Whether you love cats or hate ‘em, we can all agree, no other cats have a rap quite like black cats. While black cats are tied to Halloween, black magic and misfortune, there’s significantly more to them than unpleasant stuff. Learn more about them, how they became Halloween symbols, the places where they bring luck, … Read more
While real cat stars are scarce, plenty of cartoon cats have earned a place in movie history. The prototype was Felix the Cat, an odd little character that became famous in silent animated films of the 1920s and remains popular in comic books and on television. Felix was followed by the clownish black-and-white Sylvester featured … Read more
When I was six, I met my first real cat—a scruffy orange tabby named Oliver who lived under our neighbor’s porch. He was grumpy, fluffy, and had the confidence of a king. One summer evening, he walked right up, sat in my lap, and started purring like a tiny motorcycle. That moment changed everything for … Read more
One of the earliest ancestors of our modern cats is considered to be a meat-eating mammal named Proailurus (meaning “before cats”), which appeared in what is now Eurasia during the Oligocene epoch 34–23 million years ago. Little is known about Proailurus, but fossil remains show that it was not much larger than a domestic cat … Read more
With their lithe bodies and graceful movements, it is perhaps surprising that cats have not been represented more often in either classical or contemporary ballet. Two of the few cats in the ballet repertoire appear in the final act of Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty (first performed in 1890) when, among other fairy-tale characters, Puss in … Read more
Anesthesia is a word that tends to inspire uneasiness and fear in many people. In actuality, though, anesthesia is an indispensable tool in veterinary medicine (and human medicine, as well!). It is required for the painless performance of many important procedures, including surgery, dentistry, diagnostics, and restraint. There are basically two types of anesthetics that … Read more
A 21st-century phenomenon is the proliferation of cat photos and videos on the internet. What began as a craze for posting clips of bizarre and amusing cats has, for a few, turned into big business, especially in the United States. Certain videos went viral, and cats with particularly striking features—as well as one with a … Read more
Elegant, powerful, and elusive, wildcats can be large and may roar like a lion, or small and purr like a domestic cat. They are superb hunters, adapted to be as successful living in a dry sandy desert as they are in a dense tropical forest. Cats are predatory hunters belonging to the order Carnivora. They … Read more
The origins of today’s domestic cat extend back some 10 million years to wildcat ancestors. Feline evolution proves complex, however, with domestication taking place in multiple early societies. Tracing genetic and archaeological clues shed light on the nature of our modern felines’ early progenitors. Exploring the legacy of these fierce hunters allows cat owners better … Read more
Among carnivores, the cat family Felidae are the most accomplished killers and are highly specialized anatomically for this purpose. Some species are capable of killing prey larger than themselves. The big cats, or pantherine branch—large, impressive, fast, and ferocious—appeared at least 10.8 million years ago. Later branches gave rise first to the bay cat group … Read more