page_title: Cat
section_title: Habitats
hierarchical_section_title: Cat / Ecology / Habitats
caption_attribution_description: Български: Домашната котка. Deutsch: Katze im Schnee (zehn Monate alt, Weibchen). English: Domestic cat, a ten month old female. Español: Gata doméstica (Felis silvestris catus) de diez meses en la nieve. Français&#160;: Une chatte domestique de dix mois dans la neige. Italiano: Una femmina di gatto domestico di dieci mesi sulla neve. Latina: Feles. Lietuvių: Naminė katė. Polski: Dziesięciomiesięczna samica kota domowego. Português: Gata (Felis silvestris catus) de dez meses na neve. Română: Pisică domestică, femelă de zece luni, pe zăpadă. Русский: Домашняя кошка, возраст десять месяцев. Svenska: Inhemsk katt, en tio månader gammal kvinna.
context_page_description: The cat is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is often referred to as the domestic cat to distinguish it from the wild members of the family. A cat can either be a house cat, a farm cat or a feral cat; the latter ranges freely and avoids human contact. Domestic cats are valued by humans for companionship and their ability to hunt rodents. About 60 cat breeds are recognized by various cat registries.
  The cat is similar in anatomy to the other felid species: it has a strong flexible body, quick reflexes, sharp teeth and retractable claws adapted to killing small prey. Its night vision and sense of smell are well developed. Cat communication includes vocalizations like meowing, purring, trilling, hissing, growling and grunting as well as cat-specific body language. It is a solitary hunter but a social species. It can hear sounds too faint or too high in frequency for human ears, such as those made by mice and other small mammals. It is a predator that is most active at dawn and dusk. It secretes and perceives pheromones.
context_section_description: The domestic cat is a cosmopolitan species and occurs across much of the world. It is adaptable and now present on all continents except Antarctica, and on 118 of the 131 main groups of islands—even on isolated islands such as the Kerguelen Islands.
  Due to its ability to thrive in almost any terrestrial habitat, it is among the world's most invasive species.
  As it is little altered from the wildcat, it can readily interbreed with the wildcat. This hybridization poses a danger to the genetic distinctiveness of some wildcat populations, particularly in Scotland and Hungary and possibly also the Iberian Peninsula. It lives on small islands with no human inhabitants.
  Feral cats can live in forests, grasslands, tundra, coastal areas, agricultural land, scrublands, urban areas, and wetlands.
caption: A Tabby cat in snowy weather
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