Portal:Cats

The Cats Portal

Felidae (/ˈfɛlɪdiː/) is the family of mammals in the order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats. A member of this family is also called a felid (/ˈfiːlɪd/).

The 41 extant Felidae species exhibit the greatest diversity in fur patterns of all terrestrial carnivores. Cats have retractile claws, slender muscular bodies and strong flexible forelimbs. Their teeth and facial muscles allow for a powerful bite. They are all obligate carnivores, and most are solitary predators ambushing or stalking their prey. Wild cats occur in Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas. Some wild cat species are adapted to forest and savanna habitats, some to arid environments, and a few also to wetlands and mountainous terrain. Their activity patterns range from nocturnal and crepuscular to diurnal, depending on their preferred prey species. (Full article...)

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The cat (Felis catus), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the domestication of the cat occurred in the Near East around 7500 BC. It is commonly kept as a pet and farm cat, but also ranges freely as a feral cat avoiding human contact. It is valued by humans for companionship and its ability to kill vermin. Its retractable claws are adapted to killing small prey species such as mice and rats. It has a strong, flexible body, quick reflexes, and sharp teeth, and its night vision and sense of smell are well developed. It is a social species, but a solitary hunter and a crepuscular predator.

Cat intelligence is evident in their ability to adapt, learn through observation, and solve problems, with research showing they possess strong memories, exhibit neuroplasticity, and display cognitive skills comparable to a young child. Cat communication includes meowing, purring, trilling, hissing, growling, grunting, and body language. It can hear sounds too faint or too high in frequency for human ears, such as those made by small mammals. It secretes and perceives pheromones. (Full article...)

List articles

List of felids – the family Felidae consists of 41 extant species belonging to 14 genera and divided into 92 subspecies.
List of domestic cat breeds – includes only domestic cat breeds and domestic × wild hybrids
List of individual cats – includes cats that have achieved some degree of popularity either in their own right.
List of fictional felines – includes a limited selection of notable felines from various works, organized by medium.

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The Snowshoe is a rare breed of domestic cat originating in the United States of America in the 1960s. The Snowshoe is a short-haired bicolour colourpoint breed. Snowshoes were first produced when a Siamese breeder's cat gave birth to three kittens with white feet. The breeder, Dorothy Hinds-Daugherty, then began a breeding program to produce what were originally called "Silver Laces", crossing the strangely marked Siamese cats with bicolour American Shorthair cats and other breeds. Despite having existed for 45 years, Snowshoes are rare due to the difficulty of reproducing the correct coat markings. (Full article...)

Did you know... - show different entries

...that the practice of taking cats aboard ships (pictured) dates back to the Ancient Egyptians?
...that Oscar the Cat was featured in the New England Journal of Medicine for his purported ability to predict the impending death of the terminally ill?
...that Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich of Russia gave away his cat to one of the soldiers tasked with his execution?
...that the Witches of Belvoir supposedly believed a cat named Rutterkin helped them cast spells?
...that cats learn by trial and error, observation and imitation? Cats' learning abilities are aided by their good memory. Research has found cats to have memory about two hundred times better than dogs. Cats are even thought to have even better memory than monkeys and chimps.
...that, despite the name, Mrs Chippy, the ship's cat on Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition was actually male?