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Cats
by Vremde Kattan
http://www.strangecats.com
Cats are the members of the Felidae family of canivorous
mammals. Lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar, African wild cat are
the members of the cat family. Their closest relatives are
civets, hyenas and mongooses. However, what we generally
recognize as cat is the domestic or the house cat.
Humans and cat companionships dates back to between 7000 to
4000 years ago. Cats have seen it all. They were dragged
into satanic ritual beliefs, Halloween festivities and being
tagged as an unlucky black cat. But also they are cute,
caring and loyal companions. More than often the poor
creatures were associated with bad omens, death and
witchcraft. On the other hand there have been cultures like
Vikings who worshipped the Goddess Freya, the goddess of
fertility, who was closely associated to cats.
Cat appears in the Viatnamese and Chinese Zodiac systems. It
is highly respected in Islam since it is believed that
Prophet Mohammed approved domestication of cat. Feeding a
cat is regarded as a great deed in Islam. Ancient Egyptians
hailed cats as embodiment of their Goddess Bast. In many of
the pyramids mummified cats have been found in thousands of
numbers. This signifies the importance of cat for the
ancient Egyptians.
Today, there are dozens of breeds of domesticated cats. A
group of cats is called a clowder; a male cat is called a
tom; a female cat is called a queen and the cute little baby
cat is called kitten.
On an average cats weigh between 2.5 to 7 kgs. They live for
15 to 20 years. However, you can ensure a longer life for
your pet cat by getting it spayed or neutered and getting
all the necessary vacination done.
Cats are intelligent animals. They communicate effectively
through purring, hissing and definitive gestures. The 32
muscles in their ears allows them to have sharp hearing.
Cats can conserve their energy by sleeping for long
durations. Cats mostly land on their feet. They have a very
good sense of balance and have great flexibility. They use
their tail to regulate the angular momentum during their
flight in a fall. They walk on their toes. They can also
manipulate their walk in such a way that they make minimum
sound and leave negligible tracks.
Cats have very superior eyesight and senses which are
matched by no other animal. They have very good nocturnal
eyesight. They have a field of view of 200 degrees. Their
whiskers assist them in navigation. Surprisingly cats cannot
taste sugary food because they have faulty sweet receptors.
Cats are fussy eaters. They are known to eat grass, leaves,
shrubs and houseplants but they'll eat only specific foods
which they get used to. Whatever they are, they are some of
the most popular pet around the world. So much so that they
outnumber dogs as pets in USA.
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