Cats: Stunning Companion of Human Being
Introduction:
They are treasured as one of the most common pets around the world. They belong to the family of Felidae, and people love them for their beauty and grace, agility, and their strangeness. From shifting ancient Egyptian deities to contemporary internet celebrities, they have skilfully woven their way into the culture of people.
Amazing Facts:
- The Ultimate Jumpers: They can leap an area equivalent to their body length multiplied by six times in a single bound.
- Elastic Spine: Their spine is so flexible that it boosts their agility superbly.
- Purring Puzzle: They purr when in pain, stressed, or even when they are happy, defying common understanding.
- Enhanced Senses: Thanks to their night vision and acute sense of smell, they are excellent hunters.
- Whisker Communication: Whiskers are incredibly sensitive, giving them the ability to evaluate their surroundings.
- Self-cleaning: They engage in grooming without assistance, which is why they spend some thirty to fifty percent of their waking time doing so.
- These nose prints are singular: Just like humans, each has a unique nose print.
- Kittens of the World: They are believed to have first domesticated themselves around 9,000 years ago when they started residing with humans.
- Stealth Ninjas: While on a hunt, they are capable of silencing their movement using retractable claws.
- Oldest Pets: The known oldest pet was over the marvellous age of 38 years old when he died.
Habitat and Food:
Habitat:
They are very versatile animals, which is why they easily survive in such places as
- Cities: Farm and alley cats are common in city environments.
- Forests: The European wildcat is an example of a subspecies that lives in thick forests.
- Deserts: The sand is one of the species that inhabits arid regions.
- Savannas: Pride of lions live in open grassy land where other large wild cats do.
Diet:
They are purely carnivorous, which means that they eat meat only.
- Wild Diet: The diet consists of small mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects.
- Domestic Diet: Well-balanced, premium-quality food.
- Hydration: Do you know that around two-thirds of hydration comes from the food they eat? But water is very crucial for house cats.
Appearence:
- Size: They can come in all shapes and sizes; my domestic one’s comfortably weighs in between 5 and 20 pounds.
- Colour: They vary in colour patterns, length, and type of fur. Some examples are a spotted grey and white or striped orange tabby.
- Ears: Their ears are fully rotatable, enabling them to get a full panoramic view of their surrounding environment as they can be swivelled to an angle of 180 degrees.
- Eyes: Their eyes may appear to be of different colours, such as green, yellow, blue, and a variety of amber tones.
- Tails: Tail are used by certain animal species to communicate or maintain balance, while others have unique tails of different shapes, sizes, or lengths.
- Claws: Sharp and retractable claws help them to climb and hunt and are also a well-known feature.
Types/subspecies of them:
Domestic Breeds
- Persian: Purrs themselves into a pillow with exquisite long hair. Has a calm personality if left undisturbed.
- Siamese: slim body, lively personality with blue owl-like eyes, unique vocals, and almond-shaped eyes.
- Maine Coon cattle: an exceptionally huge domesticated and well-tempered cat breed famously known for their large size.
- Bengal: Spotted or marbled fur makes them look like wild animals, but they are very affectionate, just like a house cat.
- Sphynx: Most wrinkled skin with no fur and extremely playful.
Wild Breeds
- Lion (Panthera leo): social big one’s found in Africa and Asia.
- Tiger (Panthera tigris): The biggest among all feline species and known to be fierce with an ultra powerful build and stripes.
- Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus): The fastest feline ever known, lives in Iran and Africa.
- Leopard (Panthera pardus): Active stalking predators, also known as leopards; they have a rosette pattern on the body.
- Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia): The only breed known to be able to survive in the extreme weather conditions of mountains.
Predators and threats:
Natural Predators:
- Bigger Predators: Even the tiniest wild cat or kitten can get hunted by different huge cats, Snakes, or avian creatures since they tend to go after larger beings.
- Human Beings: Destruction of homes by humans and hunting pose the greatest threat to them.
Threats:
- Destruction of Nature: They have become more endangered due to the advancement of cities and the cutting down of forests.
- Illegal Poaching: They are hunted for their bones, skin, and parts of their body.
- Animal Abuse: Stray cats are often abused, whereas wild cats mostly face tussles with farmers.
- Infectious Diseases: Living as a feral cat comes with carriers of diseases such as FIV and FeLV. And climate change alters the natural ecosystem and shifts the location of the predators.
Mating and Reproduction:
- Mating period: Unlike domestic cats, which can breed all year round, wild cats do so only during a certain period of a year.
- Courtship: Female one’s are courted by meowing and scent marking by male cats.
- Gestation: They are known to stay pregnant for a duration of 63–65 days.
- Litter size: Average kittens per domestic cat range from 4-6, but they may give birth to from 1 to 9 kittens in one birth.
- Mothering behaviour: Mothers use nursing and teaching learnt behaviours for self protection to nurture their babies.
- Age of first reproduction: Kittens gain sexual maturity at 6–9 months of age.
How do they communicate?
Vocalisation:
- Meowing: It will meow to a person when it wants to converse.
- Purring: A sound produced by them that shows pleasure, which may also occur when in pain.
- Hisses & Growls: Expresses fear as well as readiness for defence in an aggressive manner.
- Chirps and Trills: Sounds made by a mother and directed toward her kittens.
Body Language:
- Tail Signs: A raised tail means friendliness, and a waving tail conveys anger.
- Ear Signs: Scented ears that are pin down show dislike, while ears that are up and willing to listen show interest.
- Eyes with open pupils: Frighten them or easily get them excited.
Scent Marking:
- They rubbing glands on its hands, cheeks, tail, and feet does territory marking.
Movies featuring Cats:
- The Lion King: It remains one of the best animated films for children today due to its successful box office sales back in 1994.
- Puls in Boots: An adorable character in Shrek, Puss in Boots, was released in 2011 and immediately skyrocketed in popularity among the audience.
- The Aristocats: Ever Beloved, the Disney animation family comedy released back in 1970, was about their rich family and their owner, Mrs. Adelaide.
- The Garfield Movie: In 2004, the lazy cat Garfield, who was well known from comic strips in the early 2000’s, was brought to life and received a lot of praise.
How would you pronounce it?
- English: Cat
- French: Chat
- Spanish: Gato
- German: Katze
- Hindi: Billi (बिल्ली)
- Japanese: Neko (ねこ)
- Chinese: 猫 (Māo)
- Arabic: قط (عولى)
FAQs:
Q: How long do they live on average?
A. People say it is 12 to 18 years, although there are those who reach their twenties.
Q: When do workers in a company feel stressful?
A. When they receive a call, even for routine work, they will tell you it’s stressful.
Q: Are they nocturnal?
A: They are crepuscular, meaning they are most active during dawn and dusk.
Q: Do they respond when someone calls out their name?
A: It is proven that they recognise their names but tend not to respond.
Q: What’s the body language of a relaxed kitty?
A: Signs of a relaxed cat include body movement with a relaxed torso and head, purring, and kneading.