The structure of a domestic cat

Cats are small, shaggy (sometimes hairless) creatures, wild and very cunning. Usually they do not build their own house, but live in people's houses. For some unknown reason, people began to attribute supernatural powers to cats, ranging from healing properties to misfortune if a black cat crossed the road.

The domestic cat is a domesticated form of a small carnivorous mammal of the cat family - the wild Middle Eastern cat. According to genetic studies, all domestic cats descend from representatives of the wild Middle Eastern (Libyan) cat subspecies. The domestication of the cat occurred approximately 9,500 years ago in the Middle East in the Fertile Crescent region, where the earliest human civilizations originated and were located. The domestication of cats began with the transition of humans to a sedentary lifestyle and with the beginning of the development of agriculture, when surplus food appeared and the need arose to preserve it from rodents.

The word cat in other languages of the world

Russian - cat, English - cat, Bulgarian - kotka, Vietnamese - con meo, Dutch - kat, Indonesian - kucing, Italian - gatta, Latin - cattus, German - katze, the rest of the words you can see on the screen.

Cats have amazing agility due to the flexibility and mobility of the skeleton. They are able to move in narrow spaces, climb trees and fences, and walk along narrow cornices. What makes them so dexterous? The fact is that cats have 40 more bones than humans, which means more joints, which makes their body much more flexible and allows them to demonstrate miracles of acrobatics.

Cat skeleton:

The cat's spine consists of 5 sections - cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral and caudal.

The forelimbs consist of the shoulder, forearm, and hand. The hind limbs consist of the thigh, lower leg, and hand. The humerus of the forelimb is attached to the rib cage using the forelimb girdle (scapulae). With the help of the hind limb girdle, consisting of the pelvic bones fused with the sacral spine, the hind limbs are attached to the spine. The skull consists of the brain and facial sections. The brain is located in the medulla.

The skeleton performs the functions of supporting the body and protecting internal organs.

Cats are digitigrade animals, as they move “on tiptoes.” the forelimbs are 5-toed, the hind limbs are 4-toed. On the paws of cats there are formations in the form of pads, equipped with sweat glands and sensitive nerve endings, which allows the cat to move carefully and silently. The last phalanx of each finger is the basis for the claw. Cats have a special ligament with which the claw is pulled into the paw pad and retracted. The exception is the 1st finger: it is rudimentary, that is, it grows separately, and the claw on it cannot be removed. When walking, the cat brings forward its left front and right hind paws at the same time, or vice versa.

The dental system is of a pronounced carnivorous type. An adult cat has 30 teeth, including 12 incisors, 10 minor molars, 4 canines and 4 main molars. In kittens, milk teeth are replaced by permanent ones by seven months, and the kitten swallows the fallen milk teeth. The tongue is covered with small, pointed horny papillae, which help cats scrape meat from bones and clean fur.

When extremely angry, cats may hiss or even howl. In this case, the animal usually arches its back and tail, raises its fur and presses its ears to its head. Some cats are capable of producing a threatening, dog-like growl that is a sign of extreme anger and irritation. Claw scratches can easily become infected. For this reason, a cat scratch that has just been applied to the human body immediately needs disinfection.

We found out that the cat family includes two subfamilies: big cats and small cats, so relatives of domestic cats are: tiger, panther, leopard, lion, jaguar, puma, cheetah, snow leopard (irbis), liger and others, everything is known 36 species. The following are listed in the Red Book of Russia: Amur tiger, Amur forest cat, East Siberian and Western Asian leopards, snow leopard or snow leopard.

Why do a cat’s eyes glow in the dark?

In fact, a cat's eyes do not emit light, but only reflect it. In complete darkness, where light does not penetrate at all, a cat's eyes do not glow.

It’s interesting to watch how a cat’s pupils dilate. If a person’s pupils dilate or contract depending on the lighting, then a cat’s pupils dilate when it is a “hunter”. Having noticed game, the pupils become huge, turning black almost instantly over the entire eye.

Why does a cat purr?

The exact meaning of a cat's purring is unknown. A cat can purr not only with pleasure, but also with rage. Then the cat's purring becomes louder and sharper. Only once, just before death, does a cat purr in a special way, hysterically and sadly.

Why does a cat have 9 lives?

A cat, of course, has one life, but there is a belief that they supposedly have 9 lives. Cats are truly amazingly resilient creatures. Pussy curiosity is too high, and leaning out of a window or awkwardness when moving along a ledge can lead to a fall from a considerable height. However, the sufferer who fell from the 8th floor is able to immediately get up and, limping, wander home. How so? The fact is that in flight, a cat knows how to group itself correctly, points its paws towards the ground and falls on them, as if on springs.

Why doesn’t a cat smell of anything?

Always a clean pussy does not smell of anything. She can't have a personal scent. She is an ambush predator. Its smell should not scare away the prey. Cats even sweat with their paw pads, which are pressed to the ground and therefore do not emit odors.

Why are cats playful?

Cats are hunters and lead active lives. Therefore, pets need to expend their energy playing. If you don't play with your cat, it will quickly become lazy and fat.

We conducted a survey among schoolchildren of our school, students from grades 5 to 10. They were asked to answer the following questions (survey results in the appendix):

Do you have a pet, if so, what kind?

As you can see, 63% of the students we surveyed have cats. And this confirmed our hypothesis - most of the students at our school have pets - cats.

How did a cat appear in your house? The results are as follows: gave as a gift - 32%, picked up - 24, bought - 24, gave away - 13, asked from friends - 8

Which family member takes care of the cat?

It turned out that the mother who mainly takes care of the pet is 38% of respondents, the student himself in 35% of cases, the rest of the results are on the screen.

What do you feed your cat?

The following answers were received - dry food - 40%, canned food - 26%, meat - 15, fish - 8, human food - 5, but after studying the literature, we found out that...

It is not recommended to feed your cat: fish, food from our table, beans, peas, corn. Beef liver should not be given frequently.

Prolonged feeding of fish can provoke:

Uurolithiasis.
Avitaminosis.
Allergies
Worms.
Reduced blood clotting.

If you really want to treat your cat to fish, it is better to take sea fish, do not cook it, and treat it no more than once every two weeks.

To the question, what breed is your cat? we got the following results - they are on the screen... We were interested to find out what kind of breeds these are and what cats of these breeds look like. Here's what we learned from studying various sources:

Yard cats are not purebred, except when the owners kick a purebred cat outside.

British cats: calm, affectionate, clean, good health. Due to their independent nature and low-maintenance coat, they are well suited for people who spend a lot of time at work (hence the name “businessman’s cat”). Sometimes they consider the presence of a person burdensome.

The British Longhair is a very young breed, it has a charming face with a characteristic smile, plus fluffy long fur that you just want to stroke!

Russian Blues are elegant, green-eyed cats. They have a pleasant temperament and a calm character, are friendly and not demanding.

Russian blue cats are extremely beautiful. The combination of silver-blue fur with emerald green eyes and a wise look creates an amazing image for cute, affectionate cats.

The Siberian cat is the first domestic breed. This is exactly how a real Siberian cat appears to everyone, as if a cat had just emerged from the Siberian taiga forests: large, strong, heavy, with a stern gaze that seemed to be slightly from under the eyebrows, independent, but loving its owner.

Scottish Fold

The main distinguishing feature of the Scottish Fold breed is the peculiar structure of the ears: they are almost invisible, as they hang down, covering the ear opening. This breed appeared as a result of a natural mutation of Scottish country cats in the early 60s of the last century. Hence the name “Scottish”, and fold in translation means “fold”, in felinology it means “fold-eared”. The correct name for the breed is “Scottish Fold”.

Mestizos are cats of mixed breeds.

Maine Coon (another name is the Maine raccoon cat) - they resemble a small lynx (characteristic tufts on the ears) or a jungle cat - however, unlike their predatory relatives, they are very friendly. The Maine Coon is a very hardy and active cat, gets along well with children, but is shy and delicate.

Persian cat

Persians have been the most popular breed for many decades.

Persians have a quiet, endearing disposition. The Persian cat is an ideal breed, giving the impression of a pleasant, peaceful and loyal companion. Some Persians love to sit on their owner's shoulder and, hugging him, sing their song loudly. On cold nights they can be a warmer in bed.

The Bombay cat, despite its exotic name, has nothing to do with India. Breeding a “pure” breed lasted 4 generations of cats until a positive result was achieved: the “little panther” was bred. Her fur is black and shiny, dense and smooth, like satin. Currently, there are 2 varieties - British Bombay cats and American Bombay cats, differing in origin

Siamese cats have a rather unusual and obstinate disposition. Her independence of character and hot temperament gave her the reputation of being a terrible stubborn woman.

Siamese kittens are born completely white, a few days after birth they begin to darken, the final color is established at 6-10 months

The origin of the Manx breed is shrouded in legends and secrets. The exact homeland of the Manx has not yet been established. It is known that they were discovered on the Isle of Man, which is located in the Irish Sea. Apparently they sailed there with Phoenician or Spanish sailors. Representatives of the Manx breed are excellent mousecatchers. Oddly enough for cats, they get along with dogs. They are very happy to communicate and consider themselves full members of the family. Loyal and very inquisitive.

We also found interesting “cat facts”:

The first cat show was held in 1895 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
“Sociable” cats follow you from room to room to monitor your actions.
If your cat is tearing up furniture, try giving the area a lemon or orange scent. Cats hate these smells.
Cats understand tone of voice. When talking to cats, be mindful of your tone of voice. Cats understand when you are angry with them (although they may not show it).
Before the revolution, about 600 cats lived in the Winter Palace in the city of St. Petersburg; the interesting thing is that today this figure has not decreased.
In Russia, the only cat theater of its kind in the world performs under the direction of Kuklachev.
The First Cat Museum was created in Germany, where exhibits from all over the world are collected. By the way, oddly enough, the museum’s caretakers are 10 cats.