Cats By Victoria Maxon

Domestic cat

There are many different kinds of cats. One of the most popular cats is the domestic cat. The domestic cat is just a cat that people would keep as a pet and is very small compared to a tiger or something like that. The first domestication of a cat dates back to about 8,000 years ago.  They come from the island of Cyprus, where the bones of cats, mice, and humans have been found together. All three of these species first appear on Cyprus at the same time. Apparently humans brought the other two to the island, the mice by accident and the cats on purpose. People would capture kittens and raise them so that they wouldn’t be afraid of people anymore.

Big cats

Most of the common big cats are tiger, lion, bobcat, margays, cheetah, ocelot, cougar, and jaguar and black and normal leopard. One of the biggest cats is the tiger. Tigers can get up to 9 feet long. Mountain lions are solitary animals living and hunting on their own. They cover large amounts of area from snow-covered mountains to tropical rain forests. Margays are native South America. Margays are part of the ocelot family they like to sit in trees and never come out. Cheetahs are the only cat to rely on speed rather than stealth. Their legs are adapted for ruing very fast not for climbing. The snow leopard dose not purr or roars like a lot of big cats do. The smallest cat in the world is the black footed cat it only ways 2.5 ponds.     

Cats, cats, cats

 Cats are native to all continents except for Australia and Antarctica. Different kinds of cats can live in all different kinds of tempters a lot of them live in Asia and Africa like the lion and the jaguar. There are about 40 different kinds of cats. All cats from the house cat to the lion have been adapted for hunting. The head of the cat is large and broad with powerful jaws and very sharp teeth. People believe that cats have whiskers to help them feel their way through narrow places. A cat is like a dog because there are both colorblind. But they have very good smelling and hearing. Most cats are good swimmers but a lot of them don’t like water at all. The traditional belief in the “nine lives” of the cat can be traced to the cat’s cleverness in getting out of trouble and its vigor and a strong life. The smallest cat in the world is the black-footed cat. It only weighs 2.5 pounds.     

© 2000 Victoria and Springhurst