Distributing pictures of domestic cats appears to be one of the most important justifications for the existence of the Internet. So I hereby contribute my share.
A cat that lives indoors sharing living space with humans.
Domestic cats make very good pets. They love to be petted, they are cute and they are sort of house broken as default (they do want to bury their waste so it is not that difficult to get your cat to use a litter box). Of course there is the issue of all the ruined furniture if they are kept indoors.
The domestic cat (Felis catus), just like its wild relatives such as the tiger and the lion, is a carnivorous animal.
Descended from the wild cat (Felis silvestris) domestic cats are meant to live on meat, they cannot even taste the sweetness of sugar, neither can their metabolism cope with it very well.
European wild cat (Felis silvestris silvestris) sleeping in the Szeged Zoo.
Wild cats look a lot like domestic tabbies.
If you decide to get one, especially if you are going to keep her locked up in your apartment, you must remember that most emphatically, your cat is NOT a vegetarian.
Tabby — probably the color variation closest to an actual wild cat.
So if you are a devout vegan, and can’t stand the thought of your pet eating meat, please do not get a cat as a pet. You will be so much happier with a vegetarian pet such as a rabbit or a guinea pig!
If you do think that cats are for you you can get one, or a few. If you feel an uncontrollable urge to have dozens of cats, or start trapping feral cats in your area and locking them up in your house you are probably a cat hoarder. Seek professional help!
Even so called ‘domestic’ cats are semi-feral at best.
A have met this well groomed and well fed cat in a patch of grass in Toronto while trying to take pictures of various insects in the area. Unlike most cats, it did not flee when I got closer, it has approached me instead showing some interest in what I was doing with my camera. This cat appears to be very well taken care of, yet it was alone in the middle of nowhere. Which just proves my point that cats just go where they please.
They love to roam free and do as they please, which includes hunting for small animals and eating them, drinking from sewers and in general getting to places you don’t even want to know about.
You better learn to live with it, or else you will need to lock your cat up and keep her prisoner at all times.
Traditionally humans kept cats around to help control the rodent population. Cats will happily hunt and eat mice or even rats. Of course they like all sorts of meaty food, including fish.
These are cats leading a sort of feral existence on the grounds of the Szeged Zoo.
Here seen feasting on some fish that they have managed to steal from some other animal’s lunch.
Domestic cats come in many color variation, ranging from completely while to completely black with all sorts of shades and patterns in between.
For some reason the black variety of domestic cat was associated with witchcraft and black magic for some reason.
In fact in the middle ages cats could be burned as witches. The other color variations luckily do not have the same superstitions built around them.
Even though cats are semi feral creatures, on a cold day they do enjoy taking a nap indoors.
Cats in other posts:
Further Readings:
Domestic cat on Wikipedia.
Domestic Cats.
A Brief History of House Cats.
When Pets Don’t Get Enough of The Right Kind of Protein.
