Domestic Cats. Information on domestic cats, the history on how cats first became domesticated as well as the varieties of domestic cats.

The cat is a small feline carnivore that has been domesticated for several millennia. The term cat most commonly means a domestic cat, although it can also be used to refer to the other members of the feline family. For example lions, tigers, jaguars and the like are often referred to as the big cats.

How Cats Became Domesticated

Domestic cats originated from an ancestral wild species, Felis silvestris, the European and African Wild Cat. The domestic cat is now considered a separate species, named Felis catus.

In appearance, domestic cats are similar to their wild relatives, and many of their behaviors, such as hunting and other activity patterns, remain essentially unchanged from their ancestral form. Cats were first domesticated in Egypt .

The cat was first domesticated by the Ancient Egyptians in 4000 BC, to keep mice and rats away from their grain stores. They regarded cats as embodiments of the goddess Bast, also known as Bastet or Thet; the penalty for killing a cat was death, and when a cat died it was sometimes mummified in the same way as a human.

However, by 500 BC the Greeks had acquired domestic cats, and they spread cats throughout their sphere of influence. The Romans introduced the domestic cat to Britain by 300 AD. Domestic cats have now been introduced around the world, mostly by colonists from Europe.

Domestic cats spread slowly to other parts of the globe, possibly because Egyptians prevented export of the animal they worshiped as a goddess.

There are many named breeds, each with distinct features and heritage. However, due to common cross-breeding in populated areas, many cats are simply identified as belonging to the homogeneous breeds of domestic longhair and domestic shorthair, depending on their type of fur.

Calico (US) or tortoiseshell (UK) cats have multiple colours. Bicolor cats are partly white. A tabby cat is a striped cat.

A male cat is usually called a tom cat, a female cat is called a queen. A young cat is called a kitten (as are baby rats, rabbits, and squirrels).

A cat whose ancestry is officially registered is called a purebred cat or a Pedigreed cat or a Show cat. The owners and breeders of show cats compete to see who can breed the cat with the closest resemblance to the 'ideal' definition of the breed.