--- title: "Domestic Cat (Felis catus) | AnimalTracks.wiki" description: "The flexible carnivore that jumps five times its own height and hears one of the broadest ranges of sound of any mammal." image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/domestic-cat-1.webp" published: "2026-08-30" updated: "2026-09-28" --- # Domestic Cat (*Felis catus*) > **Status**: Checked against 8 sources, listed under Sources below. > **Tagline**: The flexible carnivore that jumps five times its own height and hears one of the broadest ranges of sound of any mammal. > **Soundtrack Vibe**: Chillhop & Lo-Fi Beats // Nujabes, "Aruarian Dance" > **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/4sUTagdmyuyAxd7RvbygpQ) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYcoJpqCha4) > **Vibe Match**: Unhurried, evenly spaced beats for a stalker: the lower a cat crouches, the more evenly it spaces its footfalls, giving up walking efficiency for steps that likely steady a stealthy approach to prey. ## Biological Superpowers & Stats - **Taxonomy**: *Felis catus* - **Danger Level**: Low - **Conservation Status**: Not Evaluated ([IUCN Red List](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)) - **Superpower**: Rotates half its spine through 180 degrees and slips through narrow spaces - **Habitat**: Mostly around human habitation, in urban, suburban and farm areas; most feral cats live near current or past human settlements - **Diet**: Carnivore: feral cats mainly hunt small rodents, birds, fish and some arthropods, and some pet cats depend on food people supply - **Tags**: feline, carnivore, domestic-pet ## Natural History & Behavior ## A Spine That Twists The **domestic cat** (*Felis catus*) belongs to a family of obligate carnivores, and adults weigh 4.1 to 5.4 kg and average about 76 cm long. Its shoulder blades lie close in against its body, and it can slip through narrow spaces. Its spine holds about 30 vertebrae, a count that varies with the cat's length. With so many vertebrae, a cat can rotate half its spine through 180 degrees, and it can jump five times its own height. In an English study of 4,009 cats that had attended veterinary practices and died, the median lifespan was 14 years, and the oldest reached 26.7. > **85 kilohertz** is the top of the domestic cat's hearing range for sounds at 70 decibels, one of the broadest ranges of any mammal. ## Built for the Stealthy Approach Force-plate recordings of six walking cats found that the lower a cat crouched, hips held close to the ground, the more evenly it spaced its footfalls. The researchers judged that evenly spaced footfalls likely add stability, helpful when stalking prey, but cost the cat energy: cats recover less mechanical energy while walking than mammals specialized for distance. To kill, a cat bites the back of the prey's neck at the base of the skull, severing the spinal cord from the brainstem. Feral cats' main prey includes small rodents, birds, fish and some arthropods, while some pet cats depend on food people supply. Cats also show no interest in sweet foods, and a broken gene accounts for it: without a working copy, they lack the receptor likely needed to detect sweetness. ## Eyes, Ears and Whiskers Behind the retina, a reflective layer called the **tapetum lucidum** reflects light back and intensifies it, and animals that have one see exceptionally well in low light. Each ear can rotate 180 degrees. Tested on two cats, the species' hearing for sounds at 70 decibels runs from 48 hertz to 85 kilohertz. Whiskers on the muzzle, eyebrows and elbows sense changes in air flow, helping a cat steer around obstacles in low light. ## From Wildcat to Every Continent The domestic cat descends from the African wildcat. A 2007 genetic study of 979 domestic cats and wildcats placed domestication in the Near East, probably as farming villages developed in the Fertile Crescent, with at least five founders from across the region. The exact birthplace is still open: a 2025 study says it remains uncertain whether domestic cats originated in the Levant, Egypt or elsewhere in the African wildcat's range. Its analysis of ancient and modern genomes suggests cats did not spread to Europe with Neolithic farmers, and were introduced there around 2,000 years ago, probably from North Africa. Today cats live on every continent except Antarctica, generally where people do, alongside a large feral population. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Is it true that cats have no collarbone? No. The clavicle, or collarbone, is there. A 2026 study that dissected the front legs of 10 domestic cats traces a nerve running dorsal to the clavicle on its way to the upper arm. *(Source: [Vélez García, Vélez Cabrera & Miglino 2026]())* ### Why can't domestic cats taste sweet sugars? Sweetness is normally detected by two proteins working together, T1R2 and T1R3. In cats, the gene for T1R2 carries a 247-base-pair deletion plus stop codons, and researchers found no sign of its protein, so a working receptor pair cannot form. Tigers and cheetahs, tested in the same study, carry a similar deletion and stop codons. *(Source: [Li et al. 2005]())* ### Where did domestic cats originally come from? Their ancestor is the African wildcat. DNA pointed to the Near East, where cats descend from at least five wildcat founders, and people then carried those founders' descendants across the world. Where exactly domestication began is still uncertain, with the Levant and Egypt both possible. *(Source: [Driscoll et al. 2007]())* ## Sources 1. [Felis catus (domestic cat). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.]() 2. [O’Neill et al. (2014). Longevity and mortality of cats attending primary care veterinary practices in England. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery.]() 3. [Driscoll et al. (2007). The Near Eastern Origin of Cat Domestication. Science.]() 4. [De Martino et al. (2025). The dispersal of domestic cats from North Africa to Europe around 2000 years ago. Science.]() 5. [Li et al. (2005). Pseudogenization of a Sweet-Receptor Gene Accounts for Cats' Indifference toward Sugar. PLoS Genetics.]() 6. [Bishop, Pai & Schmitt (2008). Whole Body Mechanics of Stealthy Walking in Cats. PLoS ONE.]() 7. [Heffner & Heffner (1985). Hearing range of the domestic cat. Hearing Research.]() 8. [Vélez García, Vélez Cabrera & Miglino (2026). Updating the forelimb anatomy of the domestic cat ( Felis catus , Felidae) based on evolutionary inferences of its muscles and nerves I: Shoulder and brachium. Journal of Anatomy.]() *Published August 30, 2026. Last updated September 28, 2026.* ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Article", "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/domestic-cat/#article", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/#website" }, "headline": "Domestic Cat (Felis catus) | AnimalTracks.wiki", "description": "The flexible carnivore that jumps five times its own height and hears one of the broadest ranges of sound of any mammal.", "image": [ "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/domestic-cat-1.webp" ], "datePublished": "2026-08-30", "dateModified": "2026-09-28", "author": [ { "@type": "Organization", "name": "AnimalTracks.wiki Editorial Team", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki" } ], "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/#organization", "name": "AnimalTracks.wiki", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/icon-512.png" } }, "mainEntityOfPage": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/domestic-cat/", "citation": [ { "@type": "CreativeWork", "name": "Felis catus (domestic cat)", "url": "https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Felis_catus/", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan" } }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Longevity and mortality of cats attending primary care veterinary practices in England", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1177/1098612x14536176", "author": "O’Neill et al.", "datePublished": "2014", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1177/1098612x14536176" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "The Near Eastern Origin of Cat Domestication", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1139518", "author": "Driscoll et al.", "datePublished": "2007", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Science" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1126/science.1139518" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "The dispersal of domestic cats from North Africa to Europe around 2000 years ago", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adt2642", "author": "De Martino et al.", "datePublished": "2025", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Science" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1126/science.adt2642" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Pseudogenization of a Sweet-Receptor Gene Accounts for Cats' Indifference toward Sugar", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.0010003", "author": "Li et al.", "datePublished": "2005", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "PLoS Genetics" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.0010003" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Whole Body Mechanics of Stealthy Walking in Cats", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003808", "author": "Bishop, Pai & Schmitt", "datePublished": "2008", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "PLoS ONE" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0003808" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Hearing range of the domestic cat", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-5955(85)90100-5", "author": "Heffner & Heffner", "datePublished": "1985", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Hearing Research" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1016/0378-5955(85)90100-5" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Updating the forelimb anatomy of the domestic cat ( Felis catus , Felidae) based on evolutionary inferences of its muscles and nerves I: Shoulder and brachium", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.70151", "author": "Vélez García, Vélez Cabrera & Miglino", "datePublished": "2026", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Journal of Anatomy" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1111/joa.70151" } ], "about": { "@type": "Taxon", "name": "Domestic Cat", "scientificName": "Felis catus", "description": "Rotates half its spine through 180 degrees and slips through narrow spaces" } }, { "@type": "FAQPage", "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/domestic-cat/#faq", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "Is it true that cats have no collarbone?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "No. The clavicle, or collarbone, is there. A 2026 study that dissected the front legs of 10 domestic cats traces a nerve running dorsal to the clavicle on its way to the upper arm.", "citation": { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Updating the forelimb anatomy of the domestic cat ( Felis catus , Felidae) based on evolutionary inferences of its muscles and nerves I: Shoulder and brachium", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.70151", "author": "Vélez García, Vélez Cabrera & Miglino", "datePublished": "2026", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Journal of Anatomy" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1111/joa.70151" } } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Why can't domestic cats taste sweet sugars?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Sweetness is normally detected by two proteins working together, T1R2 and T1R3. In cats, the gene for T1R2 carries a 247-base-pair deletion plus stop codons, and researchers found no sign of its protein, so a working receptor pair cannot form. Tigers and cheetahs, tested in the same study, carry a similar deletion and stop codons.", "citation": { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Pseudogenization of a Sweet-Receptor Gene Accounts for Cats' Indifference toward Sugar", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.0010003", "author": "Li et al.", "datePublished": "2005", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "PLoS Genetics" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.0010003" } } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Where did domestic cats originally come from?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Their ancestor is the African wildcat. DNA pointed to the Near East, where cats descend from at least five wildcat founders, and people then carried those founders' descendants across the world. Where exactly domestication began is still uncertain, with the Levant and Egypt both possible.", "citation": { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "The Near Eastern Origin of Cat Domestication", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1139518", "author": "Driscoll et al.", "datePublished": "2007", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Science" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1126/science.1139518" } } } ] }, { "@type": "MusicRecording", "name": "Aruarian Dance", "byArtist": { "@type": "MusicGroup", "name": "Nujabes" }, "genre": "Chillhop & Lo-Fi Beats", "url": "https://open.spotify.com/track/4sUTagdmyuyAxd7RvbygpQ" } ] } ```