Cat

Cats are very popular but also idiosyncratic pets: sometimes they are aloof and scratchy, sometimes they are cuddly and playful.

Characteristics

What do cats look like?

Domestic cats belong to the feline family and are predators. There are two major groups in the cat family: the small cats, which include our house cats and cheetahs, for example, and big cats such as lions and tigers.

Everyone knows what a cat looks like: the four-legged friends have a round head with two small ears, long whiskers on the snout, a long tail, and soft, thick fur. Cats can retract their claws. When they attack, they can lunge at lightning speed and grab their prey – or claw a human!

Cats have the typical predatory teeth of a carnivore. They have long canines that they use to hold and kill their prey. Cats can move and climb very skillfully and hear and see very well – even in the dark. There are many different breeds of cats today:

They are divided into long-haired, semi-long-haired, and short-haired breeds. Their fur can be many different colors, including tabby. The color of the eyes is also different: they are green, blue or orange, and copper.

The males, also called tomcats, are usually slightly larger than the females and have thicker heads. On average, cats weigh three to six kilograms.

Where do cats live?

Our domestic cats are descended from the North African wildcat. It was kept as a pet as early as the 6th millennium; Already with the Egyptians, at the time of the pharaohs, she was popular as a companion of humans and was even worshiped as a goddess. Today we find cats as companions of humans all over the world.

Cats live with us humans in houses and apartments. They used to be on the farms as mouse catchers. But they also like to roam through gardens, meadows, and fields.

What types of cats are there?

The European wildcat is closely related to our domestic cats. However, it has become very rare and very shy. There are many different breeds of cats today. Among the most popular is the European Shorthair breed; this is the common tabby domestic cat. Persian cats have silky soft fur, are very calm and willful.

Siamese cats are very elegant animals: they are slender and have short, smooth, mostly light-colored fur with dark markings on the head, legs, back, and tail. Turkish Van cats are good swimmers. And the Birman cats were revered as temple cats in their homeland of Burma (today: Myanmar). Other well-known breeds are Abyssinian, British Shorthair, and Maine Coon.

How old do cats get?

Cats live to be around 12 to 14 years old, but some live up to 20 years.

Behave

How do cats live?

Cats are most active at dusk and at night. These small predators are also excellently equipped for this. The light is reflected in their eyes by a reflective layer at the back of the eye. In this way, even very small amounts of light are amplified and the cats can see well even in the dark. This is why the cat’s eyes also light up in the dark.

In addition, cats can hear very well and also perceive sounds in the ultrasonic range. That means they can still hear the squeaking or whispering of mice and bats. Cats also have a very good sense of smell. This also plays an important role in the behavior of the animals.

They have special scent glands on the side of their heads, which they use to mark fellow animals or us humans when they rub their heads against us. So it’s clear that we’re part of her family. Cats also mark their territory with urine – which is very unpleasant for human noses.

An additional sensory organ is the very sensitive whiskers of cats. With them, they can perceive the distance to objects in the dark and therefore do not bump into each other even in complete darkness.

Grooming is typical for cats: They distribute the contents of the sebaceous glands in the skin with their tongue and paws over the entire coat and smooth every hair. So your fur will always be well cared for. Since indigestible hair gets into the stomach when cleaning, cats occasionally eat fresh grass and then vomit: This is how the hair is transported out of the stomach again.

Friends and foes of cats

Larger predators such as lynx or wolves and foxes can be dangerous to wild cats. The house cat’s biggest enemy is the car.

How do cats reproduce?

The mating season for cats is in spring from mid-February to mid-April and in summer from May to mid-June. Then the female cats “get in heat”. They stroke our legs, throw themselves on their backs, meow loudly, and want only one thing: to go outside, where they hope to find a tomcat.

When cat and tomcat meet, things get pretty loud and restless: the cat rolls on the floor in front of the tomcat and the tomcat grabs her