Dija Know?

Domestic Cats are just like Big Cats

Part One

• All cats are descended from a single remote ancestral species.
• Most all cats, wild and domestic, have 38 chromosomes.
• The Puma, native to North America purrs just like the domestic cat.
• All cats, big and small, share the same hunting behaviors such as: stalking, using ambush with a short burst of speed to intercept its prey.  Most cats, big and small kill their prey with a bite to the back of the neck.
• Anatomy.  All cats have five toes on their forepaws and four toes on their hind feet.  The fifth claw on the front paws act much like a human thumbnail, in which the cat utilizes for climbing and holding on to his prey.
• The pads at the base of each toe allow the cat to walk silently for hunting.
• Except for the Cheetah (they have semi retracting claws) cats have retractable claws, almost like a switchblade knife. The claws are used to hold the prey while they insert a canine tooth into the cervical vertebrae. (neck)
• Whiskers are used for quickly and accurately placing the killing bite to the back of the neck.
• Cats have 30 teeth.  Fifteen teeth on each side of the skull.
• They have canines for grasping and killing their prey.  These canines (long wedge shaped) have pressure sensing nerve endings.  This allows the cats to feel with their canines.  The ability to feel with these teeth helps the cats to kill their prey quickly.
• The cat's teeth, both big cat and little cat, have incisors, and carnassials.  Incisors are the front teeth.  Unlike other animals which may have curved incisors, cats incisors are very straight.  The carnassials, (where human molars are located) are somewhat pointed and act like scissor blades.  This allows cats to tear off pieces of meat small enough to swallow. 
• The anatomy of the ear is much the same for all of the cats.  The auditory bulla, a bony chamber filled with air, houses the ear ossicles of the middle ear.  The Bulla is a part of the skull, lying between the eardrum at the base of the outer canal and the labyrinth of coils and nerve cells that translate vibrations of the eardrum into signals the brain interprets as sound.  The cats ear, with a highly developed sense of hearing allows the feline to locate their prey.  The inner ear serves to orient the cat during jumps and leaps.  This highly developed inner ear allows many species of cats to land on "all fours" during a leap.
• The tongues of cats are different from all other animals.  The tongue is covered with little hooks or pointed projections called papillae.  Cats use their tongue for cleaning themselves and for scraping meat off of bones. 
• The sense of smell in cats is little known.  It is thought to be less developed than canines, for instance.  Cats do have a unique way of recognizing scents left by other felines.  This ability is called the Flehman Response.  Scent is picked up through the Jacobson's organ located in the roof of the mouth.  This organ made of two fluid filled sacs connects directly with the cat's nasal cavity via ducts.  The cat takes on a grimace type face when he senses a particular scent.  The Jacobson's organ with its rich blood supply, transmits the smell to the brain.  A domestic cat shares this trait with his bigger brethren, such as the tiger.
• Vision.  Cat have unusually large eyes for their skull size.  The pupils of their eyes are able to open very wide for low light conditions and yet close down to almost a pin point in bright conditions.  House cat's pupils are more like vertical slits while the big cats are more round or oval.  All cats, big and small have superior night vision.  
• Cats also have well developed stereoscopic vision. Eyes positioned in their skulls are much like the position of human eyes.  This stereoscopic function allows cats to accurately judge distances in their pursuit of prey.
• Temperature control.  Cats have sweat glands in the pads of their feet and around their anal and genital area.  Panting, cools the body and cools the brain directly.  This "heat exchanger" system starts in the cat's nasal cavity.  When the felid pants, tiny blood vessels in the sinuses carry the cooled air to an area called the carotid rete.  This area in turn cools the arterial blood going to the brain.  This system, more elaborate than the canine's, efficiently and quickly cools the cat during times of high activity, such as during a chase of prey.

Cool Cat stories and stuff

• Humans first accepted cats because of the cats eagerness to hunt the mice that ate the grain products.  Of course the cats didn't touch the grain.
• Domesticated cats probably occurred in Egypt around 2000 BC
• The Egyptians adored cats.  As a matter of fact, if a person killed a cat, either accidentally or on purpose, that person would be killed.
• The Egyptian Sphinx is a representation of a lion with the head of a pharaoh.  The body of the lion signified the pharaoh's power and importance.
• In ancient Egypt, when a cat died, the occupants of the house would go into deep mourning and shave their eyebrows.  
• The Norse goddess Freya is depicted riding a chariot drawn by cats.  The Norseman used cats on their ships to control rats.
• Christians hated cats and associated them with witchcraft.  In the middle ages, the church instituted a killing spree that lasted for hundreds of years.  Eventually the rat population got out of hand and contributed to the plague in Europe that killed millions.
• Muslims prefer cats as pets.  There are many references to prophets in regard to their kind treatment of cats.

The name "cat" in other languages:

• Miu        Egypt
• gato        Spain
• katze       Germany
• chat        France
• gatto       Italy
• chatool   Hebrew
• puccha    Sanskrit
• kots         Russia
• cath         Welsh

Stay tuned for part two

How big cats and little cats act alike.