Cat Breed Information:
The cat, also called
the domestic cat or house cat, is a small feline
carnivorous mammal of th
e subspecies Felis silvestris
catus. Its most immediate, pre-domestication ancestor is
the African wild cat, Felis silvestris lybica. The cat
has been living in close association with humans for at
least 3,500 years; the Ancient Egyptians routinely used
cats to keep mice and other rodents away from their
grain (and also believed that cats were sacred). The
history of the domestic cat may stretch back even
further, as 8,000-year-old bones of humans and cats were
found buried together on the island of Cyprus.
A group of cats is referred to as a clowder, while a
male cat is called a tom, and a female
is called a queen
or quean. An immature cat is called a kitten. A cat
whose ancestry is formally registered is called a
purebred cat, a pedigree cat, or a show cat (although
not all show cats are pedigree or purebred). In strict
terms, a purebred cat is one whose ancestry contains
only individuals of the same breed. A pedigree cat is
one whose ancestry is recorded, but may have ancestors
of different breeds.
Purebreds are less than one percent of the total feline
population; cats of mixed ancestry are referred to as
domestic longhairs and domestic shorthairs or commonly
as random-bred, moggies, mongrels, mutt-cats or alley
cats. The ratio of pedigree/purebred cats to random-bred
cats varies from country to country.
There are dozens of breeds of domestic cats, some
hairless or tailless, and they exist in a variety of
different colors including multicolored. They are
skilled predators and have been known to hunt over one
thousand different species for food. They are also
intelligent animals: some are able to manipulate simple
mechanisms such as lever-handled doors and flush
toilets. They communicate by calling ("meow"/"miaou"),
purring, hissing, and gesturing. Because the
domestication of the cat is relatively recent, cats may
also still live effectively in the wild, often forming
small colonies. The cat's association with humans leads
it to figure prominently in the mythology and legends of
several cultures, including the ancient Egyptians,
Vikings, and Chinese.
List of Cat breeds
