🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

Nutter, Levine and Stoskopf studied the reproductive biology of free-roaming cats to inform population management, monitoring breeding females in feral colonies. They documented high reproductive outp…

Felicia B. Nutter, Jay F. Levine, Michael K. Stoskopf · Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association · 2004

This overview surveys what is known about cats in ancient Egypt, where they were associated with the goddess Bastet and produced in vast numbers as votive mummies. Excavations at sites such as Bubasti…

The African or Near Eastern wildcat, Felis silvestris lybica, is the direct ancestor of all domestic cats. This overview surveys its ecology, distribution and behaviour, describing a solitary, territo…

Lightweight GPS devices have allowed researchers to map where pet cats actually go when allowed outdoors, revealing often-surprising ranges and patterns. This overview surveys tracking studies across…

Zooarchaeological finds of cat bones at Roman and medieval European sites document the steady establishment of cats as urban and rural commensals north of the Mediterranean. This overview surveys evid…

The folded ears that define the Scottish Fold breed result from a cartilage mutation that also causes a painful skeletal disorder, and this overview surveys the resulting welfare controversy. It exami…

Cats travelled with Norse traders and raiders, and their remains at Viking-age sites have informed studies of dispersal and body size. This overview surveys genetic and osteological evidence showing t…

Distress and high-arousal calls, such as the kitten separation cry and adult yowls, carry information about a cat's state and have been analyzed acoustically. This overview surveys research on the str…

Mitochondrial DNA, maternally inherited and abundant in old specimens, has been central to reconstructing cat history. This overview surveys how researchers define and use maternal haplogroups, includ…

The first months of a kitten's life involve rapid behavioural change, and this overview surveys research charting that development. It examines the emergence and maturation of sensory abilities, locom…

Barren or unpredictable indoor environments can leave cats understimulated and chronically stressed, with effects on behaviour and health. This overview surveys research on indicators of boredom and s…

Selective breeding for a flat, shortened face in Persians and related breeds produces brachycephaly, and this overview surveys its welfare consequences. It examines how extreme facial conformation is…

Modern cat breeds emerged recently from broadly distributed random-bred populations, and this overview surveys research reconstructing their ancestry and relationships. It examines genetic studies tra…

Cities support large free-roaming cat populations sustained by food subsidies, and this overview surveys research on what determines their density and carrying capacity. It examines how food availabil…

Cat allergy is common, driven largely by the protein Fel d 1, and this overview surveys the science of feline allergens and efforts to reduce human exposure. It examines how Fel d 1, produced in saliv…

Some jurisdictions, particularly in Australia and New Zealand, have introduced cat curfews or containment requirements to protect wildlife, and this overview surveys research on their rationale and ef…

Understanding what cats actually eat in the wild relies heavily on analyzing scats and stomach contents, and this overview surveys that body of dietary research. It examines how researchers identify p…

Cats produce a range of facial movements, and research increasingly treats these as communicative signals. This overview surveys work cataloguing feline facial expressions in affiliative, defensive an…

Companion animals are widely believed to benefit human health, and cats specifically have been the subject of epidemiological and psychological research. This overview surveys studies on associations…

The environment shapes how and how much cats vocalize, with implications for welfare assessment. This overview surveys research comparing vocal behaviour of cats in shelters, catteries and homes, wher…

Outdoor enclosures, often called catios, and other containment systems offer a middle path between free roaming and strict indoor living. This overview surveys research and welfare reasoning on these…

Cats are the definitive host of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, shedding environmentally resistant oocysts that can infect other animals, and this overview surveys the resulting impacts on wildlife an…

Whether cats track whether a person is paying attention to them bears on their social cognition. This overview surveys experiments testing if cats adjust their behaviour according to a human's attenti…

Object-choice tasks, in which an animal must use a human pointing gesture to find hidden food, are a standard probe of social cognition. This overview surveys studies applying these tasks to cats, whi…

A key concept in understanding cat impacts is that cats are subsidized predators, sustained by human-provided food and shelter independent of wild prey, and this overview surveys its consequences. It…

Cats appear in Greek and Roman art, texts and household life, though their role as rodent controllers competed with weasels and ferrets that were also kept for the purpose. This overview surveys liter…

Cats are common in households with children, and research has examined the developmental and welfare dimensions of these relationships. This overview surveys studies on how children form attachments t…

Beyond the familiar meow and purr, cats produce chirps, trills and chatters that figure in greeting, excitement and predatory contexts. This overview surveys efforts to build ethograms, systematic cat…

Brightly patterned collar covers, designed to make stalking cats conspicuous to prey with good colour vision, have been tested as a tool to reduce predation. This overview surveys trials of such cover…

Dogs and cats represent contrasting domestication stories, and comparing them clarifies what domestication means. This overview surveys the differences: dogs descend from wolves through a long, intens…