🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

Litter size in cats varies within and between species, influenced by maternal age and condition, resource availability, and species biology. This overview surveys typical litter sizes from small felid…

The composition of cat milk supports the rapid early growth of altricial young and changes over the course of lactation. This overview surveys what is known about the fat, protein, and energy content…

The quality and developmental competence of eggs decline with maternal age, contributing to reduced fertility in older female cats. This overview surveys research on how aging affects felid oocytes, i…

Stimulating the ovaries with exogenous gonadotropins to produce multiple follicles is a key step in collecting eggs or preparing females for insemination in cats. This overview surveys ovarian stimula…

Grafting felid ovarian tissue into immunodeficient host animals is an experimental method for maturing follicles and recovering oocytes from banked or rescued tissue. This overview surveys research on…

Synchronizing ovulation with the delivery of semen is essential for successful artificial insemination, since eggs and sperm must meet within a narrow window. This overview surveys methods for timing…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

In some social or group-housed felids, subordinate individuals may experience reduced reproduction through social or physiological suppression. This overview surveys reproductive suppression in cats,…

Solitary cats rely heavily on chemical signals to advertise reproductive status and locate mates across large ranges. This overview surveys how felids use urine spraying, scrapes, cheek rubbing, and g…

Felids scratch trees and other surfaces and create ground scrapes that combine visual marks with scent from glands in the paws. This overview surveys research on the marking function of scratching acr…

Cats living in temperate climates often show seasonal patterns of reproduction, with estrus and breeding concentrated in particular times of year, whereas tropical species may cycle year-round. This o…

The sex ratio of felid litters and any biases in maternal investment toward sons or daughters bear on population dynamics and evolutionary theory. This overview surveys evidence for sex ratio patterns…

Freezing and storing sperm is the most established form of felid biobanking, enabling the preservation and transport of male genetics. This overview surveys methods for cryopreserving cat sperm, inclu…

Although cats are classically described as induced ovulators, accumulating evidence shows that some domestic cats ovulate spontaneously without mating, particularly under certain social and environmen…

Cats sometimes kill more prey than they consume, a phenomenon called surplus killing that appears when vulnerable prey is abundant and the killing response is repeatedly triggered. This overview surve…

Recovering sperm directly from the testis or epididymis provides an alternative source of gametes, especially from animals that cannot be electroejaculated or are recently deceased. This overview surv…

Reproductive hormone levels in male cats can vary seasonally and with social status, influencing semen quality and reproductive behavior. This overview surveys research on testosterone and related and…

Roughly two-thirds of domestic cats display a stereotyped response to catnip, sniffing, licking, rolling, and rubbing, triggered by the compound nepetalactone acting through the olfactory and vomerona…

Play is energetically costly and potentially risky, yet pervasive in young cats, prompting debate over its functions. This overview surveys the major hypotheses, including play as practice for predati…

The release of mature eggs in cats depends on a surge of luteinizing hormone from the pituitary, which in most species is evoked by the sensory stimulus of mating. This overview describes how the magn…

The combination of the dissociative anesthetic tiletamine with the benzodiazepine zolazepam, marketed as Telazol or Zoletil, is widely used for chemical restraint and anesthesia of felids ranging from…

True tool use is essentially absent in cats, but felids display tool-adjacent behaviours that involve manipulating objects and environments to achieve goals. This overview surveys examples such as usi…

Ultrasonography is a noninvasive imaging tool used to detect pregnancy, estimate fetal age, count and monitor fetuses, and assess viability in cats. This overview surveys how ultrasound is applied acr…

Weaning marks the shift from dependence on maternal milk to consuming solid prey, a gradual transition whose timing varies with species and circumstances. This overview surveys weaning ages across the…

Although domestic cats have vertical-slit pupils, large felids such as lions and tigers have round pupils, a contrast that has attracted scientific attention. This overview surveys the explanation tie…

Cats develop a zonary, endotheliochorial placenta that forms a band around the fetus and mediates maternal-fetal exchange during gestation. This overview surveys the structure and development of the f…