Cat

 The cat (Felis catus) is a domesticated species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the Felidae family and is commonly known as the domestic cat or domestic cat to distinguish it from the wild members of the family. A cat can be either a domestic cat, a farm cat, or a wild cat; The latter takes place independently and avoids human contact. Domestic cats are valued by humans for their companionship and their ability to kill rodents. About 60 cat breeds are recognized by various cat registries.

The cat is similar in anatomy to other bird species: it has a strong flexible body, quick reflexes, sharp teeth and retractable claws adapted for killing small prey. His night vision and sense of smell are well developed. Cat communication includes vocalizations such as meows, purrs, trills, hiss, growls and grunts, as well as cat-specific body language. A predator that is most active at dawn and dusk (crepuscular), the cat is a solitary predator, but a social species. It can hear sounds that are too faint or too high in frequency for human ears, such as those made by rats and other small mammals. Cats also secrete pheromones and feel them.

Female domestic cats can have kittens from spring to late fall, with litter sizes often ranging from two to five kittens. Domestic cats are bred and shown at events as registered pedigree cats, a hobby known as the cat fantasy. Population control of cats can be achieved by spaying and neutering, but their spread and the abandonment of domesticated feral cats has contributed to the extinction of entire bird, mammal and reptile species in large numbers around the world.

Cat domestication was long thought to have begun in ancient Egypt, where cats were worshiped from about 3100 BC, but recent advances in archeology and genetics have shown that their domestication was widespread in Western Asia. This happened in 7500 BC.

As of 2021, there were an estimated 220 million owned and 480 million stray cats in the world. As of 2017, the domestic cat was the second most popular pet in the United States, with 95.6 million cats and approximately 42 million households having at least one cat. In the UK, 26% of adults own a cat with an estimated population of 10.9 million pet cats by 2020.

Characteristics of Cat

Size of Cat

The domestic cat has a smaller skull and smaller legs than the European wild cat. It averages about 46 cm (18 in) in head-to-body length and 23–25 cm (9–10 in) in height, with a tail about 30 cm (12 in) long. Males are larger than females [61] Adult domestic cats usually weigh between 4 and 5 kg (9 and 11 lb).

Skeleton Of Cat

Cats have seven cervical vertebrae (like most mammals); 13 thoracic vertebrae (12 in humans); seven lumbar vertebrae (humans have five); three sacral vertebrae (like most mammals, but humans have five); and a variable number of caudal vertebrae in the tail (humans have only three to five recessive caudal vertebrae, fused into an internal coccyx). The additional lumbar and thoracic vertebrae are responsible for the mobility and flexibility of the cat's spine. There are 13 ribs, shoulders and pelvis attached to the spine. Unlike human arms, cat forearms are attached to the shoulders by free-floating clavicle bones which allow them to move their bodies from any position in which they can fit their heads.

Claws Of Cat 

Cats have retractable and retractable claws. In their normal, resting position, the toes are covered with skin and fur around the toe pads of the paw. This keeps the claw sharp by preventing it from contacting the ground and allows for silent pursuit of prey. The front legs are usually sharper than the hind legs. Cats can voluntarily spread their claws on one or more toes. They can extend their claws for hunting or self-defense, climbing, kneeling or for extra traction on soft surfaces. Cats shed the outer layer of their claw sheaths when they scratch rough surfaces.

Most cats have five toes on their front feet and four on their back feet. The dewclaw is next to the other toes. Closely related is a protrusion that appears to be the sixth "finger". This special feature of the forelimb on the inside of the wrist has no function in normal walking, but is considered an anti-slip tool used when jumping. Some cat breeds tend to have extra digits ("polydactyly"). Polydactylus cats are found along the northeast coast of North America and Great Britain.

Ambulation of Cat

The cat is digitigrade. It runs on the toes, with the bones of the feet making up the lower part of the foot. Unlike most mammals, it uses a "pacing" gait, moving both legs on one side of the body before the feet on the other. It registers directly by placing each hind paw closer to the track of the respective front paw, reducing noise and visible track. It provides reinforcement for the hind legs while navigating rough terrain. As it progresses from walk to trot, its gait changes to an "oblique" gait: diagonally opposite hind and front legs move together.

Cats are common pets around the world, and their global population has grown to more than 500 million as of 2007. Cats have been used for millennia to control rodents, especially around grain stores and on ships, and both are used to this day.

Interaction with humans of Cat 

As well as being kept as pets, cats are also used in the international fur trade and leather industries to make coats, hats, blankets and stuffed toys; and shoes, gloves and musical instruments respectively (about 24 cats are needed to make a cat fur coat). This use has been banned in the United States since 2000 and in the European Union (as well as the United Kingdom) since 2007.

Cat skins were used for superstitious purposes as part of the practice of witchcraft, and are still made into blankets in Switzerland as a traditional medicine believed to treat arthritis.

There have been some attempts over the years to create a cat census by associations or national and international organizations (such as the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies) and on the Internet, but such a task does not seem easy to accomplish. General estimates for the world population of domestic cats range widely between 200 million and 600 million. Walter Chandoha made a career out of taking pictures of cats in 1949, after one particularly fascinating stray images of Loco were published around the world. He is said to have photographed 90,000 cats during his career and maintained a collection of 225,000 images from which he made illustrations for publications during his lifetime.

Shows of Cat

A cat show is a fair event in which owners of cats compete to win the title by registering their cats according to a breed standard with various cat registration organizations. Attending cat shows often requires a cat to be healthy and vaccinated. Both pedigree and non-purebred companion ("moggie") cats are acceptable, although rules vary depending on the organization. Competing cats are compared to the appropriate breed standard, and judged for temperament.

Infection of Cat

Cats can be infected or infected with viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, arthropods or insects that can transmit diseases to humans. In some cases, the cat shows no symptoms of the disease. Then the same disease starts appearing in the person. The chances of a person getting sick depend on the age and immune status of the person. People who have cats in their homes or in a close relationship with them are more likely to become infected. Others can also be infected by cat feces and parasites that are released from the cat's body. Some of the infections of most concern include salmonella, cat scratch disease and toxoplasmosis.

History and Mythology of Cat

In ancient Egypt, cats were worshipped, and the goddess Basset was often depicted as a cat, sometimes taking on the lioness' warlike aspect. The Greek historian Herodotus reported that it was forbidden to kill a cat, and when a domestic cat died, the whole family mourned and shaved their eyebrows. The families took their dead cats to the holy city of Bubastis, where they were consecrated and buried in sacred treasuries. Herodotus expressed his surprise at the domestic cats in Egypt, since he had only seen wild cats.

The ancient Greeks and Romans kept weasels as pets, which were considered ideal rodent killers. The earliest indisputable evidence that the Greeks had domestic cats comes from two coins from Magna Graecia, dated to the mid-fifth century BCE, in which Iokastos and Phalanthos, the famous founders of Region and Taras, respectively, used their pet cats. They are seen playing together. The common Ancient Greek word for 'cat' was eloros, meaning 'tail that runs with things'. Cats are rarely mentioned in ancient Greek literature. Aristotle noted in his History of Animals that "female cats are lustful by nature." The Greeks later syncretized their goddess Artemis with the Egyptian goddess Bastet, adopting Basset's relationship with cats and attributing them to Artemis. In Ovid's Metamorphosis, when the gods flee to Egypt and take the form of animals, the goddess Diana is transformed into a cat.

Cats eventually displaced weasels as the pest control of choice because they were more pleasant to have around the house and were more avid hunters of rats. During the Middle Ages, many of Artemis's associations with cats were grafted onto the Virgin Mary. Cats are often featured in the Annunciation and the Holy Family symbol, and according to Italian folklore, a cat gave birth to kittens in Bethlehem on the same night that Mary gave birth to Jesus. Domestic cats were spread to much of the world during the Age of Discovery, as ship's treasures were carried on sailing ships to control shipboard rodents and as a good luck charm.

Many ancient religions believed that cats are superior spirits, companions, or guides to humans, who are omniscient but silent, so they cannot influence decisions made by humans. In Japan, the maneki neko cat is a symbol of good luck. In Norse mythology, Freyja, the goddess of love, beauty and fertility, is depicted riding a chariot drawn by cats. In Jewish legend, the first cat lived as a pet in the house of Adam, the first man who got rid of rats. The cat had once allied with the first dog, before the latter broke an oath which he said to have caused enmity between the descendants of these two animals. It is also written that neither cats nor foxes are represented in the water, while every other animal has an avatar species in the water. Although no species is sacred in Islam, cats are revered by Muslims. Some Western writers have said that Muhammad had a favorite cat, Mueza. He is told that he loved cats so much, "he would rather act without his cloak than disturb the one sleeping on it". The story has no origin in early Muslim writers, and seems to have been confused with the story of a later Sufi saint, Ahmad ar-Rifai, centuries after Muhammad. One of Muhammad's companions was known as Abu Huraira ("Father of Kittens"), referring to his documented love of cats.