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🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries
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150 summaries in Domestic Cat Science on domestic cat
A 9,500-year-old human-cat burial at Shillourokambos, Cyprus
PaperExcavating the Neolithic village of Shillourokambos on Cyprus, Vigne and colleagues uncovered a complete cat skeleton deliberately buried within centimetres of a human grave, the two interred together…
Jean-Denis Vigne, Jean Guilaine, Karyne Debue, Laurent Haye, Patrice Gerard · Science · 2004
A MYBPC3 mutation in the Maine Coon cat with familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
PaperMeurs and colleagues identified the genetic basis of inherited hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in Maine Coon cats, a common and sometimes fatal heart disease. Studying a colony of affected cats, they mapp…
Kathryn M. Meurs, Xiaobo Sanchez, Rebecca M. David, et al. · Human Molecular Genetics · 2005
A global review of the impacts of invasive cats on island vertebrates
PaperMedina and colleagues reviewed the worldwide evidence for the effects of feral cats on island vertebrates, where naive and often endemic faunas are especially vulnerable. Compiling records across many…
Felix M. Medina, Elsa Bonnaud, Eric Vidal, et al. · Global Change Biology · 2011
AAFP and ISFM feline environmental needs guidelines
PaperEllis and colleagues, on behalf of the American Association of Feline Practitioners and the International Society of Feline Medicine, produced consensus guidelines defining the environmental needs of…
Sarah L. H. Ellis, Ilona Rodan, Hazel C. Carney, et al. · Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery · 2013
An archaeological and historical review of felid-human relationships
ReviewFaure and Kitchener synthesized archaeological, iconographic and historical evidence to trace how people and small cats came together across the ancient world. They argued that domestication was a gra…
Eva-Maria Geigl Faure, Andrew C. Kitchener · Anthrozoos · 2009
Attachment bonds between domestic cats and humans
PaperVitale, Behnke and Udell adapted the secure base test used with infants and dogs to ask whether cats form attachment bonds with their owners. Cats experienced a brief separation from and reunion with…
Kristyn R. Vitale, Alexandra C. Behnke, Monique A. R. Udell · Current Biology · 2019
Cats discriminate human emotional cues
PaperGalvan and Vonk investigated whether domestic cats are sensitive to their owners' emotional expressions, a capacity well documented in dogs. Cats were exposed to their owner displaying either a happy…
Moriah Galvan, Jennifer Vonk · Animal Cognition · 2016
Classification of domestic cat meows and human perception
PaperNicastro and Owren analyzed the acoustic structure of domestic cat meows recorded in different behavioural contexts and tested whether human listeners could classify them. They measured features such…
Nicholas Nicastro, Michael J. Owren · Journal of Comparative Psychology · 2003
Comparative analysis of the domestic cat genome and domestication signatures
PaperMontague and colleagues produced a high-quality domestic cat reference genome and compared it with wild felids and other mammals to find the genetic footprint of domestication. They detected selection…
Michael J. Montague, Gang Li, Barbara Gandolfi, et al. · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2014
Discrimination of cat-directed speech from human-directed speech
PaperDe Mouzon and colleagues investigated whether cats respond differently to the special register people use when talking to them, analogous to infant-directed speech. Cats were played recordings of thei…
Charlotte de Mouzon, Marine Gonthier, Gerard Leboucher · Animal Cognition · 2023
Domestic cat larynges can produce purring frequencies without neural input
PaperHerbst and colleagues challenged the long-held assumption that purring requires continuous, cyclical neural commands to the laryngeal muscles. Working with excised cat larynges, they showed that simpl…
Christian T. Herbst, Tamara Prigge, Maxime Garcia, et al. · Current Biology · 2023
Domestic cats discriminate their names from other words
PaperSaito and colleagues tested whether cats can tell their own name from similar-sounding words. Using habituation-dishabituation, cats heard a series of four nouns matched in length and accent to their…
Atsuko Saito, Kazutaka Shinozuka, Yuki Ito, Toshikazu Hasegawa · Scientific Reports · 2019
Domestic cats do not show signs of secure attachment to their owners
PaperPotter and Mills applied a modified Ainsworth Strange Situation Test to pet cats to test whether they treat owners as an attachment figure providing security. Measuring behaviours during separations a…
Alice Potter, Daniel S. Mills · PLoS ONE · 2015
Earliest evidence for commensal cat processes at Quanhucun, China
PaperAt the 5,300-year-old farming village of Quanhucun in central China, Hu and colleagues combined zooarchaeology with stable isotope analysis of cat, rodent, human and dog bones to reconstruct an early…
Yaowu Hu, Songmei Hu, Weilin Wang, et al. · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2014
Early weaning increases aggression and stereotypic behaviour in cats
PaperAhola, Vapalahti and Lohi analyzed a large survey of pet cats to test whether the age at weaning influences adult behaviour. They found that cats weaned early, before the natural age, showed higher ra…
Milla K. Ahola, Katariina Vapalahti, Hannes Lohi · Scientific Reports · 2017
Effect of a long-term trap-neuter-return and adoption program on a free-roaming cat population
PaperLevy, Gale and Gale conducted one of the most-cited long-term evaluations of trap-neuter-return, following a managed free-roaming cat population on a university campus over more than a decade. Cats we…
Julie K. Levy, David W. Gale, Leslie A. Gale · Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association · 2003
Enumerating a continental-scale threat: how many feral cats are in Australia?
PaperLegge and colleagues tackled a foundational question for cat management by estimating the total feral cat population across Australia. They compiled density estimates from dozens of sites and modelled…
Sarah Legge, Brett P. Murphy, Hugh McGregor, et al. · Biological Conservation · 2017
Environmental enrichment for indoor cats
PaperHerron and Buffington reviewed the principles and practice of environmental enrichment for indoor-housed cats, translating research on feline behaviour and stress physiology into practical recommendat…
Meghan E. Herron, C. A. Tony Buffington · Compendium: Continuing Education for Veterinarians · 2010
Estimated number of birds killed by cats in Canada
PaperBlancher estimated the annual mortality of birds caused by cats in Canada, applying methods similar to large-scale predation assessments elsewhere. By combining figures on the numbers of pet and feral…
Peter Blancher · Avian Conservation and Ecology · 2013
Experimental evaluation of attachment behaviours in owned cats
PaperEdwards and colleagues tested whether the bond between cats and owners meets formal criteria for attachment by observing owned cats in an Ainsworth-style procedure with episodes of the owner present,…
Claudia Edwards, Marcia Heiblum, Argel Tejeda, Francisco Galindo · Journal of Veterinary Behavior · 2007
Facial expressions of pain in cats: the Feline Grimace Scale
PaperEvangelista and colleagues developed and validated a Feline Grimace Scale, a practical tool to assess acute pain in cats from facial expression. By analyzing photographs of cats in pain and after anal…
Marina C. Evangelista, Ryota Watanabe, Vivian S. Y. Leung, et al. · Scientific Reports · 2019
Feline polycystic kidney disease mutation identified in PKD1
PaperLyons and colleagues identified the mutation responsible for polycystic kidney disease in cats, a common inherited disorder especially prevalent in Persian and related breeds that causes fluid-filled…
Leslie A. Lyons, David S. Biller, Carolyn A. Erdman, et al. · Journal of the American Society of Nephrology · 2004
Food puzzles for cats: feeding for physical and emotional wellbeing
PaperDantas and colleagues reviewed the use of food puzzles, devices that require cats to work to extract food, as an enrichment and management tool. Drawing on behavioural research, they argued that food…
Leticia M. S. Dantas, Mikel M. Delgado, Ingrid Johnson, C. A. Tony Buffington · Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery · 2016
High-meat food and object play reduce predation by domestic cats
PaperCecchetti and colleagues tested practical, non-restrictive ways to cut the number of wild animals pet cats bring home. In a controlled trial, households trialled interventions including feeding a high…
Martina Cecchetti, Sarah L. Crowley, Cecily E. D. Goodwin, Robbie A. McDonald · Current Biology · 2021
How cats purr
PaperSissom, Rice and Peters investigated the long-debated mechanism of purring by recording the sound and associated body vibrations in domestic cats. They documented that purring is produced continuously…
D. E. Frazer Sissom, D. A. Rice, G. Peters · Journal of Zoology · 1991
How many birds are killed by cats in Australia?
PaperWoinarski and colleagues estimated the toll that cats take on Australian birds, combining data on cat density, distribution and diet across the continent. They calculated that feral cats in natural en…
John C. Z. Woinarski, Brett P. Murphy, Sarah M. Legge, et al. · Biological Conservation · 2017
How many reptiles are killed by cats in Australia?
PaperExtending their continental analysis of cat predation, Woinarski and colleagues estimated the number of reptiles killed by cats in Australia. Using data on cat density, dietary frequency of reptiles a…
John C. Z. Woinarski, Brett P. Murphy, Russell Palmer, et al. · Wildlife Research · 2018
Invasive predators and global biodiversity loss
PaperDoherty and colleagues assessed the contribution of invasive predators, prominently including feral cats, to global vertebrate extinctions and declines. Analyzing threatened and extinct species worldw…
Tim S. Doherty, Alistair S. Glen, Dale G. Nimmo, Euan G. Ritchie, Chris R. Dickman · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2016
Myocardial failure in cats associated with low plasma taurine: a reversible cardiomyopathy
PaperPion and colleagues discovered that dilated cardiomyopathy, then a common and usually fatal heart disease in cats, was frequently caused by deficiency of the amino acid taurine, which cats cannot synt…
Paul D. Pion, Mark D. Kittleson, Quinton R. Rogers, James G. Morris · Science · 1987
Neural and mechanical mechanisms of feline purring
PaperRemmers and Gautier examined how cats generate the purr by combining electromyographic recordings of respiratory and laryngeal muscles with airflow measurements. They found that purring involves rhyth…
J. E. Remmers, H. Gautier · Respiration Physiology · 1972