寵物 / 動物 影片 (021) 很胖的肥貓 Fat cat at a shop
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The domestic cat[1][5] (Latin: Felis catus) is a small, typically furry, carnivorous mammal. They are often called house cats when kept as indoor pets or simply cats when there is no need to distinguish them from other felids and felines.[6] Cats are often valued by humans for companionship and for their ability to hunt vermin. There are more than 70 cat breeds, though different associations proclaim different numbers according to their standards.
Cats are similar in anatomy to the other felids, with a strong flexible body, quick reflexes, sharp retractable claws, and teeth adapted to killing small prey. Cat senses fit a crepuscular and predatory ecological niche. Cats can hear sounds too faint or too high in frequency for human ears, such as those made by mice and other small animals. They can see in near darkness. Like most other mammals, cats have poorer color vision and a better sense of smell than humans. Cats, despite being solitary hunters, are a social species and cat communication includes the use of a variety of vocalizations (mewing, purring, trilling, hissing, growling, and grunting), as well as cat pheromones and types of cat-specific body language.[7]
Cats have a high breeding rate.[8] Under controlled breeding, they can be bred and shown as registered pedigree pets, a hobby known as cat fancy. Failure to control the breeding of pet cats by neutering, as well as the abandonment of former household pets, has resulted in large numbers of feral cats worldwide, requiring population control.[9] In certain areas outside cats' native range, this has contributed, along with habitat destruction and other factors, to the extinction of many bird species. Cats have been known to extirpate a bird species within specific regions and may have contributed to the extinction of isolated island populations.[10] Cats are thought to be primarily responsible for the extinction of 33 species of birds, and the presence of feral and free-ranging cats makes some otherwise suitable locations unsuitable for attempted species reintroduction.[11]
Since cats were venerated in ancient Egypt, they were commonly believed to have been domesticated there,[12] but there may have been instances of domestication as early as the Neolithic from around 9,500 years ago (7,500 BC).[13] A genetic study in 2007 concluded that domestic cats are descended from Near Eastern wildcats, having diverged around 8,000 BC in the Middle East.[12][14] A 2016 study found that leopard cats were undergoing domestication independently in China around 5,500 BC, though this line of partially domesticated cats leaves no trace in the domesticated populations of today.[15][16]
As of a 2007 study, cats are the second most popular pet in the US by number of pets owned, behind freshwater fish.[17] In a 2010 study they were ranked the third most popular pet in the UK, after fish and dogs, with around 8 million being owned.[18]
貓（學名：Felis silvestris catus），通常指家貓，在現代漢語中多稱貓咪，為小型貓科動物，是為野貓（又稱斑貓；Felis silvestris）中的亞種[1]，此外也有其它未經過《國際動物命名法規》認可的命名，例如Felis catus。根據遺傳學及考古學分析，人類馴養貓的紀錄可追溯至10,000年前的肥沃月灣地區，古埃及人飼養貓的紀錄可追溯至3,600年前，目的可能作為捕鼠及其他齧齒目動物，以防止牠們吃掉榖物。[2]現在，貓成為世界上最為廣泛的寵物之一，飼養率僅次於犬，但同時也是危害十分廣泛的外來種，由於獵捕的習慣，威脅著很多原生鳥類、齧齒類的生存。更直接的風險是因狩獵而感染野外病菌的貓，會引入例如狂犬病等等進入人類生活圈，因此對飼主知識技術與社會責任要求也較高，先進國家的公衛系統普遍會針對野貓進行抓捕絕育，管理意義即在於此。長期飼育的貓的平均壽命為12年以上（相等於人類64歲），歷史上最長壽的貓則達38歲[3]（等於人類168歲，來自美國德州）。少部分文化在過去亦有食用貓肉的習俗，如越南、廣州等，但現今大部分地區因衛生防疫，或是以貓為寵物等因素而禁止食用貓肉。
品種被認證的貓會稱為純種貓，主人會以選擇繁殖的方式讓貓繁殖出他們認為趨於「完美」的品種。歷史上也存在因為偶然突變而產生，後被人類保留並加強其特質的品種。