Cats Flashcards
Who were the pre-historic ancestors of cats?
Saber tooth tigers.
Gkve some history of saber tooth tigers.
35 million years ago, they were widespread in Europe, asia, africa, and north america.
Who was the wild ancestor of modern cats?
African bush cat.
When did fossils start to show similarities to today’s modern small cats?
About 12 million years old.
When did domestication of cats start?
about 6000 years ago (4000 BC)
Where did domestication of cats start?
Ancient Egypt.
Why were cats domesticated?
Companionship, religious reasons,
some believe also for rodent control.
When did specific cat breeds develop?
Around the middle of the 19th century (mid 1800’s)
People started to keep ancestry records and pedigrees.
How does the breed development of cats compare to dogs?
Cat breeds developed much much later than dogs.
What are female cats and male cats called?
Queen, Tom
What are young cats of either sex called?
kittens.
What is the birth process of cats called?
Queening
What is calling?
The sound a queen makes that is associated with mating
What is the estrous cucle of unmated queens?
10-22 days
Average is 13 to 15 days.
Estrus in cats?
They are induced ovulators.
What does it mean that cats are induced ovulators?
They will not ovulate during estrus unless they are bred by a tom.
How is the penis of a tom unique?
The tom has spurs on his penis.
What is the point of the spurs on the tom’s penis?
It helps stimulate the vagina and cervix during mating.
Why do we need to stimulate the female with the spurns?
This stimulation is critical for induced ovulators.
Explain the antomoy of how induced ovulation works.
There are nerves that run from the vagina and the cervix to the brain.
Once the vagina or cervix is stimulated, the nerves send signals to the brain, which results in the release of LH.
Okay, based on the other explaintion, how would you describe induced ovulators?
Its a neural reflex arc!
What happens if a cat is not bred?
If the cat is not bred, the CL never even develops. Remember, the LH is not stimulated to release.
They will not be pregnant or ovulate without the spurs.
When is ovulation able to be induced?
generally, can be induced at nay time.
However, there are periods in which mating will likely not result in a pregnancy and periods in which it will.
Cats have a large vocabulary of what?
Pure sounds.
How can pure sounds evolve in cats?
They can be combined into a large variety of “complex” calls.
What are the five pure sounds of a cat?
Murmur
Purr
Growl
Squeak
Shriek
Of the pure sounds, What is a cat murmur? (Sound and purpose)
Soft noise when exhaling.
Requesting or greeting.
Of the pure sounds, What is a cat purr? (Sound and purpose)
Soft, buzzlike sound,
most commonly used in social situations.
Of the pure sounds, What is a cat growl? (Sound and purpose)
Harsh, low-pitched,
Agonistic encounters.
Of the pure sounds, What is a cat squeak? (Sound and purpose)
High pitched raspy sound.
Playing greeting, anticipation of pleasant stimuli