🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

Reflecting light back through the retina improves sensitivity but also scatters photons, slightly degrading the sharpness of the image. This overview surveys discussion of that tradeoff in cats, where…

Just as people differ in attachment styles toward other humans, those styles may shape how they relate to companion animals. This overview surveys research linking owners' adult attachment orientation…

Human chorionic gonadotropin mimics luteinizing hormone and is widely used to trigger ovulation in felids after follicular development has been stimulated. This overview surveys how the hormone is adm…

How people interpret cat purrs is itself a subject of study, given the role of purring in cat-human communication. This overview surveys research on human listeners' responses to different purrs, incl…

Predatory behaviour and predatory play in cats are only loosely coupled to hunger, a feature that has intrigued researchers. This overview surveys studies manipulating feeding state and prey-like stim…

Cats frequently locate and strike at prey they cannot see, relying on hearing to guide the attack. This overview surveys how acute sound localization and broad, high-reaching hearing enable cats to hu…

The European wildcat faces a genetic threat from interbreeding with free-ranging domestic cats, which can erode the wild population's distinct genome through introgression. This overview surveys genet…

A substantial proportion of diabetic cats, particularly those with difficult-to-control or insulin-resistant diabetes, have underlying hypersomatotropism, excess growth hormone from a pituitary tumor,…

Hyperthyroidism increases cardiac output and glomerular filtration, which can mask concurrent chronic kidney disease by lowering blood markers like creatinine; treating the hyperthyroidism and restori…

FIP is fundamentally an immunopathologic disease in which the host immune response contributes to tissue injury. The classic vasculitis and pyogranulomas arise from interactions between infected macro…

The conditions under which felid embryos are cultured after fertilization strongly affect how many develop to stages suitable for transfer or freezing. This overview surveys research on in vitro cultu…

In vitro fertilization in the domestic cat has provided the methodological foundation for producing felid embryos outside the body. This overview surveys how cat oocytes are recovered, matured, and fe…

Closed breeding populations and selection for type can erode genetic diversity, and this overview surveys research on inbreeding and diversity across cat breeds. It examines studies measuring heterozy…

Each of a cat's ears can move independently, allowing it to monitor two directions at once or to converge both ears on a single sound. This overview surveys the behavioral and functional significance…

Each cat may carry a distinctive chemical signature encoded in its scent marks and body odor, allowing other cats to recognize individuals. This overview surveys the idea that the mixture of compounds…

Maintaining social relationships requires recognising specific individuals, and this overview surveys evidence that cats discriminate familiar from unfamiliar conspecifics. It covers the cues involved…

Like other vocalizations, purrs vary among individual cats, and this overview surveys what is known about that variation and its possible functions. It examines acoustic measurements of fundamental fr…

Most cats are induced ovulators, meaning that the surge of luteinizing hormone needed to release eggs is triggered by the physical stimulation of mating rather than occurring spontaneously on a fixed…

Induced ovulation is widespread but not universal among carnivores, and comparing felids with mustelids, some canids, and other groups clarifies how the mechanism evolved and varies. This overview sur…

Reprogramming felid somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells offers a future route to generating gametes and preserving genetic diversity. This overview surveys early research on deriving ind…

Selective breeding concentrates not only desired traits but also disease-causing mutations, and this overview surveys inherited disorders documented across cat breeds. It covers conditions such as hyp…

Research showed that tight glycemic control, often using long-acting insulin glargine combined with a low-carbohydrate diet and initiated early in newly diagnosed cats, can achieve diabetic remission,…

Understanding behaviour and cognition is central to safeguarding feline welfare, and this overview surveys how research translates into care. It covers welfare frameworks that incorporate the cat's ev…

Aggression between cats sharing a home is a frequent and distressing problem, and this overview surveys its forms, causes and management. It examines types of inter-cat aggression including territoria…

When cats scratch surfaces, they leave more than visible marks; scent glands between the toes deposit chemical signals as well. This overview surveys the role of interdigital, or paw, glands in scent…

Transferring embryos of a rare cat into a more common related species as surrogate offers a way to produce offspring without risking the endangered female. This overview surveys interspecies embryo tr…

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection, in which a single sperm is injected directly into an egg, offers a route to fertilization when sperm are scarce or of poor quality. This overview surveys the developm…

Do cats hold expectations about how physical objects behave, such as that unsupported objects fall? This overview surveys experiments probing feline intuitive physics, including studies using rattling…

Building on early comparative work, a series of studies probed how far cats can track objects hidden by invisible displacement, where an object is concealed in a container that is then moved behind a…

An iodine-restricted therapeutic diet offers a non-invasive management option for feline hyperthyroidism, exploiting the thyroid's dependence on dietary iodine to synthesize hormone; strictly limiting…