Cat

Cat (Felis domestica) is known to everybody. Its nearest relation is the Wild Cat (Felis catus), but it is not a tamed descendant of this wild cat but seems, like other domestic animals, to have come from the East. It is usually, though not with absolute certainty, regarded as the descendant of the Egyptian cat which was domesticated in Egypt thirteen centuries B. C. From Egypt the domestic cat spread through Europe, and was confined to those who could afford a high price for the pet.

THE VARIETIES OF CATS ARE
DUE TO COLOR AND FUR

The varieties of domestic cat concern color and quality of fur, not differences of form, as in the case of dogs. Thus we have (1) black cats with clear yellow eyes, usually with a few white hairs, and with hints of markings in the kittens; (2) white cats, sometimes with blue eyes, and then generally deaf; (3) tabby cats, like the wild species, and perhaps the result of crossing with the same; (4) gray cats, which are rare, and differ from the tabby forms in having no black stripes, except the common ones over the forelegs; (5) tortoise-shell, fawn-colored, and mottled with black, usually females; and (6) sandy-colored, usually males. The royal Siamese cat is fawn-colored, with blue eyes and small head; the Carthusian or blue cat has long, dark, grayish-blue fur, with black [248] lips and soles; the Angora, or Persian cat is large, fine furred, generally white, tending to yellow or gray, and possibly derived from an Asiatic species. The Malay cat, in Pegu, Siam, and Burma, has a tail only half the normal length; the Manx cat of the Isle of Man is tailless and has longer hind-legs. A fine all-blue cat comes from Russia and Iceland, and there are characteristic breeds from India, Abyssinia, and other parts of the world.

CHARACTERISTICS AND HABITS
OF CATS

The domestic cat is too well known to require description. It has been known to attain a weight of twenty-three pounds and an age of eighteen years. Though thoroughly domesticated, it retains many characteristics of wildness, especially in its private hunting expeditions, nocturnal wanderings, unsocial habits, and generally self-centered, not entirely confident disposition. When turned out in the woods it usually adapts itself readily. Domestication has had a different influence on cat and on dog, and the former may be fairly said to have surrendered itself less. Its sense of smell has probably degenerated, but is still very sensitive to certain favorite odors. The great dilatability of the pupil enables it to make the most of feeble light. The dry fur, freed from any oily matter and readily injured by water, becomes highly electric by friction, especially in dry or frosty weather.

CATS POSSESS UNUSUAL
INTELLIGENCE

In cats the senses of sight, hearing, and touch are very highly developed, and the intelligence is proportionately great. That they exhibit great adroitness in catching their prey is well known, but the climax is reached in certain recorded cases where a young bird was used as a decoy for its parents, and where crumbs were scattered or scraped from beneath the snow to attract sparrows. A remarkable case is recorded of a cat which, being accidentally ignited by paraffin, ran one hundred yards and plunged into a trough of water.

SUPERSTITIONS REGARDING
CATS

Cats have been objects of superstition from the earliest ages. In Egypt they were held in the highest reverence; temples were erected in their honor; sacrifices and devotions were offered to them; and it was customary for the family in whose house a cat died to shave their eyebrows. The favorite shape of Satan was said to be that of a black cat, and the animal was an object of dread instead of veneration. Many people still prophesy rainy weather from a cat washing over its ears or simply its face; and a cat-call on the housetop was formerly held to signify death.