🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

Genetic tools illuminate how feral cat populations are connected, structured and sourced, informing management, and this overview surveys that research. It examines studies using molecular markers to…

After a sufficient mating stimulus, the time from the luteinizing hormone surge to actual egg release follows a characteristic interval that determines the optimal window for fertilization. This overv…

An overview of how the scent of felid predators alone can suppress prey foraging, movement and reproduction, demonstrating nonconsumptive effects without any direct attack. Prey detect chemical cues o…

Studies of feline diabetic remission have sought to identify which cats are most likely to achieve insulin independence, with factors such as shorter duration of disease before treatment, prompt achie…

Accurately confirming and dating pregnancy in cats supports both clinical care and reproductive research. This overview surveys methods used to diagnose feline pregnancy, including abdominal palpation…

An overview of why island faunas that evolved without mammalian predators are devastated when cats are introduced. Lacking evolved anti-predator defenses, island birds, reptiles and small mammals are…

Domestic and small wild cats are generalist ambush hunters that adjust tactics to prey type, alternating sit-and-wait at burrows and active mobile searching. This overview synthesises diet and behavio…

How cats approach novel problems reveals their cognitive style and motivation. This overview surveys research using puzzle feeders, string-pulling tasks, and detour problems, examining persistence, th…

Progestin-based contraceptives have been used to suppress reproduction in captive cats, but concerns about side effects have shaped their use. This overview surveys the application of progestin contra…

Beyond the vestibular system, cats rely on proprioception, the sense of the position and movement of their own limbs and body, to move with precision. This overview surveys feline proprioception, supp…

Cats fuel themselves chiefly with protein and fat, and this overview reviews how they use these substrates in feeding and fasting. With limited reliance on carbohydrate, cats draw energy from dietary…

The degree of urinary protein loss, assessed by the urine protein-to-creatinine ratio, is an important prognostic indicator in feline CKD, with higher proteinuria associated with faster progression an…

When a cat ovulates without conceiving, the resulting corpora lutea secrete progesterone and produce a pseudopregnancy, a non-fertile luteal phase shorter than true gestation. This overview surveys th…

A cat's pupils change not only with light level but with arousal, fear, and excitement, making the pupil a window onto both optics and emotional state. This overview surveys the dual control of the fe…

Pupil size interacts with how an eye focuses, since a smaller aperture increases depth of field while a larger one demands more precise accommodation. This overview surveys how the feline pupil and le…

Purring is not unique to the domestic cat, and its distribution across felids has long been used to divide the family. This overview surveys the traditional contrast between purring cats, which cannot…

Although purring is popularly equated with happiness, cats also purr when injured, frightened, giving birth or near death, prompting research into the contexts and possible functions of the behaviour.…

Some of the founding experiments of comparative psychology used cats in puzzle boxes to study how animals learn to escape confinement. This overview surveys the historical work in which cats gradually…

Diseases of the reproductive tract, such as the uterine infection pyometra, affect fertility and welfare in domestic and nondomestic cats. This overview surveys reproductive tract pathology in felids,…

Assessing how good a cat's life is requires validated tools, and this overview surveys the development of quality-of-life and welfare assessment instruments for cats. It covers questionnaires and clin…

Assessing quality of life in aging and chronically ill cats is an important but challenging aspect of geriatric care, and structured tools and frameworks have been developed to help owners and veterin…

Numerical cognition has been studied extensively in birds and primates, and a smaller body of work asks whether cats discriminate quantities. This overview surveys experiments testing whether cats can…

Rabies vaccination of cats protects both feline and human health given the lethal, zoonotic nature of the disease, and is legally required in many jurisdictions. Research on duration of immunity suppo…

Radioactive iodine (I-131) therapy is widely regarded as the gold-standard treatment for feline hyperthyroidism because it selectively destroys overactive thyroid tissue while sparing normal tissue, o…

Cats form bonds with specific people, and research has probed how they recognise their humans. This overview surveys evidence that cats identify owners primarily through voice, as shown in vocal-recog…

Researchers and illustrators have attempted to simulate feline color perception by combining dichromatic cone data with measured acuity. This overview surveys those reconstructions, which typically re…

Aggression in cats takes several forms, and redirected aggression, in which a cat aroused by one stimulus attacks a nearby individual, is among the most disruptive in homes. This overview surveys rese…

After exposure, cats follow divergent outcomes that modern molecular testing has clarified. In progressive infection, the immune system fails to contain the virus, leading to persistent viremia, ongoi…

Remdesivir, a prodrug that is metabolized to the active nucleoside analog GS-441524, became a legally available, regulated treatment option for FIP in some countries, offering an injectable alternativ…

Feline renal transplantation has been performed at specialized centers as a treatment for advanced CKD, with recipient cats requiring lifelong immunosuppression and donors typically adopted by the rec…