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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the species commonly kept as a pet. For the cat family,
see Felidae. For other uses, see Cat (disambiguation) and Cats
(disambiguation).
Cat
Temporal
range: 0.0095–0 Ma
PreꞒ
Ꞓ
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
↓
Holocene to present
(9,500 years ago)
Various types of cats
Conservation status
Domesticated
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Felinae
Genus: Felis
Species: F. catus[1]
Binomial name
Felis catus[1]
Linnaeus, 1758[2]
Synonyms
Catus
domesticus Erxlebe
n, 1777[3]
F.
angorensis Gmelin,
1788
F. vulgaris Fischer,
1829
The cat (Felis catus), also referred to as the domestic 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
communication includes vocalizations—including meowing, purring,
trilling, hissing, growling, and grunting—as well as body language. It can hear
sounds too faint or too high in frequency for human ears, such as those made
by small mammals. It secretes and perceives pheromones.
Female domestic cats can have kittens from spring to
late autumn in temperate zones and throughout the year in equatorial
regions, with litter sizes often ranging from two to five kittens. Domestic cats
are bred and shown at events as registered pedigreed cats, a hobby known
as cat fancy. Animal population control of cats may be achieved
by spaying and neutering, but their proliferation and the abandonment of
pets has resulted in large numbers of feral cats worldwide, contributing to the
extinction of bird, mammal, and reptile species.
As of 2017, the domestic cat was the second most popular pet in the United
States, with 95.6 million cats owned and around 42 million households
owning at least one cat. In the United Kingdom, 26% of adults have a cat,
with an estimated population of 10.9 million pet cats as of 2020. As of
2021, there were an estimated 220 million owned and 480 million stray cats
in the world.
Etymology and naming
The origin of the English word cat, Old English catt, is thought to be the Late
Latin word cattus, which was first used at the beginning of the 6th century.
[4]
The Late Latin word may be derived from an unidentified African language.
[5]
The Nubian word kaddîska 'wildcat' and Nobiin kadīs are possible sources
or cognates.[6]
The forms might also have derived from an ancient Germanic word that was
absorbed into Latin and then into Greek, Syriac, and Arabic. [7] The word may
be derived from Germanic and Northern European languages, and ultimately
be borrowed from Uralic, cf. Northern Sámi gáđfi, 'female stoat',
and Hungarian hölgy, 'lady, female stoat'; from Proto-Uralic *käďwä, 'female
(of a furred animal)'.[8]
The English puss, extended as pussy and pussycat, is attested from the 16th
century and 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 puisín or puiscín. The
etymology of this word is unknown, but it may have arisen from a sound used
to attract a cat.[9][10]
A male cat is called a tom or tomcat[11] (or a gib,[12] if neutered). A female is
called a queen[13][14] (or sometimes a molly,[15] if spayed). A juvenile cat is
referred to as a kitten. In Early Modern English, the word kitten was
interchangeable with the now-obsolete word catling.[16] A group of cats can be
referred to as a clowder, a glaring,[17] or a colony.[18]
