Features of the cat family

I love animals very much. At home we have a cat Ryzhik and a dog Dozor. I love them very much, play with them, feed them, watch their communication. I especially like the fluffy, affectionate Ryzhik. Cats are a special and mysterious world, amazing, sometimes incomprehensible. I imagine how one day my pet, sitting on my shoulder, will speak in a human voice and tell about himself without concealment or embellishment, and my sister Katya and I will better understand what a slightly raised ear or a sticking out tail means. I wanted to know more about these cute creatures, I started reading books about animals, asking my mom, dad, and grandma what they knew about cats.

THEOPHILE GAUTIER was convinced that a cat is a philosophical animal that does not change its affections for no reason at all.

EDMON de Goncourt, on the contrary, argued that it is pointless to compare philosophy and cats “I studied both,” he noted, “the wisdom of cats is something absolutely perfect.”

I like Leonora Fini’s saying “A cat next to us is a warm, furry, mustachioed and purring gift from a lost paradise.”

Cats have lived next to humans for thousands of years, but we still don’t know much about them....

I like to watch our Ryzhik: how he washes himself, how he caresses himself, what food he likes best.

Who are cats

The cat family includes more than 30 species, from 350-kilogram tigers to a 1.5-kilogram red cat. Our pets are the closest relatives of wild cats, European and African.

Characteristic features of cats include keen hearing, large eyes, long whiskers and claws that retract while running.

How cats hunt

Felines are typical predators. Cats grab and hold prey with large canines, premolar teeth, like scissors, cut off meat and bones, and scrape meat from bones with a tongue rough like a grater. True, a non-carnivorous species is known - the Sumatran cat, which feeds mainly on fruits. Cats hunt at night or early in the morning, attacking prey from ambush.

FLUFFY HEATER

A lot has been written about the therapeutic effects of cats: they calm you down, reduce aggression, normalize blood pressure, relieve pain in the heart and legs.

People and cats have lived side by side with each other for many centuries, so the presence of a four-legged pet in the house is taken for granted. Since ancient times, people have attributed many mysterious and magical properties to cats. We decided to separate truth from fiction. We interviewed friends, worked with literature and came up with a large list of myths. I decided to dwell on the mysterious properties of cat eyes.

Most respondents believe that a cat sees in complete darkness, but in fact a cat does not see in complete darkness. The cat only sees in the slightest ray of light

We managed to debunk nine myths - erroneous misconceptions people have about their beloved pets. For example, cats do not hypnotize a person with their gaze, since one of the properties of this family of four-legged animals is to avoid looking “eye to eye.” And they can’t sleep with their eyes open. It’s just that animals have a third eyelid, which misleads humans. And the myth that cat's eyes glow in the dark turned out to be far from reality. I was able to verify this by conducting my own experiments. It turned out that the cat's eyes only reflect light. “The cat’s eye contains a substance called tapetum, which is found in fish scales. Thanks to this, the eye glows,” I learned.

OUR FAVORITE CATS

Felines are found everywhere on Earth.

Widespread on plains, mountains, and forests.

There are 3 known genera:

Panthers, or big cats (body length 380 cm, weight up to 275 kg) - this includes lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars
Cats (body length from 50 cm, weight from 1.5 kg) - these include domestic cats, forest cats, Bengal cats, lynx, etc.
The cheetah is an independent genus.

All cats are predators, in order to survive, they constantly need to listen, sniff, track, hide and attack.

SIBERIAN CAT-hunter, unsociable, adaptable.

If someone, because of my name, thinks that I come from Siberia, then they are mistaken.

My great-great-grandparents lived in North Africa. Of course, with such thick and long hair as mine, you won’t freeze at the North Pole. However, there are no mice in the ice, that's the point! And life without them is not interesting.

After all, Siberian cats are avid hunters. For some reason, in some books they write about us as if we are all lazy, unsociable, uncurious.

Not true! I’m not too lazy to find out where the mice’s holes are, what their daily and nightly routine is.

And what they write about my unsociability is correct, because you don’t need many words to ask for milk from the hostess, you just need to look into her eyes and say “meow” - that’s all.

RUSSIAN BLUE - timid, loving a quiet life

I am a free cat. I want to walk, I want to sleep, I want to hunt - and there are no obstacles

ABYSSINIAN CAT - energetic, talkative, affectionate.

I love my owner very much. So he came home tired. Who will caress him and calm him down? Of course I will: I’ll come up silently, rub my legs, climb onto my knees, and purr quietly. Fatigue will disappear as if by hand.

ANGORA CAT - kind, friendly, loves fun.

MAINE COON CAT - sociable, playful, talkative, cunning hunter.

SIAMESE CAT—smart, quick-witted, requires attention.

Of course, not a single cat will allow itself to be commanded. And we Siamese, especially, are not able to spend even a minute under someone else’s heel. Our royal blood will not allow anyone to treat us without due respect.

They are very active and aggressive. sensitive animals. They are sociable, but clearly distinguish where the person she loves is and where he is not. She will treat only those she loves, who are well known to her, and only when she wants to. She immediately takes in negative energy in large portions and very soon comes for more, so her effect is effective.

PEEDILOGY

How can you even live without cats? Our Ryzhik, when his grandfather brought him to us, was small and helpless, we loved him very much - this fluffy, red lump

“What was this funny creature standing in front of us?” We wanted to learn more about cats, to observe... I love my Ryzhik. I play with him, feed him, and he purrs affectionately, sitting on my knees, and I listen to his pedigree...

The domestic cat is a mammal of the cat genus.

It came from the North African subspecies of the wild cat (Libyan cat).

Domesticated about 5 thousand years ago. Currently, there are 50 known breeds, differing in length, type and color of coat, eye color, and tail length.

The domestic cat has excellent hearing, good vision and sense of touch; the sense of smell is weaker than that of dogs.

Domestic cats are usually affectionate and attached to people, very attached to their habitat, but due to their independent nature they are very difficult to train. They live 13-18 years.