Cat in the context of Strigopidae

Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, chickens, ants, most spiders), as compared with aquatic animals (e.g., fish, whales, octopuses, lobsters, etc.), who live predominantly or entirely in bodies of water; and semiaquatic animals (e.g., crocodilians, seals, platypus and most amphibians), who inhabit coastal, riparian or wetland areas and rely on both aquatic and terrestrial habitats. While most insects (who constitute over half of all known species in the animal kingdom) are terrestrial, some groups, such as mosquitoes and dragonflies, spend their egg and larval stages in water but emerge as fully terrestrial adults (imagos) after completing metamorphosis.

Terrestrial animals conduct respiratory gas exchange directly with the atmosphere, typically via specialized respiratory organs known as lungs, or via cutaneous respiration across the skin. They have also evolved homeostatic features such as impermeable cuticles that can restrict fluid loss, temperature fluctuations and infection, and an excretory system that can filter out nitrogenous waste in the form of urea or uric acid, in contrast to the ammonia-based excretion of aquatic animals. Without the buoyancy of an aqueous environment to support their weight, they have evolved robust skeletons that can hold up their body shape, as well as powerful appendages known as legs or limbs to facilitate terrestrial locomotion, although some perform limbless locomotion using body surface projections such as scales and setae. Some terrestrial animals even have wings or membranes that act as airfoils to generate lift, allowing them to fly and/or glide as airborne animals.

Bubonic plague is one of three types of plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and vomiting, as well as swollen and painful lymph nodes occurring in the area closest to where the bacteria entered the skin. Acral necrosis, the dark discoloration of skin, is another symptom. Occasionally, swollen lymph nodes, known as "buboes", may break open.

The three types of plague are the result of the route of infection: bubonic plague, septicemic plague, and pneumonic plague. Bubonic plague is mainly spread by infected fleas from small animals. It may also result from exposure to the body fluids from a dead plague-infected animal. Mammals such as rabbits, hares, and some cat species are susceptible to bubonic plague, and typically die upon contraction. In the bubonic form of plague, the bacteria enter through the skin through a flea bite and travel via the lymphatic vessels to a lymph node, causing it to swell. Diagnosis is made by finding the bacteria in the blood, sputum, or fluid from lymph nodes.

Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant males and females will sexually reproduce and have offspring together. Domesticated animals are known as breeds, normally bred by a professional breeder, while domesticated plants are known as varieties, cultigens, cultivars, or breeds. Two purebred animals of different breeds produce a crossbreed, and crossbred plants are called hybrids. Flowers, vegetables and fruit-trees may be bred by amateurs and commercial or non-commercial professionals: major crops are usually the provenance of the professionals.

In animal breeding artificial selection is often combined with techniques such as inbreeding, linebreeding, and outcrossing. In plant breeding, similar methods are used. Charles Darwin discussed how selective breeding had been successful in producing change over time in his 1859 book, On the Origin of Species. Its first chapter discusses selective breeding and domestication of such animals as pigeons, cats, cattle, and dogs. Darwin used artificial selection as an analogy to propose and explain the theory of natural selection but distinguished the latter from the former as a separate process that is non-directed.

A black cat is a domestic cat with black fur. They may be a specific breed, or a common domestic cat of no particular breed. Most black cats have golden irises due to their high melanin pigment content. Black cats are the subject of mythology, legend, and superstition. They are often associated with witches and good or bad luck in European folklore.

The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) recognizes 22 cat breeds that can come with solid black coats. The Bombay breed is exclusively black.

Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes /sɪˈljʊərɪfɔːrmiːz/ or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Catfish are named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, though not all catfish have prominent barbels. All siluriformes lack scales, including both the armour-plated and naked species. This order of fish are defined by features of the skull and swimbladder. Catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia, the wels catfish of Eurasia, and the piraíba of South America, to detritivorous and scavenging bottom feeders, down to the tiny ectoparasitic species known as the candiru.

In the Southern United States, catfish may be known by a variety of slang names, such as "mud cat", "polliwogs", or "chuckleheads". Such names are regional and unstandardized. For instance, "chucklehead" in one region may refer to a bullhead catfish but indicate blue catfish elsewhere.

A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive/cute appearances, intelligence, and relatable personalities, but some pets may be taken in on an altruistic basis (such as a stray animal) and accepted by the owner regardless of these characteristics.

Two of the most popular pets are dogs and cats. Other animals commonly kept include rabbits; ferrets; pigs; rodents such as gerbils, hamsters, chinchillas, rats, mice, and guinea pigs; birds such as parrots, passerines, and fowls; reptiles such as turtles, lizards, snakes, and iguanas; aquatic pets such as fish, freshwater snails, and saltwater snails; amphibians such as frogs and salamanders; and arthropod pets such as tarantulas and hermit crabs. Smaller pets include rodents, while the equine and bovine group include the largest companion animals.

Carnivora (/kɑːrˈnɪvərə/ kar-NIH-vər-ə) is an order of placental mammals specialized primarily in eating flesh, whose members are formally referred to as carnivorans. The order Carnivora is the sixth largest order of mammals, comprising at least 279 species. Carnivorans are found on every major landmass and in a variety of habitats, ranging from the cold polar regions of Earth to the hyper-arid region of the Sahara Desert and the open seas. Carnivorans exhibit a wide array of body plans, varying greatly in size and shape.

Carnivora are divided into two suborders, the Feliformia, containing the true felids and several "cat-like" animals; and the Caniformia, containing the true canids and many "dog-like" animals. The feliforms include the Felidae, Viverridae, hyena, and mongoose families, the majority of which live only in the Old World; cats are the only exception, occurring in the Old World and the New World, entering the Americas via the Bering land bridge. The caniforms include the Caninae, Procyonidae, bears, mustelids, skunks, and pinnipeds that occur worldwide with immense diversity in their morphology, diet, and behavior.

Whiskers, also known as vibrissae (/vəˈbrɪsi/; sg. vibrissa; /vəˈbrɪsə/), are specialized sensory hairs that help most species of mammals sense their environment. Whiskers function as highly sensitive feelers that help mammals navigate the world in many different ways, including the detection of air currents and physical objects to aid in navigation, hunting, and spatial awareness. Whiskers can trigger reflexes to protect the eyes. Whiskers also play a significant role in the communication between individual animals in different species of mammals. They convey an animal's emotional state, essentially sending a message to other members of their species about what emotion they are feeling at the time. Whisker movement can be thought of as a form of language that animals use to silently communicate with the other animals around them.

Whiskers grow in clusters at various places around the body, including above the eyes, on the chin, on the forelegs, near the ears, and above the upper lip. Most mammals have whiskers, including all non-human primates, marsupials, and especially nocturnal mammals. Monotremes, however, lack them.

Phonemic awareness is a part of phonological awareness in which listeners are able to hear, identify and manipulate phonemes, the smallest mental units of sound that help to differentiate units of meaning (morphemes). Separating the spoken word "cat" into three distinct phonemes, /k/, /æ/, and /t/, requires phonemic awareness. The National Reading Panel has found that phonemic awareness improves children's word reading and reading comprehension and helps children learn to spell. Phonemic awareness is the basis for learning phonics.

Phonemic awareness and phonological awareness are often confused since they are interdependent. Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate individual phonemes. Phonological awareness includes this ability, but it also includes the ability to hear and manipulate larger units of sound, such as onsets and rimes and syllables.

Howling is a vocal form of animal communication seen in most canines, particularly wolves, coyotes, foxes, and dogs, as well as cats and some species of monkeys. Howls are lengthy sustained sounds, loud and audible over long distances, often with some variation in pitch over the length of the sound. Howling is generally used by animals that engage in this behavior to signal their positions to one another, to call the pack to assemble, or to note their territory. The behavior is occasionally copied by humans, and has been noted to have varying degrees of significance in human culture.

Catgut (also known as gut) is a type of cord that is prepared from the natural fiber found in the walls of animal intestines.Catgut makers usually use sheep or goat intestines, but occasionally use the intestines of cattle,hogs, horses, mules, or donkeys. Despite the name, catgut has never been made from cat intestines.

A claw is a curved, pointed appendage found at the end of a toe or finger in most amniotes (mammals, reptiles, birds). Some invertebrates such as beetles and spiders have somewhat similar fine, hooked structures at the end of the leg or tarsus for gripping a surface as they walk. The pincers of crabs, lobsters and scorpions, more formally known as their chelae, are sometimes called claws.

A true claw is made of a hard protein called keratin. Claws are used to catch and hold prey in carnivorous mammals such as cats and dogs, but may also be used for such purposes as digging, climbing trees, self-defense and grooming, in those and other species.

Nepeta cataria, commonly known as catnip and catmint, is a species of the genus Nepeta in the mint family, native to southern and eastern Europe, northern parts of the Middle East, and Central Asia. It is widely naturalized in northern Europe, New Zealand, and North America. The common name catmint can also refer to the genus as a whole.

It is a short-lived perennial mint-family herb growing 30–100 cm (12–39 in) tall with square stems, grayish canescent leaves that vary in shape and have serrated edges, fragrant small bilabiate flowers arranged in raceme spikes, and produces small three-sided nutlets containing one to four seeds. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, with no subspecies but multiple botanical synonyms, and its name—derived from medieval Latin—reflects its historical association with cats and various traditional names dating back to medieval England.

Toes are the digits of the foot of a tetrapod. Animal species such as cats that walk on their toes are described as being digitigrade. Humans, and other animals that walk on the soles of their feet, are described as being plantigrade; unguligrade animals are those that walk on hooves at the tips of their toes.

The quokka (/ˈkwɒkə/; Setonix brachyurus) is a small macropod about the size of a domestic cat. It is the only member of the genus Setonix. Like other marsupials in the macropod family (such as kangaroos and wallabies), the quokka is herbivorous and mainly nocturnal.

The quokka's range is a small area of southwestern Australia. They inhabit some smaller islands off the coast of Western Australia, particularly Rottnest Island just off Perth and Bald Island near Albany. Isolated, scattered populations also exist in forest and coastal heath between Perth and Albany. A small colony inhabits a protected area of Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, where they co-exist with the critically endangered Gilbert's potoroo.

Cats (Felis catus), initially introduced into Australia with the First Fleet in 1788, now number more than 11 million distributed across more than 90% of the continent including every major island.

They are the second most popular pet by household (third most populous overall after dogs and fish). In 2023 there were 5.3 million kept as pets of which approximately 95% are neutered. In addition there are estimated to be up to 6 million feral cats found in almost every remote area across the country.

Ambush predators or sit-and-wait predators are carnivorous animals that capture their prey via stealth, luring or by (typically instinctive) strategies utilizing an element of surprise. Unlike pursuit predators, who chase to capture prey using sheer speed or endurance, ambush predators avoid fatigue by staying in concealment, waiting patiently for the prey to get near, before launching a sudden overwhelming attack that quickly incapacitates and captures the prey.

The ambush is often opportunistic, and may be set by hiding in a burrow, by camouflage, by aggressive mimicry, or by the use of a trap (e.g. a web). The predator then uses a combination of senses to detect and assess the prey, and to time the strike. Nocturnal ambush predators such as cats and snakes have vertical slit pupils helping them to judge the distance to prey in dim light. Different ambush predators use a variety of means to capture their prey, from the long sticky tongues of chameleons to the expanding mouths of frogfishes.

A moggy is any cat which has not been intentionally bred. Moggies lack a consistent appearance unlike purebred cats that are selectively bred for appearance conforming to a standard. In contexts where cats need to be registered—such as in veterinary practices or shelters—moggies may be called domestic short-haired (DSH) or domestic long-haired (DLH) cats, depending on coat length (and less common designations may include "domestic medium-haired (DMH)" or "domestic semi-long-haired").