AnimalsCats have lived alongside people for thousands of years, first drawn to the mice around grain stores. They have sharp hearing, see well in dim light and use their whiskers to judge gaps. A cat purrs when content, and sometimes when it is unwell or frightened.
Quick facts
- Scientific name
- Felis catus
- Group
- Mammals
- Diet
- Carnivore (eats other animals)
- Lives in
- Worldwide, with people
- Habitat
- Homes, farms and towns
- A young one is called
- kitten
- A group is called
- clowder
- Conservation status
- Domestic animal
How it is classified
Scientists sort living things into groups within groups. Reading down, each step is a smaller group, ending with the species itself.
- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Chordata
- Class Mammalia
- Order Carnivora
- Family Felidae
- Genus Felis
- Species Felis catus
Other members of the family Felidae on this site: cheetah, jaguar, leopard, lion, snow leopard, tiger.
More distant relatives in the order Carnivora: brown bear, dog, giant panda, polar bear, red fox, red panda, sloth bear, spotted hyena, walrus, wolf.
Classification follows the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Other reference works arrange some groups differently. How classification works.
Is it in danger?
The domestic cat is a domestic animal, kept and bred by people. Domestic animals are not assessed for the Red List of threatened species.