144 articles
Cat
Domestic cat (Felis catus), house cat, from Near Eastern wildcat Felis silvestris lybica; obligate-carnivore felid, nearly 1 billion worldwide, self-domesticated ~10,000 years ago, 70+ breeds, major predator of wildlife.
Cat anatomy
Cat anatomy: bodily structure of the domestic cat Felis catus, with 230–240 bones, vertebral formula C7 T13 L7 S3 Cd20–23, 30 teeth, vestigial clavicle, retractable claws, tapetum lucidum, and obligate-carnivore gut.
Chartreux
Chartreux: a rare French blue-gray shorthaired cat breed with copper-to-gold eyes and a woolly water-resistant coat, bred from the 1920s Belle-Ile-sur-Mer Hospital Cats, separated from the British Blue by FIFe in 1977, CFA championship 1987.
Cheetah
Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), world's fastest land mammal at 96-112 km/h in short sprints; Vulnerable IUCN species with under 7,000 wild individuals, CITES Appendix I since 1975, surviving mainly in African savannas with a critically endangered Asiatic population in Iran.
Christian the lion
Christian the lion: lion cub bought from Harrods, London, in 1969 by Australians John Rendall and Ace Bourke, raised in Chelsea, released into the wild in Kenya by George Adamson, and famous for the 1971 reunion video seen by over 100 million people.
Claw
Claw: the curved keratin sheath on the tip of a digit, built around the distal phalanx; homologous with nails and hooves. Present since the Carboniferous; felids have retractile claws; declawing (onychectomy) amputates the last toe bone and is opposed by major veterinary associations.
Clouded leopard
The clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), also called the mainland clouded leopard, is a medium-sized wild cat of South and Southeast Asian forests, listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN.
Cornish Rex
Cornish Rex: cat breed from Cornwall, England, founded by Kallibunker (1950). Wavy coat lacking guard hairs from an LPAR6 deletion; incompatible with the Devon Rex's KRT71 curl; CFA championship 1964.
Cougar
Cougar (Puma concolor), also called puma, mountain lion, or panther: a large solitary felid ranging from northern Canada to South America, preying mainly on deer, with densities of 1–7 per 100 km² and frequent livestock-conflict management in western North America.
Creme Puff (cat)
Creme Puff, also spelled Crème Puff, was an Austin, Texas domestic cat owned by Jake Perry, the Guinness World Record oldest cat ever at 38 years and 3 days (1967–2005), more than double typical cat lifespan.
Devon Rex
Devon Rex: English cat breed from Buckfastleigh, Devon, founded by the curly kitten Kirlee (1960); KRT71 rex mutation distinct from Cornish Rex; GCCF-recognized 1967; wavy coat, large low ears, 14–17+ year lifespan.
Eastern cougar
Eastern cougar (Puma concolor couguar), also called eastern puma, an extinct cougar subspecies of eastern North America; last confirmed in 1938, listed endangered 1978, delisted as extinct by USFWS effective February 22, 2018.
Egyptian Mau
Egyptian Mau: the only naturally spotted domestic cat breed, named from the Egyptian word for cat. Silver, bronze, and smoke coats, gooseberry green eyes, up to 30 mph; imported to the US by Princess Troubetskoy in 1956, recognized by CFA in 1970 and TICA in 1979.
Eurasian lynx
Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), the largest lynx species, a solitary forest cat from Western Europe to the Pacific coast of Russia; IUCN Least Concern overall, with endangered reintroduced European subpopulations; preys mainly on roe deer and chamois.
European wildcat
European wildcat (Felis silvestris), forest wild felid across Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus; IUCN Least Concern globally, but the Scottish population is non-viable due to domestic-cat hybridization and roadkill.
Exotic Shorthair
Exotic Shorthair (Exotic), a man-made cat breed created in 1950s America from Persian and American Shorthair crosses, recognized by CFA in 1966; a short-haired, plush-coated Persian with the same head, body type, colors, and PKD health risks.
Felidae
Felidae is the cat family of order Carnivora: two subfamilies, Pantherinae and Felinae, with 14 genera, 41 species, and 77 subspecies per the 2017 IUCN Cat Classification Task Force revision, including the domestic cat Felis catus.
Felis
Felis is a genus of small cats in Felidae containing the wildcats, jungle cat, sand cat, black-footed cat, and the domestic cat Felis catus, descended from Felis silvestris lybica; the Domestic Cat lineage arose about 3.4 million years ago.
Feral cat
A feral cat, also called a free-roaming or community cat, is an unsocialized domestic cat living in the wild and surviving by hunting or scavenging.
Fishing cat
Fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus), a Vulnerable wetland wild cat of South and Southeast Asia that preys mainly on fish; population 3,200–7,500, declining over 30% from 2008 to 2023.
Florida panther
Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi), endangered cougar population of southern Florida, only breeding puma population east of the Mississippi; about 120-230 adults, rescued from inbreeding by 1995 Texas puma translocation, threatened by vehicles and habitat loss.
Grumpy Cat
Grumpy Cat, real name Tardar Sauce (2012–2019), was an Arizona cat whose frown from feline dwarfism and an underbite made her a viral Reddit meme, bestselling author brand, and Lifetime movie star.
History of lions in Europe
History of lions in Europe: Pleistocene cave lion (Panthera spelaea, also Panthera leo spelaea) and Holocene modern lion (Panthera leo); cave lion extinction ~14 kya, Holocene lions in the Balkans until ~2,000 years ago, Roman arena trade, medieval symbolism.
Iberian lynx
Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), lince ibérico, a rabbit-specialist wild cat endemic to Spain and Portugal. Recovered from 62 mature individuals in 2001 to 2,663 in 2025; IUCN Vulnerable since 2024.
Indian leopard
Indian leopard (Panthera pardus fusca), leopard subspecies of the Indian subcontinent including Nepal, Bhutan, and parts of Pakistan; 2022 national estimate 13,874, 67% outside protected areas, Schedule I protected, Vulnerable species.
Indochinese tiger
Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti), a mainland Southeast Asian tiger population now restricted to Thailand and Myanmar; about 220 remain, mostly in Thailand's Western Forest Complex and Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai, with Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos extirpated.
Islam and cats
Islam and cats: cats are ritually clean and permissible to keep in Islamic law; the famous Muezza cat story lacks authentic hadith sources; Abu Hurayra's kunya, purity rulings, and folklore explain the cat's favored status.
Jaguar
The jaguar (Panthera onca), also called onça-pintada or yaguareté, is the largest cat in the Americas and third-largest in the world, with the strongest bite of any feline.
Jaguarundi
The jaguarundi, also called yaguarondi, is a small wild cat of the Americas with the broadest range of the region's small cats, from Mexico to Argentina.
Japanese Bobtail
The Japanese Bobtail is a natural breed of domestic cat from Japan, distinguished by a short, pom-pom-like tail produced by a genetic mutation rather than by cropping.