The first domestic cats were wild African bushcats, tamed by ancient Egyptians thousands of years ago. Yet cats show some of their wild ancestry even today. Unlike many breeds of dog, they can be highly independent of their owners. Most female cats are ready to be mothers by the time they are ten months old - although many are neutered to prevent them breeding. Female cats are usually pregnant for about nine weeks or so, and then give birth to a litter of between 2 and 5 kittens - though a litter of as many as 19 has been recorded.
Newborn kittens are helpless - blind, deaf and furless.
They begin to hear quite soon, but their eyes may stay closed for a week or more, and they only start to crawl after a fortnight. For the first two months of their lives, kittens feed only on their mother's milk, which they suck from teats on her underside. Eventually, though, they are 'weaned' off the milk and on to solid food. A month later, the mother cat is ready to mate again. Miniature Yorkshire terriers often weigh less than 500g when fully grown.