House Cats

Alex Re (00:00): Hello, welcome to On Wildlife. I'm your host Alex Re. On this podcast, we bring the wild to you. We take you on a journey into the life of a different animal every week, and I guarantee you you're going to come out of here knowing more about your favorite animal than you did before. On this episode, we're talking about an animal that could be lurking around in your own house right now they're pretty commonly associated with Halloween and have a long history with humans dating back thousands of years, so I hope you brought a litter box because this week we're talking about house cats.

(01:01): House cats are also known as domestic cats and their scientific name is fearless Cadis, and that's where the term feline comes from. Unlike most dogs, cats are able to survive in captivity and in the wild. Interestingly, there's evidence that it was not humans who domesticated cats, but cats that domesticated themselves by actively choosing to live with people. There were originally two separate lineages of cats that led to the house cats that we know today. One lineage is from around Asia and one is from Egypt. Much of the cat's domestication was based on their value in keeping ancient grain stores free of rodents. There's evidence that cats were domesticated around 9,000 years ago. Depending on who you ask, there's a variation of different cat breeds. Some sources say that there are 15 main breeds and others say there are 73 different breeds, and just like dogs, all house cats are the same species.

(02:06): The breeds aren't genetically different enough for them to be considered different species. House cats are the smallest members of the family, fide, which is a family that includes cats, lions, tigers, cheetahs and more, and cats have been around longer than most other modern mammals. Their body structure hasn't really changed much since they first evolved. They generally weigh around six to 10 pounds, but some breeds can get up to 30 pounds. In the last few episodes we talked about animals where the female is larger than the male. This isn't the case for cats. Males on average are larger than females, and something strange about cats is the way that they walk when they walk. They move the legs on one side of their body in unison, and then the other side, the only other animals that walk like this are camels, and some scientists believe that this helps them stay quiet because their back leg is always stepping exactly where their front leg was before, making sure that they're not stepping on anything unexpectedly.

(03:12): Cats are also known to be some of the most dexterous animals around, and this is because the vertebrae on their spinal column is connected by muscle instead of ligaments allowing it to contract and move in ways other animals can't. You may have also heard that cats always land on their feet when they fall. This is mostly true, although sometimes they can't always do this. This unique ability is possible because cats have something called a writing reflex. It allows them to orient themselves in midair. They know exactly where they are in the air and are able to twist and turn their bodies with the help of their flexible vertebrae to change their momentum and land on their feet. House cats are obligate carnivores, meaning that they have to eat meat in order to survive. Their main sources of food are small mammals like mice, moles, rats, and sometimes even rabbits.

(04:09): They'll also occasionally eat beetles and cicadas. Contrary to popular belief, songbirds are not a major part of a cat's diet. With a study showing out of 50 cat stomachs examined, only nine out of the 66 meals found were songbirds, but they can still have a major impact on bird populations and I'll talk about that later on in the episode. The way cats hunt can be seen in the way they play with their toys. They slowly stalk their prey until they're close enough where they can pounce. One important adaptation that they have that helps them catch their prey is their retractable claws. These sharp claws can come out of their paws when needed, and not only do they help the cats catch their prey, but they also help with climbing. These claws can be a nuisance to pet owners because cats have a habit of scratching furniture, but I urge you not to declaw your cats. It may seem like the equivalent of us just clipping our fingernails, but the claws are actually attached to bones in their paws. Declawing, your cat is basically like removing the tips of their fingers and it can lead to infections. This is why a lot of countries have banned declawing cats. Now, of course, if we're talking about house cats, we have to talk more about their relationship with humans and there's a lot to get through there, so we'll hear about that right after the break.

(05:46): This week I want to give a shout out to Sammy from Arizona. Her favorite animal is a polar bear. Polar bears can smell their prey from up to 20 miles. If you want me to give you a shout out on the podcast, send an email to on wildlife dot podcast@gmail.com telling me your name, where you're from, and your favorite animal. Now back to the episode,

(06:21): Cats have been significant religious figures in many cultures throughout history. Specifically in the Egyptian and Norse religions, the cat was held in high regard with God's even being modeled after them. Egyptian tombs have even been found with mummified cats alongside their partners and even mummified mice to provide food for the cat in the afterlife. Cats also have a significant presence in superstition and witchcraft, and because of this have a history of being mistreated. Many of the superstitions that are familiar to us today stem from the demonization of other cultures During the expansion of Christianity, one superstition is when a black cat crosses your path, you'll have bad luck. This stems from when Egyptians began worshiping the black cat goddess. Best Christians back in those times became convinced that black cats were demons in disguise. Black cats, true linked to Halloween started about 2000 years ago because of the Celtic tribes in Ireland.

(07:27): These tribes were pagan and worshiped a female figure like a sage or a medicine woman, which we would now call a witch. Certain Celtic tribes believed that by dabbling in dark magic, the user would be turned into a black cat. This means that in their case, witches were good and black cats were evil, but at the time, strong women were not tolerated in Christianity. So many people associated these witches who were seen as powers of good and pagan religions with evil. Along with them came the black cat, but what does this have to do with Halloween? Samhain is the Gaelic autumnal celebration where it was believed that the veils between this world and the next are at their thinnest. This celebration took place at night and put an emphasis on creatures of the night, especially black cats. They also wore costumes made of animal skins.

(08:23): This later became the holiday that we now know as Halloween. Unfortunately, with these superstitions came stereotypes that made people fear black cats. Many black cats were killed because they were believed to be witches that transformed after doing spells and they were even a significant part of the Salem witch trials. If someone had a cat, especially a black cat, it was incredibly easy to accuse them of witchcraft. Cats have not only been mistreated in the past, they're still mistreated today. Many people will adopt black cats around Halloween to use them as living decorations, and then they'll abandon them when Halloween is over, and you'll see that in old and modern literature and media. Cats are often mistreated. This is called cats Reise. Cats reach reproductive age very quickly at around seven to 12 months of age. Breeding females are called queens. Cats don't have a breeding season as they can go into heat, also known as estrus up to five times a year.

(09:29): This means that they're ready to reproduce. Calls made during this time are called catter walls. Gestation is around two months long, and the act of birth is called kitten. A group of kittens is called a litter. Each litter is on average four individuals, but it can be more or less depending on the breed. Kittens are born deaf, blind, and for the most part helpless. Their senses don't become active until 12 days after they're born. As soon as the kittens are born, the mother begins to lick them, and this is to encourage their circulatory system to start working. Okay, we're going to take our last break and when we get back, you'll hear more about some of their behaviors and some interesting relationships that they have with natural ecosystems. Time for our Halloween trivia question. What was candy corn called when it was first sold? It was called chicken feed because it looks like food you'd give to chickens.

(10:57): Okay. Welcome back. Because many of you might have cats, you can observe different behaviors that they have. For example, you might be familiar with them rubbing their faces on their owners or on furniture. They do this because their scent glands are located in their cheeks and chin and they're marking areas with their scent. Cats also make a variety of different noises. They can make up to 21 different sounds. While a dog can only make 10. One of their most famous sounds is purring. Most people know that when cats purr, it means that they're happy, but they also purr when they're in pain, and this is thought to be a way for them to soothe themselves. The other famous sound that they make is the meow, and something really interesting about this sound in particular is that they don't do this to communicate with other cats.

(11:50): Meowing for cats is mainly for communicating with people. When they're communicating with other cats, they're usually hissing or growling. They're also much more vocal than their relatives like lions and tigers. Another common behavior seen in cats is when they get scared, they arch their back and their hair stands up. When their hair stands up, it's called piloerection, and they can do this because they have tiny muscles attached to their hair follicles. This makes them look bigger to other animals that might be a threat to them. Cats are filled with really interesting behaviors. Another example of this is when a cat becomes sick. When they're sick, they don't like being out in the open and they become inactive in order to conserve energy. Oftentimes a cat will seem to be dead when it gets sick, but after they recover, they get back to being their normal selves almost as if they were brought back to life.

(12:46): This is where the saying that cats have nine lives comes from. Also, cats never actually go into a deep sleep like humans do. Instead, they're constantly in a light fluttering sleep, allowing them to be instantly alert if danger is present. House cats by nature are not overly social animals, but they've become much more social due to their domestication. Domesticated cats are more social because of their constant exposure to people and other animals. Feral cats are defined as any cat that's not tame or being kept by humans. This can happen because they've been born in the wild or were at one point domestic and have since been abandoned. The crucial point in a cat's development when it's the easiest for them to become domesticated is between two and 12 weeks in age. After this point, it becomes much harder for cats to become tame and outdoor.

(13:42): Cats tend to be pretty cautious when they go outside. They'll rarely go into densely forested areas and for good reason. While house cats themselves don't belong naturally to any ecosystem, they have large effects on the ones they happen to be placed in. As previously mentioned, birds don't make up a significant portion of their diet, but cats still have an incredibly large impact on their populations. In the US it's estimated that almost 4 billion birds are killed annually by outdoor cats. In Canada, the numbers around a hundred to 350 million. This can be especially stressful on bird populations that are endangered or threatened as they can't afford to lose members of their species. It's believed that they've actually been the primary reason for some bird species. Extinctions cats are especially having an impact in Australia, and they're causing the decline of many mammal species that are native there.

(14:41): However, there are conflicting studies on both sides of the argument. One side claims that cats are putting a huge pressure on ecosystems and the other side claims that it's not fair to put all of that blame on cats. Cats were originally introduced to most of the ecosystems that they live in now in order to combat other introduced pests like rats and mice. This can be a benefit because many of the animals that we classify as pests or invasive species, and some studies show that cats have a positive impact on their environment because they help get rid of these invasive species. In turn, this helps native organisms thrive because they're not being outcompeted for resources as much, so there really are positives and negatives to outdoor cats in your ecosystems. But I would say that it's important to be aware of your cat's surroundings because they could be disrupting an ecosystem that's already on the brink of collapse.

(15:38): There are a lot of great organizations that help cats get adopted and keep them off the streets where they can do ecological damage. You should take a look at the All CATT Alliance, stray Cat Alliance and the every CATT Health Foundation. Thank you so much for coming on this adventure with me as we explored the world of House Cats. You can find the sources that we use for this podcast and links to organizations that we reference at onwildlife.org. You can also email us with any questions at On Wildlife dot podcast@gmail.com, and you could follow us on Instagram at On Wildlife or on TikTok at wildlife. Don't forget to tune in next Wednesday for another awesome episode, and that's On Wildlife.

Jess Avellino (16:37): You've Been listening to On Wildlife with Alex Re. On Wildlife provides general educational information on various topics as a public service, which should not be construed as professional financial, real estate tax, or legal advice. These are our personal opinions only. Please refer to our full disclaimer policy on our website for full details.