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THE CAT FAMILY

‘Cat’ is the general name to all members of the feline or Felidae family. It may seem strange to some that the homely creature sitting so peacefully by the fire belongs to the same family as the lion, tiger, puma, leopard, lynx, ocelot, and the smaller species more closely allied to the domestic cat. They are carnivores or flesh eaters, animals which stalk and devour living prey, and they vary greatly in size from the lion, who may measure as mush as 10 feet from head to tail, to the little spotted cat of India, sometimes smaller than the average domestic cat.
Felines have many common characteristics: the shortness of the muzzles, the supple movements of the forepaws and the strong curved and retractable claws. They have long lithe bodies combining strength and agility. They are digitigrade, that is, they walk on their toes, which makes them light of foot, stealthy and silent of approach in stalking prey. The skulls of the various species of the true cat are similar and uniform in shape. Their tongues are covered with small, rasp-like surfaces called papillae, and are used for licking flesh from bones and cleaning the coat. In adult animals the teeth number thirty, and are adapted for holding prey and cutting up flesh with a scissor-like action, but they are not suitable for breaking and cracking bones. The whiskers are long bristle-like hairs, connected with nerves, which act as very sensitive organs of perception. The hearing is acute. The eyes are large and full, with pupils that can expand or contract to mere slits according to the density of the light. Cats cannot see in total darkness but their eyes are responsive to the smallest gleams of light. The tails are usually long and round, and can be used most expressively in portraying the emotions, particularly when the cat is excited or chasing prey.
The coat colourings of the majority of the members o f the cat tribe take the form of darker spots or stripes on a lighter ground, which may vary form greyish and tawny shades to yellow or orange. The spots may be simple, or in the shape of rings enclosing an area of a darker tint than that of the general ground colour. An excellent example of this is seen in the margay, one of the smaller members of the family found in the South American forests, which has a coat of beautifully soft fur of tawny shades, with varying sized spots.
Many years ago one appeared on the show bench in North America and was said to have been as tame as any of the other exhibits, being most friendly, easy to handle, and a joy to see.
The ocelot provides another example of the spotted coats of many of the feline family. The coat is mainly tawny yellow, with black spots, which also appear on the head. The tail is ringed. The size varies form3 to 4 feet in length. It lives in the forests in South America and the extreme southern part of North America, is an expert climber, living on birds and small mammals found in the trees, and is known to hunt like a fox, even breaking into chicken runs. Although reputed to be very fierce in its natural element, it can be easily tamed and may become very friendly and playful. Specimens have appeared at cat shows both in North America and Europe.
From the spotted coats there is a gradual change to the faint stripes and horizontal bars of the caffre of Egyptian cat, believed by some scientists to be the forerunner of the domestic cat in Europe. It is about the size of a large domestic cat, of yellowish colour, toning to grey, darker on the back, with faint stripes on the body and dark horizontal bands on the legs, and with a long ringed tail, tipped with black. It is found throughout Africa, and also in parts of south-western Asia. Apparently it was once known in south-eastern Europe, and its fossilised remains have been found in caverns on the Rock of Gibraltar. It will breed freely with the domestic cat.
The tiger has deep stripes, but the lion gives the impression of having a completely tawny-coloured coat, though faint spots may often be seen, especially in the female, while the young usually show considerable spotting when first born and also have transverse dark stripes down the side of the body and along the middle of the back, which gradually fade.
The lion, one of the largest members of the cat family, differs from others in having long hair on the head, neck and shoulders, known as the mane. This does not appear until the animal is three years old and takes several years to reach its full growth. Another peculiarity is the tufted tip to the tail.
The female does not have these distinguishing features, the head being covered with the same tawny short close fur as the rest of the body.
The felines are invariably lone hunters, stalking with great caution and stealth, finally catching their prey by a sudden leap, so that the coat colourings and markings play their part as camouflage while the hunt is on.
Among the smaller animals of the cat family is a beautifully-coloured species, comparatively rare, found in Tibet, Siberia, and Mongolia, known as the manul cat, or Pallas’s cat, after the man who first described it. He regarded it as the forerunner of the domesticated long-haired breeds, but this view is not commonly held today, there not being sufficient evidence to support it. The animal is about the size of an ordinary domestic cat, with very long soft thick fur, the colouring varying from a silvery grey to a buff yellow, darker on the back and chest, with light underparts. The short club-like thick bushy tail is ringed, and similar markings appear on the loins, while the cheeks have transverse streaks. Some of the ends of the longer hairs on the back are white with black tips, giving the whole coat a silvery ‘wash’ effect. The head is very broad and the eyes are directed forward more than in the other species. It has a fierce disposition.
The Indian desert cat is of particular interest in that it is known to interbreed with the local domestic cats, many of which carry similar markings and it is thought possible that it is from this species that the original Indian domestic cat, it has a pale sandy coloured coat, ornamented with longitudinal lines of spots along the body, a form of marking practically unknown in any of the European breeds, but which proves an excellent form of camouflage in the deserts and sandy regions it frequents. The tail is thin and tapering, being about the same length as the head and body, barred at the base, then ringed, while the tip is black.
The jungle cat found in India seems to connect the more typical cats with the lynxes. It is slightly larger than the average domestic cat. The eyes have circular pupils and the ears have long hairs on the tips. The tail is short. The body colour is yellowish-grey to greying-brown, with darker bars, and the tail is ringed with a black tip. It is a great hunter, chiefly nocturnal, attacking game of all kinds.
The lynx is found in many parts of the world, including North America, Asia, parts of Europe, Scandinavia, and Russia. Remains have been discovered in caves in England and on the continent. There are many colour variations, from yellowish-grey to a rich reddish yellow, with dark spots, while in Canada there is one that is almost white. The sharply-pointed ears are decorated with tufts of hair at the tips, while the tail is very short. They are all agile climbers, living in forests and mountainous areas. They are extremely savage, and will often kill for the sheer joy of it. When captured young, they are tameable and become very playful.
The cheetah or hunting leopard is distinguished from the other members of the cat family by the slenderness of its body and its long limbs. For many years it was thought to have only partially retractable claws, but zoologists now agree that they are wholly retractable but lack the covering skin found in the other cats. The spotted coat is coarse in texture, the colour varying from tawny to a bright reddish fawn with paler underparts. The ears are small and rounded, and the tail is relatively long. In India it has been trained and used for hunting for centuries, and is renowned for its speed when chasing game. It takes readily to domestication, being of placid temperament, and can be trained to walk on a lead.
The wild cat has been known in the British Isles, and southern Europe, and parts of northern and central Asia, since the mammoth period, although strangely enough it is not found in Ireland. Its fossilised remains have been discovered in caves, together with the bones and teeth of mammoths. There were once great numbers in the British Isles, but it now appears to be a rarity everywhere but in the Highlands of Scotland. There its numbers are decreasing yearly, due to its habit of preying on livestock and game, such as rabbits, hares, birds, small deer and lambs, and its consequent destruction.
It was once thought that the domestic cat was the wild cat tamed, but it is now agreed that they are two distinct breeds, although there are many instances of the domestic cat running wild and interbreeding with the wild species.
Although not unlike many of the domestic tabbies in general colouring, the wild cat is easily distinguishable by its superior size and strength, being up to as much as three feet in length. The head is large and square with voluminous whiskers. The coat is yellowish-grey with a dark streak running along the back and down the short bushy tail, which does not taper, but is nearly uniform in its thickness from the top to the tip. There are concentric dark bands on the sides of the coat, the underpart being whitish, and the soles of the feet are black. The male is usually much larger than the female. This species is noted for its strength, agility and fierceness, although it does not normally attack a man unless extremely provoked. It is an expert climber and not nocturnal in habit. It makes its home in forests interspersed with rocks, cliffs and trees, living in crevices and caves, in hollow stumps and under tree roots, where the kittens are born, often four or five in a litter by the domestic cats to their young.
On the west coast of Scotland wild cats living near to the sea have adopted what appears to be an almost complete fish diet. They are most adept in clawing the fish out of the water, and have been seen introducing their young ones to the art of fishing. This is done at low water, and is a very pretty and interesting sight.
Many attempts have been made to tame a specimen, but either the kittens succumb to illness when brought into contact with other animals before much headway has been made, or if they have lived, have failed to respond to kindness. Several well-known naturalists are endeavouring to keep wild cats, but even litters brought up by hand are still proving vicious, needing to be handled in gloves. It will be interesting to see, if these cats breed, whether their offspring will be tameable. At the beginning of the century several wild cats were exhibited at various cat shows.
Some members of the Viverridae family, or the civet tribe, which includes the palm-civets, the genets and the mongooses, are closely connected with the cats, but their faces and bodies are longer, and the legs are shorter. A few have fully retractile claws, as in the felines, but in others there is only partial retraction. They are found in south-eastern Asia, Madagascar and Africa. The palm-civets in particular are attractive cat-like creatures, often tamed, appreciating domesticity and becoming very attached to their owners. There are various types, but generally they are about the size of a large cat on shorter legs, with a long tail, the fur being brownish-grey or yellowish-brown in colour.