary, Comparative, and Ecological Perspectives. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 135. ISBN 0-521-58656-9.
  160. ^ Hall, Sarah L. (2002). "Object Play in Adult Domestic Cats: The Roles of Habituation and Disinhibition". Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 79 (3): 263–271. doi:10.1016/S0168-1591(02)00153-3.
  161. ^ Hall, Sarah L. (June 1998). "The Influence of Hunger on Object Play by Adult Domestic Cats". Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 58 (1–2): 143–150. doi:10.1016/S0168-1591(97)00136-6.
  162. ^ MacPhail, Catriona (November 2002). "Gastrointestinal obstruction". Clinical Techniques in Small Animal Practice. 17 (4): 178–183. doi:10.1053/svms.2002.36606. PMID 12587284.
  163. ^ "Fat Indoor Cats Need Exercise". Pocono Record. 10 December 2006. This is a tertiary source that clearly includes information from other sources but does not name them.
  164. ^ "Eye Expert Challenges Laser Pen 'Danger'" BBC News, 24 November 1997
  165. ^ a b c d e "Prolific Cats: The Estrous Cycle" (PDF). Veterinary Learning Systems. Retrieved 19 June 2009.[dead link]
  166. ^ Aronson, L. R.; Cooper, M. L. (1967). "Penile Spines of the Domestic Cat: Their Endocrine-behavior Relations" (PDF). Anat. Rec. 157 (1): 71–78. doi:10.1002/ar.1091570111. PMID 6030760.
  167. ^ Wildt, D. E.; Seager, S. W.; Chakraborty, P. K. (1980). "Effect of Copulatory Stimuli on Incidence of Ovulation and on Serum Luteinizing Hormone in the Cat". Endocrinology. 107 (4): 1212–7. doi:10.1210/endo-107-4-1212. PMID 7190893.
  168. ^ William F Swanson, Terri L Roth, David E. Wilt. "In Vivo Embryogenesis, Embryo Migration and Embryonic Mortality in the Domestic Cat" (PDF). Biology of Reproduction.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  169. ^ "Cat Development – Embryology". Php.med.unsw.edu.au. 6 June 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  170. ^ Tsutsui, T.; Stabenfeldt, G. H. (1993). "Biology of Ovarian Cycles, Pregnancy and pseudopregnancy in the Domestic Cat". J. Reprod. Fertil. Suppl. 47: 29–35. PMID 8229938.
  171. ^ Behrend, Katrin; Wegler, Monika (1991). The Complete Book of Cat Care: How to Raise a Happy and Healthy Cat. translated from German by Elizabeth D. Crawford. Hauppauge, NY: Barron's Educational Series, Inc. p. 28. ISBN 0-8120-4613-7.
  172. ^ Olson, P. N.; Kustritz, M. V.; Johnston, S. D. (2001). "Early-age Neutering of Dogs and Cats in the United States (A Review)". J. Reprod. Fertil. Suppl. 57: 223–232. PMID 11787153.
  173. ^ Root Kustritz, Margaret V. (2007). "Determining the optimal age for gonadectomy of dogs and cats" (PDF). Journal of American Veterinary Medicine. 231 (11): 1665–1675. doi:10.2460/javma.231.11.1665. PMID 18052800.
  174. ^ Chu, Karyen; Anderson, W. M.; Rieser, M. Y. (2009). "Population characteristics and neuter status of cats living in households in the United States". Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. 234 (8): 1023–1030. doi:10.2460/javma.234.8.1023. PMID 19366332.
  175. ^ "Why and How Do Cats Purr?". Library of Congress. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  176. ^ "Panthera". Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  177. ^ Randerson, James (6 January 2006). "From Lion to Moggie: How Cats Climbed their Family Tree". The Guardian. London.
  178. ^ Say, Ludovic (2002). "Spatio-temporal variation in cat population density in a sub-Antarctic environment". Polar Biology. 25 (2): 90–95. doi:10.1007/s003000100316.
  179. ^ Frenot, Y.; Chown, Steven L.; Whinam, Jennie; Selkirk, Patricia M.; Convey, Peter; Skotnicki, Mary; Bergstrom, Dana M. (2005). "Biological Invasions in the Antarctic: Extent, Impacts and Implications". Biological Reviews. 80 (1): 45–72. doi:10.1017/S1464793104006542.
  180. ^ "Ecology of Felis catus". Global Invasive Species Database. Invasive Species Specialist Group. 2006. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
  181. ^ a b Nogales, M.; Martin, A.; Tershy, B. R.; Donlan, C. J.; Veitch, D.; Uerta, N.; Wood, B.; Alonso, J. (2004). "A Review of Feral Cat Eradication on Islands". Conservation Biology. 18 (2): 310. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2004.00442.x.
  182. ^ "100 of the World's Worst Invasive Alien Species: A Selection from the Global Invasive Species Database" (PDF). The Invasive Species Specialist Group. 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
  183. ^ a b "What is the difference between a stray cat and a feral cat?". Humane Society of the United States. Archived from the original on 1 May 2008.
  184. ^ "Torre Argentina cat shelter". Retrieved 17 June 2009.
  185. ^ Rowan, Andrew N.; Deborah J. Salem (November 2003). "4". The State of the Animals II: 2003 (PDF). Humane Society Press. ISBN 0-9658942-7-4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 November 2006.
  186. ^ Robertson, I. D. (1998). "Survey of Predation by Domestic Cats". Aust. Vet. J. 76 (8): 551–554. doi:10.1111/j.1751-0813.1998.tb10214.x. PMID 9741724.
  187. ^ Beckerman, A. P.; Boots, M.; Gaston, K. J. (2007). "Urban Bird Declines and the Fear of Cats" (PDF). Animal Conservation. 10 (3): 320–325. doi:10.1111/j.1469-1795.2007.00115.x.
  188. ^ Courchamp, F.; Chapuis, J. L.; Pascal, M. (2003). "Mammal Invaders on Islands: Impact, Control and Control Impact". Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 78 (3): 347–383. doi:10.1017/S1464793102006061. PMID 14558589.
  189. ^ Rayner, M. J.; Hauber, M. E.; Imber, M. J.; Stamp, R. K.; Clout, M. N. (2007). "Spatial Heterogeneity of Mesopredator Release within an Oceanic Island System". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 104 (52): 20862–20865. Bibcode:2007PNAS..10420862R. doi:10.1073/pnas.0707414105. PMC 2409232. PMID 18083843.
  190. ^ Chris R. Dickman (1996). "Overview of the Impacts of Feral Cats on Australian Native Fauna" (PDF). Australian Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 September 2007. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  191. ^ James H, Acharya AB, Taylor JA, Freak MJ (2002). "A case of bitten Bettongs". J Forensic Odontostomatol. 20 (1): 10–2. PMID 12085522.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  192. ^ Glen AS, Dickman CR (2005). "Complex interactions among mammalian carnivores in Australia, and their implications for wildlife management". Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 80 (3): 387–401. doi:10.1017/S1464793105006718. PMID 16094805.
  193. ^ May, R. (1988). "Control of Feline Delinquency". Nature. 332 (6163): 392–393. Bibcode:1988Natur.332..392M. doi:10.1038/332392a0.
  194. ^ Liberg, O. (1982). "Food Habits and Prey Impact by Feral and House-based Domestic Cats in a Rural Area in Southern Sweden". Journal of Mammalogy. 65 (3): 424–432. doi:10.2307/1381089. JSTOR 1381089.
  195. ^ Chucher, P. B.; Lawton, J. H. (1987). "Predation by Domestic Cats in an English village". Journal of Zoology, London. 212 (3): 439–455. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1987.tb02915.x.
  196. ^ a b Mead, C. J. (1982). "Ringed birds killed by cats". Mammal Review. 12 (4): 183–186. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2907.1982.tb00014.x.
  197. ^ Crooks, Kevin R.; Soul, Michael E. (1999). "Mesopredator Release and Avifaunal Extinctions in a Fragmented System" (PDF). Nature. 400 (6744): 563–566. Bibcode:1999Natur.400..563C. doi:10.1038/23028.
  198. ^ "You thought watching cat videos was harmless fun? Think AGAIN". Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  199. ^ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Citation/CS1/Suggestions' not found.
  200. ^ Courchamp, F.; Langlais, M.; Sugihara, G. (1999). "Cats protecting birds: modelling the mesopredator release effect". Journal of Animal Ecology. 68 (2): 282–292. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2656.1999.00285.x.
  201. ^ Stattersfield, A. J.; Crosby, M. J.; Long, A. J.; Wege, D. C. (1998). Endemic Bird Areas of the World: Priorities for Biodiversity Conservation. "BirdLife Conservation Series" No. 7. Cambridge, England: Burlington Press. ISBN 0-946888-33-7.
  202. ^ Williams, A. J. (1984). Status and Conservation of Seabirds at some Islands in the African Sector of the Southern Ocean. In: Status and Conservation of the World's Seabirds, ed Croxall, J. P., Evans, P. G. H. & Schreiber, R. W. International Council for Bird Preservation. Cambridge. pp. 627–635.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  203. ^ Falla, R. A. (1955). New Zealand Bird Life Past and Present. Stiles.[page needed]
  204. ^ Galbreath, R.; Brown, D. (2004). "The Tale of the Lighthouse-keeper's Cat: Discovery and Extinction of the Stephens Island Wren (Traversia lyalli)" (PDF). Notornis. 51: 193–200. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  205. ^ a b Dowding, J. E.; Murphy, E. C. (2001). "The Impact of Predation be Introduced Mammals on Endemic Shorebirds in New Zealand: A Conservation Perspective". Biological Conservation. 99: 47–64. doi:10.1016/S0006-3207(00)00187-7.
  206. ^ Whiting, M. F.; Bradler,, S.; Maxwell,, T. (2003). "Loss and Recovery of Wings in Stick Insects". Nature. 421 (6920): 264–267. Bibcode:2003Natur.421..264W. doi:10.1038/nature01313. PMID 12529642.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  207. ^ World Conservation Monitoring Centre (1992). Brian Groombridge (ed.). Global Biodiversity: Status of the Earth's Living Resources. Chapman & Hall. ISBN 0 412 47240 6.
  208. ^ Steadman, D. W.; Martin, P. S. (2003). "The Late Quaternary Extinction and Future Resurrection of Birds on Pacific Islands". Earth Science Reviews. 61: 133–147. Bibcode:2003ESRv...61..133S. doi:10.1016/S0012-8252(02)00116-2.
  209. ^ Abby Ellin (5 October 2008). "More Men Are Unabashedly Embracing Their Love of Cats". New York Times. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
  210. ^ Jones, Jeffrey M. (30 November 2007). "Companionship and Love of Animals Drive Pet Ownership". Gallup, Inc. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
  211. ^ "What Is That They're Wearing?" (PDF). Humane Society of the United States. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 December 2006. Retrieved 22 October 2009.
  212. ^ "EU proposes cat and dog fur ban". BBC News. 20 November 2006. Retrieved 22 October 2009.
  213. ^ Ikuma, Carly (27 June 2007). "EU Announces Strict Ban on Dog and Cat Fur Imports and Exports". HSUS.org. Humane Society International. Archived from the original on 17 February 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  214. ^ Paterson, Tony (25 April 2008). "Switzerland Finds a Way to Skin a Cat for the Fur Trade and High Fashion". The Independent. London, England. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
  215. ^ "Humane society launches national cat census". CBC News. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  216. ^ "Cats Be". Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  217. ^ "The Supreme Cat Census". Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  218. ^ "About Pets". IFAH Europe. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  219. ^ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Citation/CS1/Suggestions' not found.
  220. ^ "Cats: most interesting facts about common domestic pets". Pravda.ru. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  221. ^ "Study Traces Cat's Ancestry to Middle East". New York Times. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  222. ^ Stanley D. Gehrt; Seth P. D. Riley; Brian L. Cypher (12 March 2010). Urban Carnivores: Ecology, Conflict, and Conservation. JHU Press. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  223. ^ Irene Rochlitz (17 April 2007). The Welfare of Cats. Springer Science & Business Media. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  224. ^ Muir, Hazel (8 April 2004). "Ancient Remains Could Be Oldest Pet Cat". New Scientist. Retrieved 23 November 2007.
  225. ^ Walton, Marsha (9 April 2004). "Ancient Burial Looks Like Human and Pet Cat". CNN. Retrieved 23 November 2007.
  226. ^ "Gatos fueron domesticados en China hace 5.300 años". La Nación. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  227. ^ a b c Mason, I. L. (1984). Evolution of Domesticated Animals. Prentice Hall Press. ISBN 0-582-46046-8.
  228. ^ Veyne, Paul (2002) [1987]. "The Household and Its Freed Slaves". The Roman Empire. Arthur Goldhammer (Trans.) (3rd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard College. p. 81. ISBN 0-674-77771-9.
  229. ^ Geyer, Georgie Anne (2004). When Cats Reigned Like Kings: On the Trail of the Sacred Cats. Kansas City, Missouri: Andrews McMeel. ISBN 0-7407-4697-9.
  230. ^ Minou Reeves (2000). Muhammad in Europe. New York University (NYU) Press. p. 52. ISBN 0-8147-7533-0.
  231. ^ Al-Thahabi, Shamsuddin. "Biography of al-Rifai". سير أعلام النبلاء. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  232. ^ Nora Sugobono (7 March 2010). "Las vidas del gato" (in Spanish). El Comercio. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
  233. ^ Tim Dowling (19 March 2010). "Tall tails: Pet myths busted". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
  234. ^ Wachtmeister, Rosina (2008). "Cat Myths, Misinformation and Untruths". Best-Cat-Art.com. self-published. Retrieved 22 November 2008.[self-published source]
  235. ^ ASPCA (30 June 2005). "The ASPCA Warns About High-Rise Falls by Cats". New York: About.com. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
[edit]
Listen to this article (3 parts) · (info)
Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3
Spoken Wikipedia
This audio file was created from a revision of the "Cats" article dated 2007-05-13, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. (Audio help)

Check API script 20190616124500Check API script 20190616124500Check API script 20190616124500Check API script 20190616124500Check API script 20190616124500Check API script 20190616124500Check API script 20190616124500

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.beta.wmflabs.org/w/index.php?title=Cats&oldid=600444"