CAT

Anatomy

Skeleton and muscles

The Denture of the cat is the following one: Like all the carnivorous S, the higher last Premolar and the molar first lower form the Carnassière S. Those make it possible the cat to tear its food, thanks to powerful muscles fixed at the side walls of its cranium, and to swallow it without chewing it.

The skeleton is composed of 250 bones. The vertebrae of the neck are short, and the spinal column is very flexible. The caudal vertebrae prolong the column, but it should be noted that their number is variable according to the races. The tail plays a part in balance. The forefeet end in five fingers equipped with retractile claws consisted of Kératine, the posterior legs, longer than the forefeet, end in four fingers also equipped with retractile claws.

The muscles of the back are very flexible and those of the posterior legs are powerful. These specificities confer on the animal a great flexibility and a " détente" full, at the time of the jumps for example.

Because of a Food more diversified and less rich in Protein S, the Intestin S of the cat domesticates are longer than among its wild ancestors. With a reduction in its size, it is the most notable Adaptation to its novel mode of life. A cat weighs between 2,5 and 9 kg. It measures from 60 to 75 cm with the tail.

Peeling

Directions

Predatory twilight (to lay down and raise sun) in the beginning, the cat has very developed directions. It perceives its universe differently the human ones, and supernatural capacities were even lent to him. There exists thus many Légende S of cats having predicted earthquakes or other catastrophes. The most probable explanation is that its ear is ready to perceive inaudible vibrations for the human S.

The Hearing

Its hearing is particularly sensitive in the high frequencies: it perceives Ultrason S up to 30000 Hz whereas the human Oreille is limited to 20000 Hz. Its house in horn can be directed thanks to twenty-seven Muscle S, which enables him to swivel each ear independently to locate with precision the source of a Bruit and its distance.

The deafness of the white cats makes debate today. This deafness would be related to the white color (gene " W"). Schematically, one can say that all the white cats are genetically deaf in general. This anomaly, although presents at the genetic level, is not expressed systematically in all the cats. Thus, either the tare remains hidden and the ear develops normally, or the tare appears and in this case the degeneration is complete: the cat is completely deaf ear reached. Knowing that a cat has two ears and that the anomaly always does not affect the two ears in the same way, three cases arise: deafness is bilateral, unilateral or absent.

It is indeed shown that the allele W, at the origin of the color " white dominant" , is directly responsible for a degeneration of the internal ear, causing deafness. The kitten is born normal but towards age the one week, its internal ear, instead of continuing to develop sudden progressive deteriorations. The degeneration is generally complete at three weeks.

The Seen

The sight is its paramount direction. Its field of view is also wider than that of the human ones: 287° against 180°, which remains however far from the absolute records of the animal world. The luminous intensity influences the form of the Pupille: lengthened in narrow slit in full light, it dilates in a perfect circle with the half-light. Contrary to a spread idea, it is unable to see in the complete black. It is however much more powerful than us in the half-light. The night, the aspect shining of the eyes is due to a layer of cells of the Rétine, called tapetum lucidum, which acts like a mirror and returns the perceived light, which makes it pass one second time in the retina and thus multiplies by two its vision in the darkness.

On the other hand, the cat does not perceive the colors in the same way nor even the movements that us: it would seem (that is still discussed) that it does not perceive the red color and that, generally, it distinguishes the details very badly. Its vision is granulous on the still images whereas an object moving appears to him more clearly (for example a prey moving).

A characteristic of the eye of the cat is which in addition to the Paupière S lower and higher, it is protected by a third eyelid, the membrane nictitante. This one is closed starting from the lower edge of the internal corner of the eye towards outside. When it is not closed again completely, it is often the sign of an health issue in the cat (digestive disorders, parasitism generally or entérite). The cats can have the eyes of various colors like blue, green, yellow, maroon…

The Sense of smell

Its sense of smell is forty times more powerful than that of human and has a great importance in the social life of cat-like to delimit its territory. In addition, it is its developed sense of smell which enables him to detect damaged and poisoned food. It has twenty million olfactive terminals, against five million at the human ones.

The Taste

The direction of the taste is developed in the cat, less than at the human one however: in the cat, one counts nearly 2000 gustatory buds whereas the man has 9000 of them, that is to say 4,5 times more. Contrary to the Chien, the gustatory direction of the cat is localized at the end of the language, which enables him to taste without swallowing. It is sensitive to the land-mark, with the acid and with salted, but not with sweetened.

The To touch

Its direction of the touch is also well developed. Its Vibrisse S (moustache) indicates the proximity of obstacles to him, even in the total darkness, while enabling him to detect the variations of Pression of the air. Those also enable him to measure the width of a passage. The bearings furnishing its legs are very sensitive to the vibrations and its skin is constellated with extremely sensitive tactile cells.

Other directions

The Organe of Jacobson is a true sixth direction. Like the Dog or the Horse, the cat is able to taste the odors using its voméro-nasal Organe. It rolls up its Babine S to make it possible the odors to go up by two small conduits located behind the Incisive S to two bags filled with fluid in the nasal cavities charged to concentrate the odors.

Its vestibular Organe is also particularly developed, conferring a direction of remarkable balance to him. This explains the astonishing faculty which have the cats to be turned over quickly to fall down on their legs during a fall.

It can also jump to a height five times higher than its size.

In the race, its mean velocity is of 40 km/h and it spends 9 seconds to make 100 m, but it is not a long-distance runner and it is tired rather quickly.

Balance during a fall

If a cat makes a fall of two meters and more (if such is not the case, its technique does not go) whereas it is on the back, it can be turned over in order to deaden this fall. Indeed, it is turned over while showing its belly, then is turned over again, this time on the belly, and takes a position which resembles that of a squirrel stealing. As soon as it approaches the ground, it gathers its legs, as if it were on ground. However that does not save it inevitably, that makes just the fall less serious. Sometimes, that is not enough, and it is death.

Behaviors

The cat is of a very independent nature. Contrary to the dog, he only walks. He washes itself.

The socialization of the kitten is established during the first weeks of its life. For this period, it is the number of human with which it is in contact and the attitude of his mother with those who will determine her affectionate or distant character.

Ethology

The cat is classified among the territorial animals. That means that the safeguarding of its place of life is the principal engine of its interactions with the other individuals. When several cats divide the same apartment, it is not rare to see them choosing each one its clean “way” to go from a place to another; they divide their territory thus.

In a wild state, it has a night twilight activity, helped by its very sensitive eyes. See: Cat haret .

For a long time the cat was regarded as a primarily solitary animal and the groups like the aggregations of individuals centered around points of food but without social structure. Thereafter it became clear that the colonies form true social groups. The cats have a flexible lifestyle and adapt their social behavior according to the environment. With low population density, they are mainly solitary and territorial, or form small groups made up of the females and their descent, as it is often the case for the cats which live in a house or an apartment. With high density they form groups multi-males multi-females, as it is the case for the cats harets which live in the parks, the ruins, the ports, the shipyards… The abundance and the distribution of food are the principal factor which leads to the various types of social life: in the zones where there are rich person concentrations of food in various places, the cats can live in group around these concentrations, while in the zones where food is more widely distributed, the cats can live on exclusive territories.

Communication

The cats communicate by the mewings, but also by l'" allotoilettage" (action to lick itself mutually) which is reserved for the cats which know each other and are appreciated. They are licked to exchange their odor. When they get along well, the adult cats sleep readily together, tight one against the other as when they were kittens. A means of getting heat and safety mutually. While sleeping together, the cats exchange also their odor.

Mewing

The mewing is the cry of the cat. In general, the cat is of a rather discrete temperament. On the other hand, it can miauler during hours when it seeks to be pointed out, that is to claim its food, or to ask that a door be opened to him, for example. Certain cats, in particular the Siamese ones, are more “talkative” that others.

Jerked mewing

More rarely, the cat emits a jerked mewing of low intensity when he sees a prey out of reach like a Oiseau or a flying Insecte. And sometimes even by looking at an animalist emission on television, for example. This mewing is often accompanied by slapping of the jaws that certain ethologists interpret as a simulation of the attack and setting with died of the prey out of reach.

Cry of the cat

The cat shouts often and strongly when he seeks a companion or a partner. Some say whereas it " margotte" , with the illustrated direction.

Humming

It is about a coordinated movement bringing into play the Glotte, the Larynx (certain cats not having more larynx however continue to hum), and certain muscles. These sound vibrations of all the body are found at the majority of cat-like (and also in other animals) but their mechanism and their utility is still badly explained. This state, like the sleep, could be repairing for the organization of the cat.

It generally hums to express the dependence; thus, it depends on his mother to her birth, of human then when it is sick or when it is cherished. At the beginning of its life, the kitten hums while tétant, and his/her mother answers him. Humming appears when the animal tests pleasure but also of the suffering: stressed, wounded and even while dying, the cat can hum.

According to the scientists, humming would release from the Endorphines (calming substances) and would be thus a way of attenuating the suffering. Although the other cat-like ones do not hum any more at the adulthood, the mature cat continues to hum under the caresses of its Master. This is explainable: the cat sees in its Master a kind of " second maman".

The humming of the cat constitutes the word " phonetically; chat" in Arabic ( hi-rone ).

Sleep

The cat needs among 12 and 16 hours for sleep, but in general he sleeps more, that is to say on average 15 to 6 p.m. per day. There remains thus waked up approximately 6 to 9 a.m., of which a part the night to drive out.

One frequently uses it within the framework of experiments on the cycles of the Sommeil.

According to studies, the cat is the animal having the greatest proportion of phases of paradoxical sleep during which he dreams.

During these phases, the electric activity of the brain, eyes and muscles is very important.

During the paradoxical phase of the sleep, occur of the movements such as the agitation of the vibrisses, the starts of the legs or the tail, hérissement of peeling, the beat of the eyelids, the change of position…

Drive out

In the kitten, one often observes plays of hunting, proof that this one is instinctive. Two strategies of hunting can be distinguished: mobile strategy, where the cat moves and stops when its attention is drawn by a prey, and stationary strategy, where the cat, which found a zone of interest, is embusqué and waits. All the cats use the two types of strategy. The methods of hunting used do not seem specific to the driven out species, but the cats can nevertheless specialize in the capture of a species, thanks to the experiment which they have of this particular species.

The cat has all the assets of a good hunter, except one: the endurance with the race. Its technique of hunting thus puts ahead its faculties of camouflage conferred by its Pelage, creating an effect of surprise. Tapi against the ground, it advances more close possible without being made locate, observing its prey silently. At the time that he judges convenient, he throws himself on his victim to immobilize it and bite it with the neck, thus breaking the spinal-cord to him.

Even if they are fond of delicacies of Poisson S, it is rare to see a fishing cat, since generally those hardly like water (exception: the Turkish cat). This kind of rare and difficult prey being of access, the cats benefit especially from the remainders of fish corpses left by the Ours or the Loutre S to consume some. In general, the most current preys are small Mammifère S (Rongeur S, Insectivore S…), of the Lizard S, small Bird X, even of the Insect S.

Although these present are little appreciated their recipients, the cats offer sometimes mice, birds or other animals with their Masters, by depositing them in front of the doors or windows of their hearth.

The domestic cats which have the possibility of driving out since their young age generally devour their prey (in entirety or partly, according to their appetite of the moment). A feature running of hunting is that of the play: many plays with their prey before devouring it or offering it, alive or dead, with their Master.

Reproduction, gestation, put low

The cats can reproduce as of six months. The female knows many periods of heat, generally located Printemps at the Automne. During those, the she-cats adopt a hyperactive and passably unpleasant behavior for their owners: search for caresses, frictions, roulades on the ground and mewings strident to announce their state to the males neighborhood. It is not impossible that a she-cat is again fertilized two months and half after having put low (sometimes even front). The males, as for them, mark their territory by emitting very odorous jets of Urine. If they have the possibility of leaving, they often fight with other males, are thinned down and neglected, which multiplies the disease risks and of contaminations in any kind (Coryza, Leucose, FIV…). In consideration of all these elements, the early sterilization is advised, since the Master does not consider the arrival of a range.

When the males are capable capacity to couple itself with the female, still it is necessary that the latter accepts them. During the coupling, the male goes up on the back of the female and the skin of the neck bites to him and tramples the croup to improve the penetration. On the end, the female tends to groan and to be irritated, because the penis of the cat has small spines directed towards the back which scrape the walls of the vagina of the female. This stimulation of the vagina is necessary to start ovulation at the she-cat. With each penetration, the she-cat will emit a new ovule, which explains why the kittens of the same range can be different fathers.

When the cats live in group, there is a synchronization of the estrus between the females of the group. This supports the synchronized births and allows a Community breeding of the young people. The Community breeding is important because in the event of disappearance of one of the mothers, the orphan kittens are raised by the other females.

The Gestation lasts 63 to 65 days and a range counts on average 4 kittens. At three weeks, the udders of the female grow bigger and turn pink. Then its belly starts to inflate and its appetite will be growing until the low setting. During gestation, the she-cat tends to seek affection. It is advised to frequently cherish delicately and the belly of the female to accustom the small ones to the human touch. At seven weeks, it will start to seek a calm and suitable place to be confined (wall cupboard, paperboard,…). With the approach of the setting-low (between 61 and 70 days after the design), the she-cat is agitated, and it is important that its Master is close to it to support it. After its contractions, the she-cat low puts its first kitten (approximately in the 20 minutes), then according to the case, either the others will follow quickly, or they will spend several hours to leave. The kittens arrive in a pocket, the she-cat immediately washes its small with blows of language to stimulate their first inspiration. Then, she eats the placenta, which is very nutritive, and cuts the umbilical cord.

The kitten seeks immediately at téter, and this, every approximately 20 minutes. It is necessary to handle small the every day (but not more than five minutes) as of the birth, so that those are acclimatized to the man.

The kitten is born blind (closed eyes) and deaf person and weighs of 80 with 100 G; when it opens the eyes, after 8 days, they are of blue color until the final change (around two months). The period before weaning lasts three months, and during all this time, the mother will learn how with the kittens to wash herself, nourish herself, drive out, etc

The adult cats have, by instinct, the direction of education; they are occupied very many kittens, supervise them, spend time with them and discipline them with the need. In general, they are arranged so that an adult is present to supervise them at the time of the exits discovered of the kittens. At certain races, the male takes an active part in the education of small.

Care and health

The behavior of the domestic cats can appear capricious, and as in all the animals, each individual has a behavior and a character who is clean for him. It is a ritual animal which appreciates the recurring situations well (fixed hours for the meals for example). The cat in general tends to affirm its independence with respect to the other occupants of a place, because it is an animal before very territorial. A cat does not like to change environment, a removal is thus often an experiment traumatisante.

Maintenance

According to their respective peelings, all the cats do not require the same type of maintenance.

The cats with long hairs are those which require the most care. At the time of their toilet, they avalent of many dead hairs which accumulate in the Estomac, forming balls of hairs, called Trichobézoard S. That disturbs their intestinal transit time and they are obliged to them régurgiter in order to avoid an obstruction of the bowels. To avoid that, it is necessary to proceed to a daily disentangling of their fur using Brosse S or of Peigne S, which will also make it possible to avoid the formation of nodes in peeling, painful for the animal. For the occasion, it is also necessary to clear up the hair while cutting them to certain places (as behind the legs and around the anal zone) to prevent that they do not hang dirtiness. Among the many races of cats with long hairs, some as the Persan S are even more applicants in terms of maintenance. Indeed, because of their flattened muzzle, they are often the object of nasal flows or eyepieces which dirty their hairs. One thus cleans to them the muzzle and the eyes in a daily way with a special solution.

The cats with short hairs need only one weekly brushing to eliminate the dead hairs. Certain stockbreeders also use in massage a glove of Soie or a chamois leather to gloss the peeling of their animals and to give them thus more brilliance.

The cats without hairs, like the Sphynx, need a very detailed attention. Indeed, their skin produces like all the other cats a fatty liquid: the Sebum. However, contrary to the others, this sebum is stopped by no hair. This is why the sphynx are dirtied very quickly, because dust is stuck literally to their skin. They are thus the only cats with having to take baths, in general one or two per week.

The other cats do not need baths. They devote most of their time to toiletter while being licked on the whole of the body. Their raspy Langue enables them to remove the majority of their Poil S dead and to smooth their furs. The Salive that they produce is as for it a powerful Anti-bacterial agent . Moreover, they often fear water.

However, if a bath appeared necessary, it would be advisable to use a shampoo adapted to the animals, by carefully avoiding the eyes, the nose and the ears, while taking care of well rinsing the animal so that he does not swallow a remainder of product by making his toilet thereafter. For drying, one wraps it in a large terry towel and one leaves it the bathroom so that it does not feel any more in danger. Once it is reassured, one gently rubs it while trying not to forget no place (between the bearings of the legs, for example).

Food and drink

The cat is primarily carnivorous and will never disavow its natural predation. Indeed, it requires for Taurine, an Amino-acid that it synthesizes in insufficient quantity and that it can find in the Viande. The Carence in taurine involves at his place disorders ocular, cardiac, immunizing deficits and problems of reproduction at the Femelle S.

Because of this characteristic, its food mode remains difficult to reconstitute perfectly using a domestic food. The food sold in the trade is thus the best way of ensuring an optimal contribution in taurine, Vitamine S and Oligo-élément S.

A food based with 100% on the croquettes is possible. They have moreover a scaling action which contributes to preserve the oral health of the animal. The feedingstuffs sold in the trade are the subject of quality control, however some prefer to choose food recommended and sold at the Vétérinaire S or in the animaleries, considered higher quality. One finds from now on food adapted to the age (kitten, adult cat, old cat), the physical condition (cat of interior or outside, castrated or not), and the race of the cat.

A food entirely vegetarian is also possible, insofar as food were formulated especially for the cats (including taurine, linoleic acid, acid arachidonic, vitamin A). Such croquettes are easily available by correspondence.

It is possible occasionally to offer to the cats other types of food, to the maximum two to three times per week, with the risk to see them ignoring their food, preferring to beg near the Master.

In a general way, it is appropriate not to give them a raw Viande, because cooking makes it possible to neutralize the absorption of parasite S and to strongly limit the risks of Toxoplasmose.
the mode box of Thon permanently is strongly disadvised, because it is salted too much, even if the cats raffolent some.
the Os are them also to avoid: by crunching them, the cats can transpierce the palate with projecting pieces.
Lastly, the cats often appreciate food containing Lait, such as the Yaourt S, the Fromage S, the Cookie S, the Madeleine S… ; to give with precaution and parsimony, since the cat does not brush the teeth.
a brewers' yeast tablet as a daily delicacy will bring a supplement of vitamins and will ensure the old cat to keep a beautiful brilliant hair.

For drink, it is advisable to permanently leave at disposal of the cat a fresh and clean water bowl, especially if its food is containing dry elements like the croquettes. The odor of the Chlore of the Eau of the tap can however reject the animal: it will thus be necessary to let it elutriate. The cats prefer when their water bowl is distant from their food. The cats generally appreciate the Lait, but the majority of the Vétérinaire S disadvise it because much individuals present an intolerance to the Lactose, especially the kittens.

The sweetened or alcoholized drinks are potentially very dangerous, and thus to exclude absolutely.

Rejections

The cats, in the Natural , choose a movable ground corner to make their nature's needs there. They recover them then ground, by scraping the latter with their front legs. This technique enabled them at the wild state not to make locate their odors by the Prédateur S. It is thus almost instinctive, and is inculcated very early by the mother in the kittens. If the animal is sedentary, it changes only seldom place, unless this one is saturated.

The cats “of interior” make their needs in a Litière. A plastic vat, furnished with a bottom of newspaper and a fine layer of Litière will suffice for their happiness. It is advisable nevertheless to maintain it regularly, under penalty of seeing the animal choosing another more specific place to its eyes for there déféquer. The kittens spontaneously learn how to go to make their needs in a litter while quite simply following the example from their mother, as of the age of 1 month. However, it is necessary to await age the three months so that they are completely educated on this subject and are sociabilisés. Therefore it is disadvised adopting a kitten before this time is not past. In the case of a kitten which would not have received this " éducation" , it is possible to teach it him. While making him scrape the sand of its litter, he will remember that he must make his needs at this place.

The cats adore the odor of the Bleach like that of the olive oil: in putting some drops in the content of the litter can help with attracting there. For the same reasons, it is necessary to avoid cleaning the silly things of the cat with bleach, because it is likely to start again at the same place. The Vinegar, or a disinfectant containing Agrume S (repulsive odors) will thus be adapted more.

With the Ageing of the animal, the volume of Urine grows, it is thus important to hold of it account in the composition and the renewal of the aforesaid the litter.

Sterilization

Sterilization is a Surgical operation intended to prevent the Reproduction animal. In the male, it is called Castration and consists of the ablation of the Testicule S. In the female, sterilization is carried out by the ablation of the ovary S ( ovariectomy ). It is a benign intervention, from which the animal goes back quickly (a few hours at a few days) .

In addition to the stop of the reproduction (limitation of the size of population), sterilization modifies the behavior and the physiology of the animal. In the male, an early sterilization (before the Puberty) limit the territorial behavior and decreases the tendency to marking (urine, two-prong crimping). It is less independent and becomes more affectionate. Heats of the females stop. Hormonal changes accompanying sterilization can cause a catch of weight , and increase the life expectancy ; the animal running away less and reduces the size of its territory. The risks of wounds due to the engagements between animals are reduced, just as the Accident S truck drivers and contamination by Virus (CONK, FIV, Leucosis, Typhus, etc) .

For the females, the catch of pills or punctures contraceptive, which block the cycle of reproduction and makes disappear heats, is sometimes used like an alternative to surgical sterilization. The pill, which is once appeared as a tablet (oral way) every 15 days. The injections, as for them, make it possible to temporarily sterilize a female over moreover long periods. In general, their effects are spread out over 3 months during the first injection, then over 5 months if the same treatment regularly is continued. Being incompatible with a state of gestation, they must be managed preferably apart from the periods of heats, under penalty of risks of infections. These methods of sterilization are suspected of having behavioral and carcinogenic side effects .

Dégriffage

The growth of the claws of the cat is continuous, and compensates for their natural wear. The cat can adjust the length and sharpen its claws by rubbing them against a rough surface: it “makes its claws”. This behavior is suitable for degrade the interior of the dwellings, and can be reduced by the dégriffage animal.

This surgical operation, the Onyxectomie, is done under general Anesthésie and consists of the total ablation of the claw and the amputation of the third Phalange on which this one is inserted. Generally, it is carried out only on the forefeet.

The majority of defense associations of the animals condemn this operation, considered as cruel. The private animal of its claws, incompetent to defend themselves or climb with the trees, would become also more vulnerable. The ablation of the claws is usually practiced in the United States and Canada. This operation is on the other hand prohibited in 29 countries, mainly European.

Diseases

The Maladie S specific to the cat are current at the individuals living outside. The risk that they contract them can be minimized in a very important way while proceeding to their Vaccination, their sterilization and by restricting their accesses outside.

the cat-like Chlamydiose
the Conjunctivitis of the cat
the Coryza of the cat
the cat-like Leucosis
the cat-like infectious Peritonitis (or CONK)
the cat-like Panleucopénie (or typhus of the cat)
the cat-like Rage
the virus of the cat-like immunodéficience (or FIV)
the hypertrophic Cardiomyopathie cat-like
the influenza, of which avian flu in the cat ( In Indonesia, on 500 cats captured in zones at the risk of September 2006 in December 2006, more than 100 were carrying the virus H5N1)
the Granulome eosinophilic of the cat

parasites

The chips are universal parasites and all the cats catch one day of it. They are frequent in spring and in summer. The chips drink the blood of their host by pricking them and thus cause itchings. An infested cat often scrapes itself. That is looked after using insecticides out of foam, powder or spray. There exists also anti collar - chips.

Legal requirements

In Europe : As all the domestic carnivores of company the cat must have a European passport to travel and for this reason to be vaccinated, examined and identified.

In France , at the time of the sale of a domestic cat:

the animal must be old of at least 8 weeks (the stockbreeders recommend to await the 3 months age for a better socialization),
identification of the animal by tattooing or transponder (electronic chip),
if the animal is a cat of race, it must have or have made the object of a request for pedigree,
sale contract or invoice for the professionals,
card of councils of breeding.

It is recommended that the cat is also vaccinated against the Typhus (Panleucopénie), the Coryza (respiratory virus diseases) and the Leucose, and that it was regularly vermifuge since the age of 3-4 weeks.

The cat and the man

History

Until 2001, one thought that the cats had been domesticated by the Égyptiens during Antiquity, but the discovery of the remainders of a cat at the sides of those of human in a burial with Cyprus pushes back the beginning of this relation with the cohabitation of the cats and of the men probably arrived with the beginning of agriculture: the storage of the grain attracted the Souris and the Rat S, which attracted the cats, their Prédateur S natural.

According to Carlos Driscoll, National institute of cancer (Frederick, the United States), which compared to DNA about thousand domestic cats and five wild species, the ancestor of the domestic cat would come from the the Middle East. It is in this increasing fertile that cat-like and men would have tied contact by shared interest, the eradication of the rats in incipient agriculture being exchanged against a guaranteed pitance.

The Egyptians of the Antiquité divinisèrent the cat under the features of the protective goddess Bastet, symbol of fruitfulness and the maternal love, whose worship was mainly in the town of Bubastis. The archeologists discovered very many Momie S of cats which show at which point the Egyptians venerated them; one can see these mummies, inter alia, with Paris (Musée of Louvre), with London (British Museum) or with the Cairo (Egyptian Musée of Cairo). However, it would seem that this civilization also practiced the ritual sacrifice of the cat (see: the cat in ancient Egypt).

As pets, the ancient Greece knows a long time only the Mustélidé S, Furet and Belette. Later, cat will be imported of Egypt and will assume place near Greeks, initially under the name of ailouros (“which stirs up the tail”), then as from the second century BC, katoikidios (“domestic”).

The Romain S, on the other hand, dedicated a passion with the cat: initially held with the easy classes, the use to have a cat was spread in all the Empire and all the layers of the population, ensuring the dispersion of the animal in all the Europe.

In theory, the image of the cat is positive in the Islam because of the affection which Mahomet towards this cat-like tested. Several Hadith S describes the attentions which he testified with his cat, named " Muezza".

Contrary, the cat was satanisé in the Christian Europe during the major part of the Moyen-âge and the Renaissance. Persecuted, tortured, massacred, it failed to disappear from Europe at the 14th century, which had a logical result: not finding more their predator natural to fight them, the rats are reflected to proliferate and caused the Grande Plague of 1346 - 1352, which killed 25 million people, is one the third of the population Occidentale at the time.

In the medieval Symbolic system, the cat was associated with the bad luck and the evil, all the more when it was black, like with the slyness and femininity. It was the animal of the Diable and of the Sorcière S. One allotted supernatural capacities to him, of which faculty to have nine lives. The origin of this mistrust lies in the fact that the cat is a twilight predator of a very cat-like flexibility, which can surprise by its promptness.

A first attempt at rehabilitation was celebrates it Histoire of the Cats: essay on the preeminence of the cats in the company, on the other animals of Egypt, the distinctions and privileges which they enjoyed personally (1727) François-Augustin of Paradise of Moncrif. The author takes the defense of the cat there through historical references, in particular in old Egypt, which want to be érudites and constitute actually a pastiche of the pedantry. A certain number of readers and criticisms did not distinguish the satirical intention and the work, obscure and manner, were very violently attacked.

In spite of noble exceptions like the Carthusian monks of Richelieu or the Persan white of Louis XV, the cat knew its true back in favor only with the favor of the Romantisme: it became the romantic, mysterious and independent animal par excellence. Always at the 19th century, it also found symbol of the anarchistic movement, through its poetic image, autonomous and gracious. The 20th century, as for him, kept this romantic vision all while being interested in the cat in a more scientific way.

Famous cats

Hodge, cat of Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), which has from now on its statue in front of the old residence of its Master, to the 17, Gough Square, with London. This statue was inaugurated in 1997 by the Lord Mayor in person.
Orangey, cat actor with the orange peeling which played in ten films during the years 1950-1960, among which Rhubarb , where he interpreted the title role, and especially Diamants on settee ( Breakfast At Tiffany' S ), of Blake Edwards, according to a novel of Truman Capote, where her service at the side of Audrey Hepburn was worth Patsy Award to him, are equivalent animalist of a Oscar.
Humphrey, the last cat employed with the 10, Downing Street.
Oscar, cat which seems to detect the imminence of dead patients in an American hospital.
Cinnamon, a cat 4 years old abyssin and color saffron which one has sequence the genome and identified 20285 genes in 2007. This she-cat, which belongs to professor Kristina Narfstrom, currently lives in a colony of cats at the American university of Missouri-Columbia.

Superstitions

In France, the black and the red represent the colors of the devil; also the black cats are often rejected, even still today, for fear they do not attract misfortune. On the contrary, in England, they carry happiness: it is said that they will bring one been engaged to the young girl of the house. In France, the marriage will be happy if a cat sneezes close to the young wife in the morning of her weddings. And, in Provence and Italy, if the cat of the house has suddenly disappeared, somebody is likely to die in the family.

According to a legend, the black cat which carried happiness to Charles I {{er}} of England would have mysteriously disappeared the day before from the arrest of this king. According to an opposite legend, Napoleon would have crossed a black cat in the morning of the Bataille of Waterloo, which would explain all: the cat-like one would have carried chance to the English.

The idea that the black cat carries happiness encouraged the British with literally " a long time; enrôler" cats of this color on board their trade or warships, especially with: at least, a black cat by boat. One finds of it the trace in the registers of edge going back to this time, with mentions such as " Tomcat, marin" , for example, among the list of the members of the crew. However, this role of mascot remained indissociable activity specific to the cat, i.e. the destruction of the rats and mice which threatened to devour the provisions. This is why company Lloyds celebrates it London agreed to ensure the ships only provided that those have on their board a precise number of cats, of which at least a black; this number was calculated in a meticulous way, according to the tonnage of the boat and the volume of its provisions, and the presence of these cats was to be stipulated in all letters in the contract of insurance.

The image of the cat

The glance of the artists

In Europe, the cat took a long time to conquer its place in the artistic world. As from the 17th century, it appears die die in painting French, Flemish, English or Italian, but generally like an element of the decoration and generally in a scene of kitchen where it plays the part of a robber of food. The most famous table, in this direction, is undoubtedly the Line of Chardin, with the cat propped up on the table. It will be necessary to await works like the Young girl with the cat , the Little girl with the cat or the Portrait of Magdaleine Pinceloup of the Barn , of Jean-Baptiste Perronneau, so that it appears in the foreground of a table, would be this only as a supporting character.

However, it is which devoted it, with sculptors such as Barye or Diego Giacometti. In the pictorial field, artists like Hokusai, Delacroix, Manet, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Franz Marc, Raoul Dufy, Theophilus Steinlen, Paul Klee, Balthus or the humorist Dubout - without forgetting Jacques Faizant, for the black cat and white which accompanied the " old women dames" Barber and of Paris-Match - represented by painting on fabric, the Dessin, the Pastel, the Gravure, the Lithographie or the Estampe.

In the field of the classical music, the cat inspired the artists of several centuries. One of the first occurrences of the cat in Western music is of Adriano Banchieri in its Contrapunto bestial or Festin of Thursday-Fat (1608). Thereafter, other notable compositions include:

Carlo Farina, Capriccio stravagante , It gatto , 1627 (violins);
Domenico Scarlatti, sonata K. 30, L. 499, Running away of the cat (harpsichord);
Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, sonata in the major one, the Cat (violin);
Gioacchino Rossini, Duetto buffo di due Gatti says also Duo of the cats , 1822 (two sopranos);
Maurice Ravel, the Child and the Magic spells , the Cat and the She-cat , 1919-1925 (baritone, mezzo-soprano);
Sergueï Prokofiev, Pierre and the wolf (clarinet), 1936;
Hans Werner Henze, the English She-cat , booklet Edward Jump, according to a news of Honore de Balzac.

(Between brackets, the musical instrument which interprets the cat.)

In addition, Benjamin Britten, in his cantata in Rejoice in the Lamb , adapts the poem in My Cat Jeoffry of Christopher Smart (1722-1771), Peggy Lee lends its voice to the two Siamese ones of the Beautiful one and the Tramp (“ in We are Siamese yew you please, we are Siamese yew you don' T please ”) and Broadway discovers the musical comedy Cats , according to T.S. Eliot.

One can listen to Cats '' of Rossini.

Writers and cats

The cat is par excellence the friend of the writers, so much so that the majority of them evoke their pet in their books or through their private correspondence, by indicating it by its name and often by drawing its portrait. Without claiming with exhaustiveness, the two lists below endeavor to index these authors, while indicating as much as possible the name of their cats (between brackets and with quotation marks), which are of " vrais" animals having really existed, to distinguish from the cats of fiction. One will raise, among these writers, a certain quantity of members of the French Academy and prizes winner of the Nobel Prize of literature.

In France, one can quote: Montaigne (" Mrs Vanity"), M of Gournay (" My Mie Piaillon"), Vincent Conveys (" Rominagrobis"), Chateaubriant, Théophile Gautier (" Gavroche" , " Éponine" , " Séraphita"), Baudelaire, Banville, Hugo (" Chanoine" , " Mouche"), Alexandre Dumas (" Docteur" , " Mysouff I" , " Mysouff II"), George Sand (" Minou"), Holy-Beuve, Prosper Mérimée, Barbey d' Aurevilly, Anatole France (" Hamilcar" , " Pascal"), Zola, Jules Verne, Pierre Parcelled out (" Marmoutte Blanche"), Vialatte, Léautaud, Morand, Marcel Aymé, Louis Ferdinand Celine (" Bébert"), Colette (" Kiki Doucette" , " Toune" , " Minionne"), Cocteau (" Karoun"), Montherlant, Malraux, Julien Green (" Poucet"), Hector Bianciotti, Angelo Rinaldi, Daniel Arsand (" That Tal").

In the other countries, one will retain in particular: Cicéron, Pétrarque, Samuel Johnson (" Hodge" , " Lilly"), Christopher Smart (" Jeoffry"), Horace Walpole (" Zara" , " Selima" , " Patapan"), Pouchkine, Byron (" Beppo"), Charlotte Brontë and Emily Brontë (" Tiger"), Walter Scott (" Hinse"), Thackeray (" Louisa"), Edgar Poe (" Catarina"), Dickens (" Williamina"), Mark Twain (" Zoroaster"), Harriet Beecher Stowe (" Tom Junior"), Oscar Wilde, Kipling, Thomas Hardy (" Cobby"), Saki, P.G. Wodehouse, Lovecraft (" Nigger Man"), Scott Fitzgerald (" Chopin"), Hemingway (" Dillinger" , " Furhouse" , " Crazy Christian"), H.G. Wells (" Mr. Peter Wells"), T.S. Eliot (" Jellylorum"), Margaret Mead, Raymond Chandler (" Taki"), Tennessee Williams (" Topaze"), Christia Sylf, Patricia Highsmith (Siamese cats), Pablo Neruda, Jorge Shine Borges (" Beppo"), Julio Cortazar (" Adorno"), Dorothy L. Sayers (" Timothy"), Dory Lessing, V.S. Naipaul (" Augustus").

Popular expressions

The Proverb S and idioms related to the cat amount per tens in France, either that they put in scene the animal itself (which runs quickly, sleeps much and drives out the mice), or that the term of " chat" designate the man, who is identified then with the cat-like one. The majority of these sayings go back to several centuries; some go back even to the Moyen-âge.

Proverbs

Two knaves well met : a good hunter can find an adversary with its measurement. This formula appears already at Regnard ( Inattentive the , I, 2).
With bad cat, bad rat : one can only be malicious towards the malicious ones. The expression already exists with the Moyen-âge, in a very close form: With mau cat, mau rat (Fabri, Art of rhetoric , II).
At night all cats are grey : in the darkness, the details grow blurred and one can confuse different objects. Another direction: one can act as it is wanted as much as one is not made take. This sentence is in particular employed by Scarron ( the comic Novel , I, 13) and by Beaumarchais ( the Barber of Seville , III, 5).
When the cat sleeps (or: is not there), the mice dance : when the authorities are absent, one can act freely.
One should let sleeping dogs lie : it is necessary to avoid reactivating a source of danger when it was deactivation.
Once bitten, twice shy : a bad experiment makes fear to try others of them, even if they are inoffensive.

made not confidence with the cat when one has fish with the menu (Malagasy proverb).
made not like a cat which hides its nails (Malagasy proverb).
It is difficult to catch a black cat in a dark part, especially when it is not there (Chinese Proverbe).
It does not matter that the cat is gray or black provided that it catches the mice (Chinese proverb and currency of Deng Xiaoping).
Which is born cat pursues the mice (Italian proverb): one cannot fight against his own nature.
the cat likes to eat fish, but not to fish it : says itself of a profiteuse person.

Expressions

To call a spade a spade : to call the things by their name, without trying to spare its interlocutor. The formula is inter alia at Boileau ( Satires , I).
To buy cat out of pocket : to buy something without to have seen it. Molière uses this phrase ( Pourceaugnac , II, 7). In opposite direction, one can sell cat out of pocket , i.e. not to show what one sells.
To go like a thin cat : to run much and very quickly. These words appear already at Mathurin Régnier ( Satires , XI).
It does not have a cat there: there is nobody. This sentence is very widespread as of, in particular in the correspondence of Voltaire.
To give its language to the cat : to give up seeking the solution.
To have other fish to fry : to have other things to make.
Not what to whip a cat : it is not very serious.
To have a frog in his/her throat : to have a sore throat or be enroué.
to get along like dog and cat : nominate two persons who cannot support themselves.
Of the pulp for the cats : bâclé work, incomprehensible text.
To make a toilet of cat : to wash itself summarily, without wetting itself too much.
a she-cat would not find its small there: great disorder, very complex situation.

Clerks and pussies

Why, in Slang, a cat it is called a clerk ? Two theories are opposed, which perhaps do only one of them: on the one hand, pun on " griffe" is obvious; in addition, the fur of certain black cats comprises a kind of white drill plate on the breast piece, and this one evokes the white reduction which one saw on the black dress of the clerks until the 19th century.

The term pussy , goes back to him at least to the 15th century and, according to the Littré of 1878, it would come from mine , because the cat " fact of the mines". This word is at the origin of the expression as of early dawn , which means " of good matin". Always according to Littré, it would be a question of a deformation of the of feeding with the pussy , i.e. moment when the cat, which rises early, will seek its to feed : its grazing ground, its food. As for the " minet" or with the " minette" who " fact of the mines" , when this term is applied to the human being, it is an young man or an young girl who endeavors to like and is worried much of her appearance. The expression dates from the Années 1960.

Some songs

the mother Michel lost to it his!
the Brave Margot of Brassens gives him the “gougoutte”. There are other references to the cats in this author ( P… of you , the will , Dom Juan , Montélimar , Casseuses …)
the Cat of the neighbor , us tells Yves Montand in 1959, “eats the good kitchen and makes its large purring on a beautiful eiderdown lump of a woman” (words of Rene Lagary and music of Philippe-Gerard).
the cat of Claude Nougaro has vexations with the weaker sex.
the Cat of Brigitte Fontaine on her album the De luxe hotels .
Me to want to be cat sung by the Pow woW (music of G. Peram).
the cat of the group Telephone .
the kitten black and its Master mutually comfort their heartbreaks in Berceuse , interpreted by Juliette Gréco in 1969 (poem of Charles Cros put in music by Yani Spanos).
When I was cat (of gutter), reveals us Juliette Gréco in 1971, “I remember the infernal sarabands… on the roofs of Paris” (words of Pierre Cour and music of André Popp).
the kitten died of Renaud (1994), where the cat fell from the roof while wanting to catch a sparrow.
the metamorphosis of Mister Cat of Dionysos (music) (2005), where the singer is transformed into ordinary cat and wanders on the roofs.
In 1991, Freddie Mercury, singer of the group Queen, made appear on the album '' Innuendo '' a song entitled Delilah , dedicated to its cat of the same name, and on which him and its guitarist imitates mewings. In 1985, it had dedicated its first album solo, Mr. Bad Guy , with all the friends of the cats in the whole world.

Appendices

To say miaou in the world
Cat (dresses and races)
Wildcat
the cat and the influenza
the quantum paradox of the cat of Schrödinger

Random links:

CAT