Felis catus, cat facts

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Origin of domestic cat

• Fossils suggest that felid-like animals first appeared about 35 million years ago. Modern cats descended from a mid-size cat that existed about 10-11 million years ago, when saber-tooth tigers were long extinct. The earliest predecessor of living cats, Pseudaelurus, lived in Eurasia during Miocene. Molecular phylogeny defined eight principal Felidae lineages that form basis for recognition of main Felidae taxons: Panthera, Bay cat, Caracal, Ocelot, Lynx, Puma, Leopard, and Domestic cat lineages.
• Domestic and Leopard cat lineages branched out about 6.2 million years ago. For millions of years ancestors thrived in the world without humans. By about 10,00 years ago, there were several diminutive cat species in Eurasia: jungle cat, desert cat and a ubiquitous wildcat, Felis silvestris, whose Near East subspecies, Felis silvestris lybica, ventured to the territories occupied by ancient settlers, and thus initiated one of the more successful "biological experiments" ever undertaken.

Cat domestication

• The oldest known archeological deposits with co-occurrence of human and cat remains are dated to 9,500 years ago in Cyprus (Crete); therefore, humans and cats co-existed side by side some 5,000-6,000 years before the ancient Egyptian civilization, which was considered as a cradle for cat domestication.
• Molecular data indicate that Near Eastern subspecies of Felis silvestris, Felis silvestris lybica, gave rise to modern domestic cat, Felis catus. The domestication event occurred around the time when the first agricultural settlements started to appear in the Fertile Crescent about 10,000 years ago.
• Divergence of domestic cat from wildcat occurred sympartically. It is believed that wild cats initiated domestication because human habitat offered more opportunities for hunting (barn pests) and reproduction (shelter, absence of enemies). Cats' evolution to companion animals was and to some degree still is a process of natural, rather than artificial, selection (with notable exception of fancy breeds, which undergo strict artificial selection pressures). For thousands of years they not only hunted for their own food but also continued to intermingle with wild cats. Occasionally, in the course of domestication, some of them retreated back to their natural habitats only to return again. Tamest and most sociable of them were allowed to enjoy food availability and protection provided by humans. Over generations these profiteers diverged from their wild relatives and became true and valued companions.
• Domestic cat varies little morphologically from the wild cat body plan, although, as Darwin noted, domestic cats have longer intestines than wildcats, a trait that might reflect departure from the strict carnivorous diet while feeding on the kitchen scraps.
  Domestic cats have become polyestrous; their coat color frequently differs wildly from the wildcat's striped mackerel tabby. Domestic cats can tolerate and even enjoy company of other cats (especially if they are siblings), whereas wildcats are solitary and fiercely territorial.
• Modern cat breeds derive from the earliest fancy breeds (Siamese, Persian, Corat, Egyptian Mau, Manx, Turkish Angora and others) established around the 17th century. The most recent breeds (American Curl, Selkirk Rex, and Singapora) were established during the late 20th century.

Feeding habits and nutritional requirements

• Cats have higher protein and dietary nitrogen requirements than other domestic animals. While most animals reduce the activity of enzymes involved in amino acids' catabolism when fed protein-deficient foods (carbohydrates, fat), cats do not seem to be able to so.
• Felids evolved as obligate carnivores, and as such they have numerous nutritional idiosyncrasies. They totally lack or have low levels of key enzymes for synthesis of vitamin A, arachidonic acid, taurine, niacin, and ornithine.
• Cats are unable to synthesize arginine from glutamate and glutamine. Therefore, unique among nutrient deficiencies of cats is that ingestion of single arginine-free meal causes severe illness in cats: anorexia, hyperammonemia, emesis, ataxia, and even death.
• Cats show preference for the amino acids described as "sweet" in man (such as proline, cysteine, ornithine, lysine, histidine, and alanine) and reject the "bitter" amino acids (such as arginine, isoleucine, phenylalanine and tryptophan).
• Cats are insensitive to taste of salt and sugar.
• Unlike dogs, domestic cats derived from exclusively solitary hunters, and therefore usually take prey with much lower body mass than their own, which necessitate multiple small kills per day. This is reflected in feeding patterns of the domestic cats that usually prefer take multiple small meals throughout the 24 hours of the day.
• Small kills, one per a meal, also mean that the freshness of food is also very important for cats. Cats usually reject foods rich with monophosphate nucleotides and other compounds that accumulate in mammalian tissues after death, and this may be partly responsible for the cat's dislike of carrion.
• Cats frequently exhibit a growing aversion to monotonous repetitive foods. When offered palatable novel and long-fed food, they will choose the former with much higher probability. In nature, this strategy should reduce likelihood of unbalanced diet.
• Cats are equipped with flexible behavioral strategies and are able to adjust their feeding habits based on previous experiences. Although kittens are strongly attracted to diet of their mother, they can change their preferences considerably especially during the first year of life.

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Cat as a model organism

• There are approximately 70 million house cats in the United States and several times that number worldwide. The reasons for the large population of cats include mankind's fascination and domestication of the species plus a relatively high fecundity, adaptability, and exceptional survival abilities ("cat's nine lives") - features that increase the cat's potential as a genomic model for medical and biological application.
• Cats, like dogs, enjoy extensive medical surveillance that is second only to human health care. They have approximately 250 genetic diseases analogous to human disorders such as some neurodegenerative disorders, diabetes (at GeoChemBio), acromegaly, muscular dystrophy, hemophilia, etc. Feline pathogens represent natural models to human infectious diseases including HIV-AIDS (feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV)), SARS (feline coronavirus-FCoV), neurotropic and cancer-inducing viruses.
• In 2005, the cat, together with other 24 mammals, was selected for whole genome sequencing by National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), to facilitate interpretation of the human genome sequence. Abyssinian breed was chosen for sequencing as the most inbred, which makes genome assembly easier. Cat by name Cinnamon provided her DNA.
• Toxoplasma gondii, one of most important pathogens, which is believed to affect the humanity profoundly, originates from felids that are its definitive hosts. Many companies that produce litter for domestic cats place important warning on their packages concerning toxoplasmosis, which can be distributed with cat's feces. Please read important details about toxoplasma and toxoplasmosis at MetaPathogen.

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More about cats at GeoChemBio

• Cat reproductive cycle (mating, estrous cycle)
• Cat development (from fertilization to adult)
• Cat taxonomy (full taxonomy of Felidae)
• Cat behavior (illustrated)
• Feline diabetes (all you need to know, Pushkin's lab, etc.)

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Pictorials

Stray tabby in Japan	Polydactyl cat in Hemingway museum (Key West, Florida)	Mexican stray feeds on fish scraps (Ixtapa region)
Cat in one of Japanese hostels on the way to Nikko	Lounging stray in Budapest	Mexican stray lives on hotel premises (Ixtapa region)

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References

• Lawler DF. Neonatal and pediatric care of the puppy and kitten. Theriogenology. 2008 Aug;70(3):384-92. PMID: 18513788
• Driscoll CA et al. The Near Eastern origin of cat domestication. Science. 2007 Jul 27;317(5837):519-23. PMID: 17600185
• Kutzler MA. Estrus induction and synchronization in canids and felids. Theriogenology. 2007 Aug;68(3):354-74. PMID: 17582484
• da Silva TF et al. Sexual characteristics of domestic queens kept in a natural equatorial photoperiod. Theriogenology. 2006 Oct;66(6-7):1476-81. PMID: 16580061
• Miglino MA et al. The carnivore pregnancy: the development of the embryo and fetal membranes. Theriogenology. 2006 Oct;66(6-7):1699-702. PMID: 16563485
• Sparkes AH et al. A questionnaire-based study of gestation, parturition and neonatal mortality in pedigree breeding cats in the UK. J Feline Med Surg. 2006 Jun;8(3):145-57. PMID: 16442825
• Tsutsui T et al. Breeding season in female cats acclimated under a natural photoperiod and interval until puberty. J Vet Med Sci. 2004 Sep;66(9):1129-32. PMID: 15472479
• Root MV et al. Estrous length, pregnancy rate, gestation and parturition lengths, litter size, and juvenile mortality in the domestic cat. J Am Anim Hosp Assoc. 1995 Sep-Oct;31(5):429-33. PMID: 8542362
• Leiser R, Koob B. Development and characteristics of placentation in a carnivore, the domestic cat. J Exp Zool. 1993 Sep 1;266(6):642-56. PMID: 8371103
• Swanson WF et al. In vivo embryogenesis, embryo migration, and embryonic mortality in the domestic cat. Biol Reprod. 1994 Sep;51(3):452-64. PMID: 7803616
• Beaver BV. Sensory development of Felis catus. Lab Anim. 1980 Jul;14(3):199-201. PMID: 7431833
• O'Brien SJ et al. State of cat genomics. Trends Genet. 2008 Jun;24(6):268-79. PMID: 18471926
• Zaghini G, Biagi G. Nutritional peculiarities and diet palatability in the cat. Vet Res Commun. 2005 Aug. PMID: 16244923
• Driscoll CA, Macdonald DW, O'Brien SJ. From wild animals to domestic pets, an evolutionary view of domestication. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Jun 16. PMID: 19528637
• Bradshaw JW. The evolutionary basis for the feeding behavior of domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) and cats (Felis catus). J Nutr. 2006 Jul. PMID: 16772461
• Driscoll CA et al. The Near Eastern origin of cat domestication. Science. 2007 Jul 27. PMID: 17600185
• Lipinski MJ et al. The ascent of cat breeds: genetic evaluations of breeds and worldwide random-bred populations. Genomics. 2008 Jan;91(1):12-21. PMID: 18060738

Websites

• Sequencing the Genome of the Domestic Cat (Felis catus).
• Feline behavior guidelines (American Association of Feline Practitioners)

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