A domesticated cat with many coat colors, patterns and hair lengths.
It normally retracts its claws when walking. A flexible spine allows it to bend its body extensively.
Do cats respond to their names? A Japanese team played four common nouns to 16 household cats in their owners' recorded voices, then played each cat's own name after responses had faded. Eleven cats habituated to the nouns; nine of them responded more strongly to their own names, and the group as a whole also showed a stronger response. The nouns matched each name in length and accent, supporting the finding that cats distinguished the sound of their names.
In a separate test using unfamiliar voices, 13 of 20 cats that had habituated to the nouns responded more strongly to their names. When other household cats' names were played in sequence, all six habituated household cats showed a stronger response to their own name, compared with three of nine habituated cats at the study's single cat café. The authors suggested that daily associations with food, play, or stressful events such as vet visits may shape how cats distinguish name sounds. Video raters recorded movements of cats' ears and heads.
IUCN Red List · Not Evaluated (NE) · Global
The Mammal Diversity Database's IUCN Red List field lists Felis catus as Not Evaluated (NE) globally. On Tokunoshima Island, forest animals were found in 20.1% of 174 fecal samples from feral cats caught in forest areas. Hair isotope analysis estimated that pet food supplied about 68% of these cats' long-term energy intake and forest prey about 14%; the prey included endangered Amami rabbits.