🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

This study characterized the lentivirus circulating in free-ranging African lions and confirmed it as a distinct feline immunodeficiency virus lineage (FIV-Ple) related to but divergent from the domes…

E. W. Brown, N. Yuhki, C. Packer, S. J. O’Brien · Journal of Virology · 1994

This study quantified prey returned by house cats living beside a suburban nature preserve, distinguishing cats kept partly indoors from those roaming freely, and estimated the predation they imposed…

Kays RW, DeWan AA · Animal Conservation · 2004

This study described a feline leukemia virus (FeLV) outbreak in the endangered Florida panther, a small, inbred puma population. Through surveillance testing, the authors detected progressive FeLV inf…

M. W. Cunningham, M. A. Brown, D. B. Shindle, et al. · Journal of Wildlife Diseases · 2008

This study documented a feline leukemia virus (FeLV) outbreak in the critically endangered Iberian lynx population of Donana, Spain. Through field surveillance, molecular diagnostics and pathology, th…

M. L. Meli, V. Cattori, F. Martínez, et al. · PLoS ONE · 2009

This study used radio-telemetry to characterise the movements of owned and un-owned free-roaming domestic cats in an urbanising landscape, revealing that un-owned cats ranged over far larger areas tha…

Horn JA, Mateus-Pinilla N, Warner RE, Heske EJ · Journal of Wildlife Management · 2011

The European wildcat occupies forest and agricultural mosaics across Europe, where proximity to settlements brings hybridisation with domestic cats, road mortality and habitat fragmentation. This over…

Lentiviruses related to domestic-cat FIV circulate widely in wild felid species including lions, pumas, leopards, and others, often at high seroprevalence yet apparently with limited disease in their…

Decades of feline genetics have assembled a catalog of genes controlling color, pattern, and hair properties in cats, including agouti, melanocortin-1 receptor, the brown locus, dilution, dominant whi…

Leopard cats occur not only in deep farmland but at the fringes of towns and suburbs across parts of Asia, suggesting considerable tolerance of human activity. This overview synthesises camera-trap an…

Declawing of big cats, performed in some private and entertainment settings to reduce injury risk to handlers, removes the last bone of each toe and has lasting welfare consequences. This overview sur…

The domestic cat traces to a desert-adapted wild ancestor, and this overview reviews how that heritage shapes its water physiology today. Descended from the African wildcat of arid regions, domestic c…

Felids living at the edges of cities, such as bobcats and mountain lions in California, face a distinctive disease landscape shaped by human activity. This overview surveys the disease ecology of urba…

Free-ranging domestic cats prey on a wide range of urban and suburban wildlife, with documented effects on birds, small mammals, reptiles and amphibians. This overview synthesises predation-rate studi…

Where domestic cats overlap with wild felids, interbreeding can erode the genetic distinctiveness of wild species, a documented threat to European wildcats and a concern for other small cats near sett…

Feline leukemia virus is fundamentally a domestic-cat pathogen, yet it has crossed into endangered wild felids with lethal consequences. This overview surveys documented and suspected spillover events…

The risk that domestic-cat pathogens reach wild felids and other wildlife scales with the density and distribution of free-roaming cats, especially near protected areas. This overview surveys research…

When feline leukemia virus appears in an endangered wild felid, tracing its origin is crucial for management. This overview surveys how molecular phylogenetics is used to attribute wild FeLV infection…

Captive big cats now routinely reach advanced ages, and zoos have developed geriatric care programs addressing arthritis, dental disease, kidney and heart disease, cancer, and quality-of-life assessme…

Where small wild felids overlap with free-ranging domestic cats around settlements, hybridisation and disease transmission can threaten the genetic integrity and health of wild populations. This overv…

Degenerative joint disease is extremely common in older cats, both domestic and exotic, yet often under-recognised because cats mask pain. This overview surveys how osteoarthritis is detected and mana…

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…

Vaccines against feline immunodeficiency virus exist for domestic cats but raise complex questions when considered for wild felids harboring their own endemic lentiviruses. This overview surveys the i…

Interpreting antibody tests in wild felids is complicated by cross-reactivity, where antibodies to one pathogen react with tests for a related agent, blurring diagnoses. This overview surveys the diag…

Serological and molecular surveys of wild felid populations have documented widespread infection with species-specific lentiviruses related to FIV, often at high prevalence in lions and pumas, general…

Consensus veterinary guidelines distil decades of feline welfare science into five environmental needs: a safe place to retreat; multiple and separated key resources; opportunity for play and predator…

Mesopredator release, in which the decline of top predators allows smaller predators to increase and overexploit prey, is a foundational concept linking urban fragmentation to biodiversity loss. This…

Captive big cats are vaccinated against diseases that threaten felids, including panleukopenia, the respiratory viruses, and rabies, with protocols adapted from domestic-cat guidelines but informed by…

Wild felids living near cities are exposed to pathogens including feline immunodeficiency virus, feline leukemia virus and others, sometimes shared with domestic cats, raising conservation and One Hea…

This synthesis reviews the conservation standing of the leopard cat, broadly secure across its vast range thanks to adaptability and tolerance of human-modified habitats, while noting important except…

Drawing on GPS-tracking of hundreds of pet cats across several countries, this study found that owned cats typically stayed close to home with small home ranges, yet concentrated their hunting in thos…

Kays R, Dunn RR, Parsons AW, Mcdonald B, et al · Animal Conservation · 2020