The Enigmatic Cat

The Enigmatic Cat

  • Submitted By: onutza
  • Date Submitted: 02/23/2009 11:52 AM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 562
  • Page: 3
  • Views: 1450

THE CAT

The cat, also known as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small predatory, valued by humans for its companionship and its ability to hunt vermin, snakes, scorpions and other unwanted household pests. It has been associated with humans for at least 9,500 years.
A skilled predator, the cat is known to hunt over 1,000 species for food. It can be trained to obey simple commands. Individual cats have also been known to learn on their own to manipulate simple mechanisms, such as doorknobs. Cats use a variety of vocalizations and types of body language for communication, including meowing, purring, hissing, growling, squeaking, chirping, clicking, and grunting.Cats may be the most popular pet in the world, with over 600 million in homes all over the world.hey are also bred and shown as registered pedigree pets. This hobby is known as the "cat fancy."
Until recently the cat was commonly believed to have been domesticated in ancient Egypt, where it was a cult animal. However a study found that the lines of descent of all house cats probably run through as few as five self-domesticating African Wildcats, in the Near East.
Domestic cats, especially young kittens, are known for their love of play. This behavior mimics hunting and is important in helping kittens learn to stalk, capture and kill prey. Many cats cannot resist a dangling piece of string, or a piece of rope drawn randomly and enticingly across the floor. This well known love of string is often depicted in cartoons and photographs, which show kittens or cats playing with balls of yarn. It is probably related to hunting instincts, including the common practice of kittens hunting their mother's and each other's tails. If string is ingested, however, it can become caught in the cat’s stomach or intestines, causing illness, or in extreme cases, death. Due to possible complications caused by ingesting a string, string play is sometimes replaced with a laser pointer's dot, which...

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