All About Cats
Cats, also called domestic cat or house cat (Felis silvestris catus), are carnivorous (meat-eating) mammals, of the family Felidae.
Cats have been domesticated for over 3000 years, and they are popular pets. Cats were first domesticated and kept because they eat
mice, but later they were kept because they are friendly and good companions. A young cat is called a kitten. Cats are sometimes
called kitty.
The word "cat" is also used for other felines: the big cats (lions, tigers, and others) and wild cats (lynxes, pumas, and others). These big cats aren't tamed and can be very dangerous. There are many different breeds of tabby cats.
Cats are carnivorous; they eat birds and small mammals (like mice).
In past times and today still, people kept cats because the cats hunted and ate mice, rats, and insects. Today, people often keep cats as pets, but there are also cats that live wild. These kinds are called "feral cats".
Cats are quiet and well-behaved animals, so they are popular pets. Many house cats no longer hunt their own food, but eat food that their owner gives them, made in factories.
House cats are not often taught to do things, but large cats raised by people in enclosed spaces can be taught to do tricks. When a cat is happy, it moves its chest very quickly, which makes a soft noise. This is called "purring". Cats are also very clean animals. They lick their fur many times a day, and they like clean places. They also sleep a lot, sometimes up to 20 hours a day. This makes them easy to care for.
Cats cannot taste sweet foods (with sugar) because of a mutation (change) in their ancestors which removed the gene necessary for tasting sweet things.
A female cat is a Queen and the male cat is a Tom. It is redundant to say "tomcat".
A skilled predator, the cat is known to hunt over 1,000 species for food. It is intelligent and can be trained to obey simple commands. Individual cats have also been known to learn on their own to manipulate simple mechanisms, such as doorknobs. Cats use a variety of vocalizations and types of body language for communication, including meowing, purring, hissing, growling, squeaking, chirping, clicking, and grunting. Cats are popular pets and are also bred and shown as registered pedigree pets. This hobby is known as the "Cat Fancy".
Until recently the cat was commonly believed to have been domesticated in ancient Egypt, where it was a cult animal. However a study by the National Cancer Institute published in the journal Science found that all house cats are probably descended from a group of as few as five self-domesticating desert wildcats Felis silvestris lybica circa 8000 BC, in the Near East.