When we see British cats, we immediately imagine how soft and plush their fur is to the touch and how they purr soothingly. But we have no idea how complex these gentle fluffy creatures are.
So, let's find out in more detail what a "cat" is:
The first thing you should pay special attention to is, of which she has only 30. Of course, this is less than that of other predators, but even such a number of teeth for a cat is enough to tear the meat from the bone and gnaw the bone itself.
Small predators very skillfully use their teeth, with the help of fangs they successfully hold prey, and with the help of sharp premolars, a cat cuts meat from a bone with ease, like a sharp knife.
The cat also has a very unusual language, it is rough, the cat also uses it during the meal. Due to this unusual roughness of the tongue, it is convenient or liquid food. The main distinguishing features of the cat can also be attributed to a keen hearing, a keen sense of smell, excellent vision, which the cat draws in while running.
Cats have amazing flexibility and a fantastic ability to get through even the smallest of holes. The cat has such abilities due to the absence of normal clavicles. Both feline clavicles are small bones and do not perform any functions.
That is why the cat's paws do not have a strong connection, very well-developed muscles and tendons connect them to the spine, which allows the cat to jump from a great height and land softly without injury.
Also, such a disadvantage as the absence of normal clavicles can easily be moved to advantages also because the cat easily crawls into holes from 10 centimeters in diameter. But before crawling into a small gap, the cat checks the size of the hole, figuring out if it can fit its head, if the head goes through, then the rest of the body will go through.
As for the volume of the brain, scientists have proven that the brain size of a thin forest cat is much larger than that of. This fact is explained by the fact that the volume of the brain is directly dependent on the mobility of the animal and the complexity of the musculoskeletal functions performed by the cat throughout its life.
But it cannot be said that the brain of a domestic cat is not developed or that it is stupid. On the contrary, any cat, be it a wild street beauty or a spoiled domestic beauty, has a well-developed brain, with its help the cat is able to make decisions, compare almost instantly.
You can also note the ability of a cat to move quickly, nimbly and silently. Such skills are easily explained by the fact that the cat has a very unusual type of walking, it first rearranges the left paws, and then the right ones. Only a cat, a camel and a giraffe are endowed with such an unusual gait..
Unlike all other animals and humans, a cat has a different number of fingers on its paws, four on the hind legs, and five on the front. More than a quarter of cats have the ability to equally use both the right paw and the left. Thanks to this gait, it seems that the cat walks “on tiptoe”. But it's not. The weight of the cat's body is evenly distributed over the entire foot, but the cat still walks quietly and silently.
Probably everyone noticed that cats have no smell. This is due to the fact that cats do not have sweat and fat glands on their bodies, except for delicate pads on their paws. Very often, cat owners notice that after an examination by a veterinarian, wet marks from small cat's paws remain on the table, this is sweat discharge. Such a biological feature, therefore, hot and dry weather, especially for British cats, is not the most pleasant time.
A cat is one of those animals over which nature has worked especially carefully. Few animals can boast of such physical abilities as a cat. Developing from a small kitten to an adult, the cat brings all its movements to automatism, these are acrobatic elements, and fast running, incredible high and long jumps, climbing and crawling, instant coordination of all its movements, as well as instant reaction.
Also, special attention simply needs to be paid to the cat's skeleton. It is made up of 240 individual bones and 500 muscles. A cat's tail consists of 26 vertebrae. Most of the bones are connected to each other by cartilaginous tissues, and the rest of the bones are connected by joints. And thanks to the veins, the cat can release or hide sharp claws in leather pouches that are located between the fingers.
Educational and research work
MBOU "Secondary school No. 4 of Shebekino
Our pets are cats
Why did cats appear in human life
Performed:
Smirnova Daria
3 - b class
Topic: Our pets are cats. Why did cats appear in human life.
Object of study- cats and their life next to humans in the modern world.
Target This study is to find out how and why cats appeared in human life.
The goal set determines research objectives:
1. Consider the theory of the origin of cats.
2. Reveal the biological characteristics of cats.
3. Show the manifestation of the biological characteristics of cats in the event of natural disasters.
4. Consider ways to use cats.
5. Research and analyze the behavior of the cat in the house.
6. Study the collected material.
7. Design as a multimedia presentation.
The relevance of research- Our pets share with us shelter for thousands of years. However, we have never been able to subdue the cats. Cats, having taken a firm place in our homes and in our lives, still remain very unexplored.
Hypothesis- It is believed that the first place among the four-legged friends of man is occupied by a dog, although a cat is one of the most popular pets. We doubt that cats do not occupy the first place in human life. And we want to check it out.
Methodology: analysis of literature, information resources.
Visual representation of data: multimedia application.
Introduction………………………………………………………………………4
1. The history of the origin of the domestic cat…………………….…..….....5
2. Biological features of cats………………………………..……...7
3. Cats: doctors and predictors.………………………………………......11
4. The image of a cat used in various fields of knowledge and art……………………………………………………………………...14
5. Practical part………………………………………………………..16
Conclusions………………………………………………………………………..17
Literature………………………………………………………………………18
Appendix
Introduction
There is always someone who needs you
Who so naively believes in you
Who boldly trusts the soul,
Who is ready to wait, loving, at the door ...
We often ask our parents to give us a pet. On the one hand, it seems to be good that we will take care of a dog or a cat, but on the other hand, parents do not want unnecessary problems and garbage in the house. How to be? What benefits can pets bring to us and our parents? The animal becomes a full member of the family, he is the same as everyone else, he simply cannot express his feelings and desires in words. Animals are strongly attached to us and become a devoted and faithful friend. Living together with animals is the best opportunity to learn to be responsible, take care of someone, gain someone's trust and avoid loneliness, relieve stress and relax.
I love different cats very much, and especially my Marusya. I like to observe their behavior, mood, read literary works about them, watch them on TV. Once I became interested in how and where cats came from and what features they have. In this regard, I decided to conduct my own research about cats.
1. History of the origin of the domestic cat.
Found on almost all continents, wild cats have always attracted the attention of humans with their behavior. The cat family has about 35 species. About ten million years ago, they already had a resemblance to modern mammals.
This miacides- the ancestors of all modern predators, which appeared about 50 million years ago. Miacids were small marten-like animals with a small body and a long tail. They had well-developed hearing and vision, as well as mobility, combined with quick reactions and strength. Various species lived in trees or on the ground.
10 million years ago, the first cat-like predators originated from miacids - dinictis. They were about the size of a lynx and very much resembled modern cats, differing from them in longer fangs and a smaller brain.
These animals were divided into two groups. The representatives of one of them lengthened fangs. So there were saber-toothed cats. In representatives of another branch, fangs, on the contrary, decreased, and these animals gave rise to the feline genus, including modern cats.
There are different versions of the appearance of the cat. Extinct ancestor of the domestic cat wild cat Martelli- first appeared in Europe or the Middle East.
Wild cats are common on all continents and large islands, except for Australia and Antarctica. All cats lead a terrestrial lifestyle, inhabiting mainly forests, partly deserts, savannahs and mountains.
The domestic cat is a carnivorous mammal of the cat family.
All domestic cats are descended from a group of self-domesticated forest cats. This happened about 10 thousand years ago, in the Middle East.
The first archaeological evidence of the domestication of a domestic cat was found in Cyprus and dates back to 7500 BC. e. In ancient Egypt, a cat was considered a sacred animal, the murder of which was punishable by death. The goddess Baet, revered as a symbol of happiness, love and childbearing, was depicted with a cat's head. In the image of a red cat, the Egyptians often depicted the great sun god Ra. Phoenician sailors took cats with them on their travels. Domestic cats began to spread rapidly throughout the world. Surely few people know that the freedom-loving cat was the symbol of the uprising of Spartacus. The cat appeared in Russia in the 7th-6th centuries. BC e. It was supposedly brought by merchants and warriors who had extensive connections with the Mediterranean. The Scythians also knew domestic cats. Much later, these animals appeared on the coast of the Baltic Sea, and only in the X-XIII centuries. they ended up on the territory of Ancient Russia, where they quickly came under the protection of church laws. The cat was expensive. Cats are one of the most popular pets today. The domestication of domestic cats occurred in different ways. And although millions of purebred and outbred animals currently live at home, there are many stray cats. The domestic cat differs from the wild shape of the muzzle, the size of the skeleton and digestive system,
2. Biological features of cats.
There are many breeds of cats, from long-haired (Persian) to hairless (Sphynx). Despite the fact that cats have been domesticated for a long time, they are able to survive in the wild.
On average, an adult cat reaches a length of 50 cm from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail. There are fewer teeth than other carnivorans (28-30), so the muzzle is short and the head looks rounded. The tail of most species is long. The coloration is grayish to reddish-brown, usually with stripes, spots, speckles or rosettes. The weight of a cat is from 2 to 7 kg. In captivity, cats live from 15 to 20 years. The normal body temperature of an adult cat is 38 - 39.5 degrees. According to zoologists, the sense organs are most developed in cats. The lifestyle is predominantly twilight and nocturnal. They live alone or in families.
Vision
Among domestic animals, the cat has the largest eyes relative to body size. They are located on the head so that both look in the same direction, so cats have stereoscopic vision, which allows you to accurately estimate the distance to the object of observation. Cats are able to distinguish colors, but compared to humans, their perception of color is weaker - less contrast and bright. It has been noticed that a cat perceives stationary and nearby objects worse than moving ones.
Cats have excellent vision in the dark. The light sensitivity of a cat's eye is 7 times higher than that of a human. The pupil of the cat's eye can change shape. In daylight, it is not round, as in humans, but has a vertical oval or even slit-like shape. Cats have a nictitating membrane (called the third eyelid) that can be seen when the cat sleeps with their eyes open or feels tired.
Once I was watching my Marusya. I turned off the light in the room and decided to check if cats really see in the dark. Marusya moved freely around the room, not bumping into a single object. Then I deliberately put a few objects in her path and turned off the light again. In the dark I stumbled upon these objects, and Marusya passed quickly and freely.
Hearing
Cats have directional hearing, i.e. they can move their auricle towards the sound source. The auricles of a cat move independently of each other, so the cat can follow two sources of sound at the same time.
I wanted to check it out. I was sitting with my mother in the room, and my Maruska was in another room. Mom and I were talking, and suddenly I mentioned her name in my conversation. In less than a minute, Marusya was next to me. This suggests that she caught the source of the sound.
Touch
Tactile functions in cats are performed by special sensitive hairs "vibrissa" - whiskers located on both sides in four rows above the upper lip, above the eyes, under the chin, on the tail and on the paws. Vibrissae allow the cat to navigate in the dark, as well as evade obstacles. Also, with the help of sensitive hairs, the cat examines objects.
Vibrissae also indicate the mood of the animal: a forward-facing whisker often signifies curiosity or friendliness, while when aggressive, the cat presses the whiskers to the muzzle.
I watched my Maruska smell her favorite treat. In whatever part of the house she is, she quickly rushes, smelling delicious.
Taste perception
Cats are very picky in food, they distinguish between sour, bitter and salty. This intelligibility is due, first of all, to a good sense of smell and developed taste buds on the tongue.
vestibular apparatus
A well-developed vestibular apparatus located in the inner ear is responsible for the sense of balance in cats. Cats can move fearlessly over ridges, fences, and tree limbs. When falling, they can reflexively assume the position in the air necessary for landing on their paws.
I watched how my Marusya constantly sits on the very beam of the balcony and walks along it, not being afraid to fall. One day she fell asleep in the sun and fell off the balcony. But she did not crash, but landed softly on her paws.
Sign system and self-expression in behavior
Domestic cats can purr (in other words, purr or purr), this usually means that the animal is content. Depending on the value, the intonation of the meow changes. Cats usually meow to get a person's attention.
In cases of extreme viciousness, cats may hiss or even howl. In this case, the animal usually arches its back, rears its hair and presses its ears to its head.
The tail is also an important expressive tool in cats: a calm, wrapped around the body or held high tail means a peaceful mood. The cat may twitch the tip of its tail when excited or interested. In a state of anger, the cat's tail begins to beat. Cats very rarely allow their tail to be touched, even by people they trust. At a friendly meeting of two cats, they usually sniff their noses, and if one of the animals lowers its head at the same time, this is a sign of submission.
When the caressed cat is satisfied, it can make alternate forward movements with its front paws, letting in and releasing its claws.
Hunting
Despite their small size, cats are very skilled predators. Tactics during hunting for cats are the same as for tigers and leopards: the cat lies in wait for the victim and attacks with a sudden jump. Unlike lions, which live and hunt in prides, the cat is a solitary predator. Unlike dogs and wolves, which need to maintain a strong body odor in order to hunt cooperatively, cats constantly groom their fur so as not to frighten their prey with their scent.
Nutrition
Cats usually only consume meaty food for which their digestive tract is adapted. In some cases, cats may eat vegetables such as carrots or cucumbers.
Relationships with other animals
Cats can peacefully coexist even with animals that in nature are their victims. So, if a mouse is brought to a kitten at the age of several weeks, they can maintain friendly relations for a long time, but there is always a danger that the hunting instinct may work during joint games.
The difficult relationship between cats and dogs is due to hunting instincts: each dog sees an object of persecution in a fleeing cat and chases it until it climbs a tree or a fence. Very often, the cat goes on the offensive and can stun and put the pursuer to flight. However, a dog and a cat can be easily accustomed to each other.
Habitat
Cats love to sleep during the day in the bright sun, and begin to feel discomfort when the surface temperature of the skin reaches 52 ° C.
Cats do well in temperate climates, but not in all seasons. Cats do not tolerate fog, rain and snow, although some breeds such as the Siberian cat have adapted to the cold and can maintain a body temperature of 39 ° C even after being submerged in water. Most cats do not like bathing in water.
3. Cats: doctors and fortune tellers.
After examining the behavior of cats, their biological characteristics, scientists came to the conclusion that the owners of furry pets are 30% less at risk of death from a heart attack.
There is no definite answer to the question of why pets are engaged in medical practice. Most likely, the researchers conclude, because they just like it. True, an indispensable condition for the "call" of a striped doctor is the cat's trust and disposition towards the owner. So, the ability of the purr to normalize blood pressure has long been known. Fluffy healers will also help with pain in various areas of the human body: the cat itself determines the sore spot, lies down on it and begins to purr. Warmth and soothing sound soothe pain with amazing ease. I must say that cats treat different diseases in different ways. Finding a sore spot, some lie down on it, trying to warm it. Others, releasing their claws, like acupuncturist's needles, begin a kind of massage. As a rule, the healing effect occurs at the first rumbling and purring sounds that soothe and relax. At these moments, it is not advisable to push the cat away, but it is better to switch and calm down. It will extinguish the "storm" of your body.
In addition, cats can relieve fatigue, stress, migraines, lower blood pressure, normalize the pulse, help with rheumatism and stomach ulcers.
It is known that cats are attracted to negative energy, they seem to absorb it. When any violations occur in our body or around us, it, catching, tends to this place. The cat is so arranged that she needs this "recharging". Each of us has observed how cats love to be near electrical appliances that emit negative electromagnetic waves. A person, on the contrary, in order to get rid of ailments, you need to remove negative energy. So, a cat for him is just a gift, a home doctor.
There is no scientific explanation for this fact, but experts believe that communication with animals makes it easier to survive stressful situations that cause irreparable damage to health. However, the talents of cats do not end there. It has been found that contact with a cat has a beneficial effect on patients after severe injuries, suffering from mental disorders, cardiovascular diseases and strokes. Recently, in the West, cats have been used to relieve stress and treat addiction to drugs and alcohol. Long-term observations of doctors have shown that the bioinfluence of cats is stronger than cats. Cats "better" treat diseases of the nervous system, internal organs. Cats are excellent healers of osteochondrosis, sciatica, arthrosis.
My grandfather has frequent headaches, and I saw how our Marusya fits into his bed and lay like that for some time. The pain really subsides. And when mom comes tired from work, Marusya will definitely jump on her knees and purr. So they sit and talk, and mom's fatigue goes away. She becomes more cheerful and cheerful.
But, cats are also excellent predictors of natural disasters. People living in earthquake-prone regions have long paid attention to the special behavior of our smaller brothers before a strong earthquake.
It is believed that about 70 species of animals are able to act as a kind of seismograph, and one of the first places in this list is occupied by ordinary domestic cats. There are many cases in history when, on the eve of earthquakes or volcanic eruptions, cats left their owners without hesitation, left the city and returned only after the catastrophe.
Observations have shown that before a natural disaster, cats are excited, their hair is tousled, their ears are flattened. They meow loudly and for no apparent reason, tremble, hide, ask to leave the house, and sometimes fall into a stupor.
In any case, scientists in many countries prone to seismic hazards take animal behavior research quite seriously, find out details from local residents about the behavior of their pets.
4. The image of a cat used in various fields
knowledge and art.
Cats are considered one of the keepers of comfort. Often, during housewarming, the cat is the first to be let into the house. Also, because of the ability of cats to land on their feet when they fall, it is often said that they have a special "sixth sense" and that they have nine lives. There is a superstition that black cats are harbingers of bad luck, especially if such a cat runs across the road to someone. There is also an opinion that if a black cat lives in a house, then this is good luck.
Cats have often been depicted in figurines and drawings since ancient Egypt. In heraldry, the cat is a symbol of independence and is presented in profile and indeed.
Cats often became characters in literary works, for example, "Puss in Boots" by Charles Perrault, Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland", fairy tales "The Magic Ring", "Cat, Rooster and Fox", "Cat and Fox", etc. In literature, a cat usually plays the role of an assistant: she helps her friends or the owner to avoid any trouble, even escape death. But the cat has a different character in different fairy tales. She is shown dexterous, cunning, resourceful, sometimes she is a deceiver, such qualities as laziness and theft are also noted.
Everyone knows the scientist cat from the story "Ruslan and Lyudmila". He walks on a chain around a mighty oak. Only the cat Bayun does not move vertically, but horizontally - "goes to the right - the song starts, to the left - he tells a fairy tale." The cat is the main character of Russian lullabies. Rocking the babies, the mothers in a lullaby called the cat to help, promising in return "a piece of cake, and half a glass of milk."
The cat character can also be used to create satirical images. An example of such a literary device, when human actions are attributed to an animal, are the numerous heroes of the fables of Aesop, Ivan Andreevich Krylov.
Cats are eternal enemies and exterminators of mice. Everyone has known this since childhood. This sad law of life is taken as a basis by many multipliers. The most famous cartoon about this is Tom and Jerry. Is it possible to completely change the rules and make mice hunt cats, and not vice versa? This is a cartoon familiar to everyone about the kind-hearted and generous cat Leopold. Also often the cat becomes the main character. in such cartoons as "Three from Prostokvashino", "Kitten named Woof"
5. Practical part
I was interested in the question - who lives in your house: a cat or a dog?
Were interviewed 60 people, students of the third grade. The results obtained are presented in the form of a diagram.
This chapter provides information about the external and internal structure of the body and the physiological characteristics of the representatives of the cat family.
Representatives of the cat family are distinguished by extraordinary grace and grace, mobility and vigor, which largely determines the structure of the animal.
It is advisable to start describing the structural features of a cat with a skeleton, the structure of which in many ways resembles the structure of the skeleton of all mammals, differing in the shape and arrangement of some bones, which is explained by the horizontal position of the cat's spine and the fact that the work of the organ systems of this animal is adapted to its lifestyle.
The skull of a cat has a rounded shape. Moreover, it is much shorter than that of many other predatory animals. The size of the skull of an adult varies depending on sex, breed, and individual hereditary traits.
The bones of the cranium are much larger than the bones of the facial part of the skull. This feature makes the appearance of a cat unlike other animals.
The spine of a cat is flexible and mobile. It consists of 27 vertebrae: 7 cervical, 13 thoracic and 7 lumbar. Below the lumbar region are 3 fused vertebrae that form the sacrum. This is followed by tail vertebrae, the number of which varies among representatives of different breeds.
On average, a cat's tail consists of 20–23 vertebrae. But there are also short-tailed and tailless cats, in which the number of vertebrae is much less. For example, in Maine cats.
Thanks to the elastic and mobile tail, cats can maintain balance during the jump and in the event of a fall from a height. Also, experienced owners of these animals can easily determine what mood they are in by the position and movements of their pet's tail.
The anatomical structure of the cat's skeleton: 1 - the front of the skull;
2 - lower jaw; 3 - brain part of the skull; 4 - the first cervical vertebra;
5 - cervical vertebrae; 6 - scapula; 7 - thoracic vertebrae; 8 - ribs;
9 - lumbar vertebrae; 10 - sacrum; 11 - pelvis; 12 - tail vertebrae;
13 - femur; 14 - large and small tibia; 15 - metatarsus;
16 - fingers (paw); 17 - metacarpus; 18 - radius and ulna;
19 - humerus; 20 - sternum
The cat is considered to be one of the most beautiful animals. Her body is long, flexible, graceful.
A special grace of movement is achieved due to the fact that the bones of this animal are distinguished by a special density and at the same time plasticity, which increase due to the free connection with the muscles through strong and mobile tendons.
The proportions of the body of all members of the cat family are basically similar, with the exception of minor deviations (mutations) in some breeds. For example, the short tail of the Maine cat or the large ears of the Sphynx.
Most cats have strong, medium-length limbs with well-developed muscles. Thanks to this, the cat is able to quietly and imperceptibly sneak up on prey while hunting and make a swift jump.
THE CAT IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND GRACEFUL ANIMALS
This animal moves extremely carefully and silently, as it has pads on its paws, on which sweat glands and sensitive nerve endings are located.
In addition, the cat's limbs are extremely flexible, allowing them to move quickly while hunting. On the front paws, cats have 5, on the hind paws - 4 fingers, on which there are sharp sickle-shaped claws. It is well known that cats can regulate their position: if the animal is in a calm state, the claws are usually hidden in leathery pouches and therefore do not become dull, and when danger arises, the cat spreads its fingers and releases its claws out.
This ability is explained by the fact that they are located on the phalanges of the fingers, where there are tendons and muscles that control the release and retraction of the claws into leathery pouches.
Nature endowed cats with this feature in order to protect the main natural means of attack and defense from grinding when walking.
Cat teeth are not only a formidable weapon, but also an important component of the digestive system. With its teeth, the animal bites off and grinds food, with their help it participates in fights with relatives and defends itself in those cases when it feels the approach of danger to it or its kittens.
An adult cat has 30 teeth, which are arranged as follows:
Lower jaw: 6 front incisors, on both sides of which there are 1 canine and 3 molars (4 premolars and 2 molars);
Upper jaw: 6 front incisors, on both sides of which there are 1 canine and 4 molars (3 premolars and 2 molars).
The incisors are small teeth with jagged edges. With their help, the animal captures small pieces of food and gnaws on the bones.
The main tool of a cat during catching prey and defense from enemies are long and sharp fangs with deep roots.
Kittens are born toothless. Milk teeth grow in them during the 1st month of life. When a kitten reaches the age of 6 months, the milk teeth are completely replaced by permanent ones.
Gums in cats are not particularly sensitive, as they have few nerve endings. Outwardly, they are a mucous membrane that covers the edges of the jaws on all sides and forms tooth sockets and tooth necks. There are many blood vessels in the gums.
The tongue plays an important role in digestion. In cats, it is elongated, mobile and flat. The entire surface of its mucous membrane is completely covered with a large number of coarsened papillae, due to which it is rough to the touch. The papillae are involved in the process of licking: water or liquid food is retained in these peculiar movable funnels, which facilitates its entry into the oral cavity. In addition, the lingual papillae act as a brush when the animal washes and cleans the coat.
Also on the cat's tongue are sensitive papillae, which are responsible for the sense of touch of the animal.
The function of touch is also performed by an organ, which is often called a mustache. The scientific name for these long, stiff hairs located on either side of the nose and above the eyes is vibrissae. They are also called tactile, or tactile hairs. The follicles from which they grow have a large number of nerve endings. The skin between them also has increased sensitivity, which helps the animal to navigate not only in the light, but also in the dark.
If you carefully observe the cat, you can determine the intentions of the animals by the movements of the whiskers: concentration before the jump, an attempt to determine the source of an attractive smell and the distance to it, etc.
On the abdomen and chest, in the region of the mammary glands, there are nipples. In females, they serve to feed offspring. Different pairs of nipples produce different amounts of milk. For example, the inguinal nipples contain the largest amount of milk, while the nipples located in the upper part of the body, it decreases.
Currently, there are cats with a wide variety of colors, length and density of coat, depending on the breed to which the animal belongs. Some breeds have short and velvety coats (British Shorthair), others long and wavy (Li-Perm), and there are breeds that have no hair at all (Sphynx).
Regardless of the length, a cat's coat consists of 2 layers: a thin inner coat (undercoat) and a coarser outer coat (protective). The main function of the coat is thermoregulation and protection of the body from the harmful effects of the environment. In the hot season, the cat gets rid of the undercoat, thanks to which its coat becomes light and fluffy animals (for example, Persian cats) tolerate high air temperatures relatively calmly.
CAT WOOL PERFORMS A THERMOREGULATING FUNCTION
Also, thermoregulation is provided by the pores on the skin of a cat, in which the exits of the sweat glands, blood vessels and nerve endings are located. Along with wool, these pores prevent excessive fluid secretion and protect the body from harmful microorganisms and bacteria.
The skin of a cat is unusually mobile, which allows it to lead an active lifestyle characteristic of these animals.
This contributes to the fact that the wounds received in fights with dogs or other cats, in most cases, are superficial and not life-threatening.
The skin contains sebaceous glands that secrete a fatty lubricant necessary for the proper functioning of the animal's body.
Thanks to this, the cat's coat is protected from the harmful effects of the environment and is distinguished by silkiness and a beautiful shine.
Sweat glands are also located on the fingers and pads of a cat's paws.
Vitamin D, contained in the grease, enters the cat's digestive tract during washing and contributes to normal metabolism.
In terms of the location and functioning of the internal organs, the internal structure of a cat is in many ways similar to the structure of other mammals. But there are differences that are unique to this species of animals.
The main organ of the circulatory system is the heart - a hollow muscular organ that is located inside the chest, behind the median sternum. The mass of a cat's heart is directly proportional to the body mass of the animal. In each case, this is approximately 0.6% of body weight. The heart of a cat consists of 2 atria and 2 ventricles.
The cat has 2 circles of blood circulation, like all mammals. Blood circulation is carried out along the arteries going from the heart to the capillaries, which penetrate all internal tissues and organs. Metabolism takes place there, then the blood, saturated with carbon dioxide and containing the waste products of the body, enters the veins leading to the heart. The veins form the second, or pulmonary circulation. Venous blood enters the right ventricle of the heart, then through the pulmonary arteries to the lungs.
In the lungs, gas exchange occurs between blood and air, the result of which is the removal of carbon dioxide from the body and its enrichment with oxygen.
The organs of the cat's respiratory system are designed in such a way that they can function well in various environmental conditions.
The task of these organs is to ensure gas exchange and delivery of oxygen to the tissues of the body. They also serve to some extent as excretory organs, since through them excess moisture and harmful gases are removed from the body, and they participate in heat transfer, because they remove excess heat from the tissues.
The respiratory system of a cat consists of the nose, nasopharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi and lungs. The lungs are the main organ of the respiratory system. This is a paired organ, consisting of 2 lobes (right and left), which occupy most of the chest, like in all warm-blooded animals. They consist of alveoli - pulmonary vesicles, tightly braided with a mesh of capillaries, which serve as conductors in the implementation of gas exchange.
The respiratory organs are covered with a mucous membrane, which performs the function of their protection.
In the process of breathing through the nose, air enters the larynx, from there - into the bronchi and lungs. This is related to the normal functioning of the circulatory system. Breathing also helps to normalize heat transfer and remove excess fluid from the body.
A CAT IS ESPECIALLY DEVELOPED TO SMELL
The digestive system of a cat consists of the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small and large intestines. Also in the process of digestion of food, the pancreas, gallbladder and duodenum play an important role.
From the oral cavity, the food chewed by the animal enters the esophagus, which is a muscular tube that can increase in diameter when it becomes necessary to push food into the stomach. The inside of the esophagus is lined with a mucous membrane.
Under the influence of saliva, food begins to break down and partially digested already in the oral cavity. The digestion process continues in the stomach, located in front of the peritoneum. The cat has a single-chamber stomach, lined from the inside with a mucous membrane that produces gastric juice, which is necessary for the subsequent processing of food.
From the cavity of the cat's stomach, 2 holes open, shaped like cones. One of them connects the stomach to the esophagus, the other to the duodenum. From the stomach, food enters the small intestine, where the final processing of food takes place. The small intestine is a long thin tube twisted into several loops. The length of the small intestine often exceeds the length of a cat by 4 times. Inside the intestines, food is exposed to pancreatic enzymes.
The mucous membrane of the small intestine of the animal is lined with villi, which provide absorption of nutrients. Here, the food that enters the intestines is disinfected. This function is performed by numerous lymph nodes.
A continuation of the small intestine is the large intestine, which receives unprocessed solid food residues. They are enveloped in mucus secreted by the walls of the large intestine.
It consists of three elements: the caecum, or appendix, colon and rectum. The rectum serves to remove compressed feces from the body. On the sides of the anus of the cat are the anal glands. They secrete a secret with a pungent odor. In addition to its excretory function, the rectum also maintains bacteriological balance in the body, because the conditions necessary for the reproduction of beneficial bacteria are preserved inside it.
The organs of the urinary system are responsible for removing excess fluid from the animal's body. The urinary system of a cat consists of the kidneys, bladder and urinary tract - the ureters. In these organs, the formation and accumulation of urine occurs and its subsequent removal from the body along with harmful substances dissolved in it is carried out.
Urine is formed in the kidneys, more precisely, in the renal pelvis, from which it enters the bladder through the ureters, where there is a closing muscle that prevents spontaneous urination. The urethra of a cat has a distinctive physiological feature: stenoses are special narrowings that serve to speed up the passage of sediment present in the urine.
The urinary system provides salt and water balance in the cat's body. During the breeding season, the urine of the animal exudes a particularly pungent odor, very persistent, so cats mark their territory.
The reproductive system of cats consists of testicles and vas deferens, which
open into the urethra. Through this channel, sperm enters the reproductive organ. The testicles, the sex glands of cats, are located in the scrotum, which is formed by a skin fold at the base of the penis.
The testicles produce male sex cells - spermatozoa.
The internal reproductive organs of a cat are the ovaries, fallopian tubes and uterus. The ovaries produce the female sex cells, the eggs. The external genital organs of a cat are the vagina and vulva, which are located near the anus.
Of great importance for the life of the animal are endocrine glands: the hypothalamus, adrenal glands and thyroid gland. They regulate many vital processes in the cat's body and protect it from diseases.
Cats have a uniquely organized nervous system, which is highly sensitive, and a more developed sensory system than humans.
The work of the nervous system is carried out by transmitting nerve impulses to the brain, which contain information about the state of the organs and the processes occurring in them. The role of impulse transmitters is performed by neurons, special nerve cells.
No animal has sense organs as developed as those of a cat. So it is advisable to consider this feature of the cat in more detail.
If you compare a cat with other domestic animals, you will notice that it has the largest eyes in relation to body size. For a long time, scientists have noticed a unique feature of the cat - binocular (stereoscopic) vision. This property is determined by the unusual location of the eyes: they are in front, on both sides of the nose, and the animal has the ability to view objects of interest at an angle of 205 ° in the same direction while simultaneously crossing the field of view at the central point. This property allows the cat to accurately determine the distance to a particular object. In addition, with such an arrangement of the eyes, the animal gets the opportunity to see what is located not only directly in front of it, but also on both sides.
Cats can only distinguish a limited number of colors. They see moving objects much better than those that are at rest.
The iris surrounding the pupil of the cat's eye has mobility, as in all representatives of the mammalian class. It is driven by muscles connected to the eyeball. Due to this property of the iris, in bright natural or artificial light, the pupil of the cat's eye stretches vertically and takes on an elliptical shape. This prevents the animal's eye from penetrating into it more light than is necessary for the perception of the surrounding world.
DUE TO THE PECULIARITIES OF VISION, CATS CAN UNMIRRORLY DETERMINE THE DISTANCE FROM ONE OBJECT TO ANOTHER
Due to the peculiarities of the structure of the eyes, cats can see in the dark. It is a misconception that cats can see perfectly in the dark due to the fact that their eyes can glow. The reason cat's eyes glow in the dark is that they have the ability to accumulate reflected light rays. With the help of well-developed eyesight, a cat catches the reflection from objects of even the weakest ray of light penetrating into the room where it is located, and thanks to this it orients itself in space. But in absolute darkness, the animal, of course, cannot see.
When a cat's eyes get a lot of light, the pupils constrict and become perfectly round. If the cat's pupil remains dilated in the light, this may be due to agitation, medication, or a symptom of some disease.
Representatives of the cat family have another structural feature of the eyes - the so-called third eyelid, or nictitating membrane, the function of which is that it protects the cornea of the eye from foreign bodies, such as dust, entering it. This is possible because the third eyelid is able to stretch and cover the entire surface of the eye. Despite the fact that the third eyelid performs a protective function, it is prone to inflammation and is very susceptible to infections. The owner of the cat should be aware of this and not neglect the rules of hygiene when caring for the eyes of his animal, as in some diseases, prolapse of the third eyelid is observed.
The color of a cat's eyes can vary from light golden to blue. It depends on the degree of content in the iris of the coloring matter - the pigment. As with other animals, there are also albinos among cats, whose fur does not have pigment. Their eyes are most often red.
The sense of smell is developed in cats much better than in other representatives of the class of mammals. It contributes to the establishment of relationships between related individuals, as well as between animals and humans. This can be largely explained by the fact that felines were originally nocturnal. It was at this time of day that they went hunting and were active. They had to navigate in space in conditions of poor visibility and even in low light to find prey while hunting. In relationships with representatives of the opposite sex, cats also have a sense of smell, as cats use marks to determine the boundaries of their territory.
In young kittens, the sense of smell occurs before hearing and sight, and helps them find their mother by smell.
The sense of smell of cats is selective, they are able to feel only those smells that have one meaning or another for them, and this is an important feature of their sense of smell. Extraneous minor odors seem to be blocked, the brain does not react to them, so the animal is not distracted by them and does not go astray.
The sense of smell performs a specific function when the mating season begins in cats, since a special smell comes from a female ready for fertilization, which allows the male to detect her even if she does not make characteristic sounds.
Cats have much weaker taste organs than dogs. The papillae located on the surface of the tongue in cats allow them to distinguish only contrasting tastes: bitter, sour, sweet, salty. Therefore, food preferences can be explained more by a sharp scent than by taste.
Cats quickly get used to their environment, so they stop reacting sharply to smells that are unpleasant for them. For example, a domestic cat can easily perceive household smells of an air freshener, washing powder, deodorant.
Not a single cat will remain indifferent to valerian, which has an effect on them similar to a narcotic one. At the same time, as experts noted, animals of different sexes react to valerian in different ways. Females tend to get excited by the smell of valerian, but quickly calm down and become lazy and lethargic. This property of valerian is used by cat owners in cases where the animal is very excited and needs to be calmed down.
On males, valerian can have the opposite effect. Even one drop of valerian tincture, accidentally falling on the floor, can cause a real attack of rabies in a cat: he will begin to lick the floor, roll, rub against the place where the drop fell, howl in a hoarse guttural voice, hiss, scratch, show aggressiveness when the owner tries to erase valerian from the floor or take away the vial of tincture found from him.
Often the cat is the initiator of the fact that the owner takes her in his arms, caresses and strokes, while the animal squints, purrs and looks very pleased. True, this happens only in those cases when the owner strokes the cat in the direction of hair growth, and not vice versa. If you stroke a cat the wrong way, it will most likely get angry and scratch. This behavior is explained by the fact that the cat's organs of touch are located not on the skin, but on the surface of special tactile hairs, which have increased sensitivity on the head and front paws.
Cats have a highly developed sense of touch. Through the relevant organs, the cat receives most of the information about the world around it. In addition to tactile hairs located on the head and paws, this animal can sense the surrounding space with the entire surface of the body. Paw pads in cats have a special structure. Because of this, cats really do not like to step on a dirty or wet surface, after which they always shake their paws, which is explained not only by the well-known cleanliness of these animals, but also by the extreme sensitivity of the paw pads.
The organs of touch and balance in a cat work in harmony, thereby ensuring the smooth operation of internal systems, so even small kittens usually have good health and good immunity.
Unlike dogs, which get acquainted with an object of interest to them with the help of smell, a characteristic feature of all representatives of the cat family is that they first touch an unfamiliar object with their paw and only then smell it.
The external hearing organs of a cat are erect, movable auricles, in the auditory canals of which there is a huge number of nerve endings.
Due to the unique ability of the hearing organs to distinguish sounds in the ultrasonic range, cats can come into contact with their kittens. Also, this property helps cats successfully hunt rats, mice and other rodents.
PERCEIVING ANY SOUND, A CAT CAN DETERMINE ITS FREQUENCY, PITCH AND STRENGTH WITH MAXIMUM ACCURACY
The ability of these animals to distinguish more than 100 different sounds is unique, especially if we take into account that the human ear does not perceive even half of these sounds.
The sense of balance in a cat is directly related to the sense of touch. This animal is able to maintain balance in the most seemingly unimaginable conditions (the sharp tops of a palisade, thin branches of trees, a completely smooth surface of a window cornice, etc.), so its sense of balance deserves special consideration.
The sense of balance is activated by an organ located in the inner ear and closely related to the auditory and visual systems. From this we can conclude: the normal functioning of a sense of balance in a cat is possible only if all other body systems work smoothly.
Often cats calmly, without fear, walk along high fences, cornices, roofs, tree branches. Animals achieve this through a sense of balance, although they also happen to fall, and often from a fairly large height. But here, too, a sense of balance helps the cat, helping to land on its paws. This does not mean that the cat is invulnerable. A fall from a great height can cause serious injury and even death, as well as a state of shock.
Also, cats have a well-developed sense of time, the rhythm of the change of day and night. Cats follow a certain regime and extremely do not like to deviate from it. If you call the pet home and feed it after arrival, then in a few days the animal will return home from the street at the same time.
The optimal body temperature in cats is 38–39.5 °C, and in kittens it is slightly higher than in adult animals.
Normal blood counts for a cat are as follows:
Hemoglobin (in 100 ml of blood) - 9-12 g;
Erythrocytes - 6–9 million / μl;
Lymphocytes - 30%;
Leukocytes - 8-25 thousand / μl;
Neutrophilic erythrocytes - 60%;
Reserve alkalinity - 40-50%;
The erythrocyte sedimentation rate is 7–9 mm/h;
The rate of blood clotting is 2–3 mm/min.
Both scientists and just amateurs have repeatedly noted that representatives of the large cat family are in many ways significantly different from other animals.
Cats have a sedentary nature. They quickly get used to one particular house and do not like change. It is no accident that a saying appeared among the people that the dog gets used to the owner, and the cat to the house. This saying is true, although not fully justified. For example, the habit of a certain environment in the house helps the cat to navigate in space, and any significant rearrangement of furniture deprives the cat of a sense of comfort for a while. Indeed, in their familiar territory, where everything is already familiar and has long been studied, cats, and especially cats, feel like real owners.
This is due to the fact that cats have a pronounced reflex of tameness, attachment to a person and a permanent place of residence. Kittens deal with change more easily. Adult cats, as a rule, get used to a new owner or place of residence much more slowly and more painfully.
In the relationship of cats with other representatives of the animal world, 2 important aspects can be distinguished. On the one hand, cats show aggressiveness towards rodents, on the other hand, they dislike dogs. As for the relationship of cats with rodents, then everything is clear - this is the relationship of a predator and game. But the history of mutual hostility between dogs and cats is difficult to trace, one can only speculate. Among others, there is the hypothesis of the famous English writer R. Kipling about the competition of domestic animals for a place at the hearth in a cave of primitive man. Despite this, one can give examples of the fairly frequent peaceful coexistence of cats and dogs that grew up and were brought up in the same house.
The structure of a cat
Representatives of the cat family are the most graceful animals in the world. High jumps, amazing balance, lightning-fast movements, noiseless movements - this is not a complete list of the possibilities that cats have. This is due primarily to the features that the structure of the cat has. The internal organs in their location and functions are similar to the structure of other mammals, however, they have a number of special differences.
The body of a cat has more than 500 muscles of various sizes, which allows it to perform all these various physical exercises that sometimes amaze viewers so much. The cat's brain is also very developed, it reacts quickly, coordinates the actions of the animal, using the body structure along with all its advantages. It is precisely because of the speed of reaction that they probably say that “a cat has 9 lives”, because it can group up in an instant and save its life in this way.
The external structure of the cat
The anatomical structure of a cat is incredibly organic and cannot but please the eye. Small size, cute face, soft paws, long flexible tail, fluffy hair - all this distinguishes cats from other animals. All parts of the body of these animals have their own charm and practical purpose, but at the same time they can hide certain secrets. For example, the paws are completely harmless at first glance, but they hide the main weapon - this is the ability to release claws. Just like the cat itself, it looks like an affectionate pet, but at the same time a real predator.
cat head
Eyes
The structure of the cat's eye differs little from the human one and the cat sees according to the same principle as we do - it reacts to light. The pupil has the ability to increase or decrease with the help of a special muscle, and its size depends on the amount of light. In the dark, the cat sees with the help of a special layer of the choroid - the tapetum. It serves as a mirror that reflects the light received by the eyes, and due to this, vision is sharpened. The tapetum is also the reason why a cat's eyes glow in the dark.
Ears
The structure of the cat's ear allows it to capture more than 100 sounds, including ultrasonic sounds, with which cats communicate with kittens. An incredible number of nerve endings and more than 10 muscles are also concentrated in the auditory canals. That is why cats can change the position of their ears on their heads - press them, bend them, turn them towards the sound, etc.
Language
The structure of the cat's tongue is of particular interest, primarily due to the fact that the animal manages to drink only with its help. The tongue is long, very flexible and, unlike, for example, a dog's, very rough. The effect of "sandpaper" occurs due to keratinized papillae, which help to hold food, plus they are a kind of brush for cleaning wool. In addition, the tongue performs a familiar function for us - it is the recognition of the tastes of food. A cat can feel salty, bitter, sweet, and sour.
Jaws and teeth
The structure of teeth in cats is of great importance, since teeth are one of the most important tools for hunting or, conversely, protection. An adult cat has 30 teeth, which are symmetrically located on the upper and lower jaws. The main tool for catching prey are 4 fangs - these are the longest and sharpest teeth of a cat, 2 on each jaw on the sides of the incisors. With the help of incisors, cats tear off pieces of food, but the jaws of cats are not adapted for chewing, so the food begins to break down already in the oral cavity under the action of saliva.
cat body
According to the physique, cats are divided into three types: heavy, light and medium. The severe type is characterized by the presence of a large cat head on a short neck, a broad chest, and rather short legs and tail. Lightweight - with a slender body, long neck and narrow head, as well as a long tail and paws. The medium type is somewhere between heavy and light, and most cats, especially non-pedigreed ones, are of the medium type. But the appearance, weight and size of the cat does not depend on the physique, there are both representatives of the heavy type, but small in size, and large slender cats.
Paws and claws
The structure of the cat's paw is especially curious in that the claws can be extended or retracted. On the front paws of cats there are 5 fingers, but one is shortened and does not reach the ground. There are only 4 fingers on the hind legs, the big one is missing. It is also noteworthy that the cat walks only on its fingers, which, of course, contributes to the noiselessness of movement. The paws of a cat concentrate all the sweat glands, and many nerve endings, so the cat can also receive information by touching an object with its paw.
The structure of the claw is unique, in most breeds the claws are sickle-shaped, with the exception of Persian cats with claws that are more like hooks, which are especially dangerous when scratching, as they get under the skin.
Tail
The internal structure of a cat
In terms of location and function, the cat's organs basically coincide with those of other mammals. The cat has a skin, skeleton, heart, respiratory, circulatory, digestive and reproductive systems. The skin of a cat is very elastic and mobile, it has a lot of muscles and blood vessels, as well as sebaceous glands that secrete a liquid that the cat, when licked, distributes over the coat, providing it with smoothness. The structure of internal organs is largely due to the evolution and characteristics of the species.
Skeleton
There are more than 240 different bones in the cat's skeleton, and, as can be seen in the photo of the cat's skeleton: at one end of the spine is the head, at the other is the tail, like in all vertebrates. The bones of a cat have many functions: they form the basis of its body, and also protect internal organs from damage. For example, the structure of the skull is such that its bones protect the brain and organs of vision, and the ribs protect the heart and lungs. The bones of the cat's inner ear carry out the function of transmitting sound, due to them the cat has hearing. Kittens are born with all the bones, and by the end of the first year of life they usually reach their maximum size.
Internal organs
The structure of the organs of cats is basically the same as that of all mammals. The main organ is the heart, located inside the chest, behind the ribs and consists of 2 atria and 2 ventricles. The mass of the heart is usually equal to about 0.6% of body weight. The cat's respiratory system is designed to function in a variety of environments. The photo of the structure of the organs perfectly reflects the cat's digestive system, which has several features: saliva begins to break down food even in the oral cavity, and this process continues in the stomach, and then in the small intestine (its length is 4 times the length of the cat). The kidneys of a cat are located in the abdominal region and perform the functions of removing toxins and maintaining water balance.
Differences in the structure of cats
The internal structure of a cat differs from the structure of a cat in its reproductive system. Outwardly, this is manifested in the fact that in cats the scrotum is located just below the anus, while in cats there is a slit-like vagina (vulva) in this place, which can be seen in the photo.
reproductive system
The genital organs of a cat are the sex glands, the testes in the scrotum, the penis, and the spermatic cords, which are connected to the urethra. The components of a cat's reproductive organs are the vulva, vagina, uterus, and uterine tubes. Cats reach puberty at the age of 6-8 months, but this does not mean that by this moment they stop growing, just the genitals have already formed and can be used to reproduce offspring. The endocrine glands also play an important role: the adrenal glands, the thyroid gland and the hypothalamus, they regulate many processes in the cat's body and protect against many diseases.
Irbis, or Snow Leopard, or snow leopard(lat. Uncia uncia, according to another classification - panthera uncia) is a large predatory mammal from the cat family that lives in the mountain ranges of Central Asia. The irbis is distinguished by a thin, long, flexible body, relatively short legs, a small head and a very long tail. Reaching a length of 200-230 cm together with the tail, it weighs up to 55 kg. The color of the fur is light smoky gray with ring-shaped and solid dark spots. Due to the inaccessibility of the habitat and the low density of the species, many aspects of its biology are still poorly understood. At present, the number of snow leopards is catastrophically small, in the 20th century it was included in the IUCN Red Book, in the Red Book of Russia, as well as in the security documents of other countries. As of 2014, snow leopard hunting is prohibited.
Systematics and phylogeny
Previously, the snow leopard was included in the genus Panthera ( Panthera) along with other big cats, but later it was moved to a separate genus Snow leopards (Uncia). According to the structure of the skull, the snow leopard differs from any species of the genus Panthera more than all of them in any combination. At the same time, the snow leopard has a combination of a number of morphological and ethological features of both representatives of the Panthera genus and small cats ( Felinae). For example, in terms of the structure of the brain part, its skull is very similar to the skull of large species of the genus Felis, but has hyoid bone, typical for representatives of the genus Panthera .
Due to the external similarity, the snow leopard was considered a relative of the leopard for a long time, but the genetic studies carried out revealed its close relationship with the tiger, after which there were attempts to return it to the Panther genus again ( Panthera) . And although the systematic position of the snow leopard remains unclear, the vast majority of sources still consider it as part of a separate genus. Uncia .
Despite the vast and highly dissected range, the vast majority of researchers do not distinguish subspecies of the snow leopard. However, some taxonomists have proposed to distinguish several subspecies that live in different geographical regions. For instance, U.u. uncia, inhabiting the northwest of central Asia, Mongolia and Russia, and U.u. uncioides from western China and the Himalayas. However, these subspecies are generally not recognized and considered invalid.
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Irbis |
Appearance
Large ring-shaped spots in the form of rosettes and a long fluffy tail are clearly visible.
Relatively large cat. In general appearance, it resembles a leopard, but smaller, more stocky, with a long tail and is distinguished by very long hair with an indistinct pattern in the form of large dark spots and rosettes. The body is strongly elongated and squat, slightly raised in the region of the sacrum. The length of the body with the head is 103-130 cm, the length of the tail itself is 90-105 cm. Height at the shoulders is about 60 cm. Males are somewhat larger than females. The body weight of males reaches 45-55 kg, females - 22-40 kg. The length of the back foot is 22-26 cm.
The coat is high, very dense and soft, its length on the back reaches 55 mm - it provides protection from cold, harsh environmental conditions. In terms of fur density, the snow leopard differs from all big cats and is more similar to small ones.
The general background of the fur color is brownish-gray without any impurities of yellow and red color (a yellowish tint of fur was noted in some individuals that died in captivity and is possibly an artifact).
The main color of the coat on the back and upper part of the sides is light gray or grayish, almost white, with a smoky coating. The sides below, the belly and the inner parts of the limbs are lighter than the back. Scattered over the general light gray background are rare large ring-shaped spots in the form of rosettes, inside which there may be an even smaller spot, as well as small solid spots of black or dark gray. The spotted pattern is relatively pale, formed by blurry spots, the diameter of the largest of which reaches from 5 cm to 7-8 cm. Solid spots of various sizes are located on the head (the smallest of them), neck and legs (larger, passing to the bottom into small ones), where there are no annular spots. In the back of the back, the spots sometimes merge with each other, forming short longitudinal stripes. Between the annular spots there are few small solid ones. Large continuous spots on the terminal half of the tail often cover the tail in the transverse direction with an incomplete ring. The very tip of the tail is usually black on top. The dark patches are black in color but look dark grey.
The general color of the main background of winter fur is very light, grayish, almost white, with a smoky coating, more noticeable along the back and upper sides, while a slight light yellowish tint can be developed. This coloring perfectly masks the beast in its natural habitat - among dark rocks, stones, white snow and ice.
The general background of summer fur is characterized by a lighter, almost white color and sharp outlines of dark spots. The smoky coating of fur is less pronounced in summer than in winter. There is information requiring further confirmation that with age, the spotted pattern on the skin fades, becoming even more blurry and unclear. In young individuals, the spotted pattern is more pronounced, and the color of the spots is more intense than in adults.
Snow leopard skull
The head is relatively small and rounded in relation to the size of the body. The ears are short, bluntly rounded, without tassels at the ends, almost hidden in the fur in winter. The mane and sideburns are not developed. Vibrissae are white and black, up to 10.5 cm long. The eyes are large, with a round pupil.
An adult snow leopard, like most other felines, has 30 teeth. Upper and lower jaws have 6 incisors, 2 canines; on the upper jaw - 3 premolars and 1 molar; on the lower jaw - 2 premolars and 1 molar. Dental formula: 
. The long and movable tongue is equipped with special tubercles on the sides, which are covered with keratinized epithelium and allow you to separate the meat from the victim's skeleton. These bumps also help with "washing".
The tail is very long, exceeds three-quarters of the body length, covered with long hair and therefore seems very thick (visually its thickness is almost equal to the thickness of the snow leopard forearm). Serves as a balancer when jumping. The limbs are relatively short. The paws of the snow leopard are wide and massive. The claws on the paws are retractable. The tracks are large, round, without claw marks.
The snow leopard, unlike other big cats, cannot roar, despite incomplete ossification of the hyoid bone, which was thought to be what allows big cats to roar. New studies show that the ability to growl in felines is due to other morphological features of the larynx that are not present in the snow leopard. Despite the structure of the hyoid apparatus as in big cats ( Panthera), there is no invocative "roar-growl". " Purring" occurs both during inhalation and exhalation - like in small cats ( Felis). Ways of tearing prey - like big cats, and the position when eating - like small ones.
Spreading
Irbis is an exclusively Asian species. The snow leopard's range in central and southern Asia covers approximately 1,230,000 km² of mountainous regions and extends through the following countries: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Geographical distribution stretches from the Hindu Kush in eastern Afghanistan and the Syr Darya through the Pamir, Tien Shan, Karakorum, Kashmir, Kunlun, and Himalaya mountains, to Southern Siberia, where the range covers the Altai, Sayan, Tannu-Ola mountains. In Mongolia, it has been found in the Mongolian Altai and Gobi Altai and the Khangai Mountains. In Tibet it is found up to Altunshan in the north.
An insignificant part of the snow leopard's range is located on the territory of Russia, which is approximately 2-3% of the modern world range and represents its northwestern and northern outskirts. The total area of probable habitats of the snow leopard in Russia is at least 60,000 km². It is found in Krasnoyarsk Krai, in Khakassia, in Tuva and Altai, in the Eastern Sayan mountains, in particular on the Tunkinsky Goltsy and Munku-Sardyk ranges. However, there is a gradual decrease and fragmentation of the range of the snow leopard on the territory of Russia, although in some places an increase in numbers can be observed following the increase in the populations of mountain goats.
habitat
On the Kungei Alatau ridge, in summer, the snow leopard is rarely found in the spruce forest belt (2100-2600 meters above sea level) and especially often in the alpine one (up to 3300 m above sea level). In the Trans-Ili Alatau and the Central Tien Shan, in summer the snow leopard rises to heights of up to 4000 meters or more, while in winter it sometimes descends to heights of 1200 m above sea level. y. m. However, the snow leopard is not always a high-mountain animal - in a number of places it lives year-round in the region of low mountains and in the upland steppe at altitudes of 600-1500 meters above sea level, keeping, as in high mountains, near rocky gorges, cliffs and rock outcrops, in the places where they live
It is advisable to start describing the structural features of a cat with a skeleton, the structure of which in many ways resembles the structure of the skeleton of all mammals, differing in the shape and arrangement of some bones, which is explained by the horizontal position of the cat's spine and the fact that the work of the organ systems of this animal is adapted to its lifestyle.
The skull of a cat has a rounded shape. Moreover, it is much shorter than that of many other predatory animals. The size of the skull of an adult varies depending on sex, breed, and individual hereditary traits.
The bones of the cranium are much larger than the bones of the facial part of the skull. This feature makes the appearance of a cat unlike other animals.
The spine of a cat is flexible and mobile. It consists of 27 vertebrae: 7 cervical, 13 thoracic and 7 lumbar. Below the lumbar region are 3 fused vertebrae that form the sacrum. This is followed by tail vertebrae, the number of which varies among representatives of different breeds.
On average, a cat's tail consists of 20–23 vertebrae. But there are also short-tailed and tailless cats, in which the number of vertebrae is much less. For example, in Maine cats.
Thanks to the elastic and mobile tail, cats can maintain balance during the jump and in the event of a fall from a height. Also, experienced owners of these animals can easily determine what mood they are in by the position and movements of their pet's tail.
The anatomical structure of the cat's skeleton: 1 - the front of the skull;
2 - lower jaw; 3 - brain part of the skull; 4 - the first cervical vertebra;
5 - cervical vertebrae; 6 - scapula; 7 - thoracic vertebrae; 8 - ribs;
9 - lumbar vertebrae; 10 - sacrum; 11 - pelvis; 12 - tail vertebrae;
13 - femur; 14 - large and small tibia; 15 - metatarsus;
16 - fingers (paw); 17 - metacarpus; 18 - radius and ulna;
19 - humerus; 20 - sternum
External structure
The cat is considered to be one of the most beautiful animals. Her body is long, flexible, graceful.
A special grace of movement is achieved due to the fact that the bones of this animal are distinguished by a special density and at the same time plasticity, which increase due to the free connection with the muscles through strong and mobile tendons.
The proportions of the body of all members of the cat family are basically similar, with the exception of minor deviations (mutations) in some breeds. For example, the short tail of the Maine cat or the large ears of the Sphynx.
Most cats have strong, medium-length limbs with well-developed muscles. Thanks to this, the cat is able to quietly and imperceptibly sneak up on prey while hunting and make a swift jump.
THE CAT IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND GRACEFUL ANIMALS
This animal moves extremely carefully and silently, as it has pads on its paws, on which sweat glands and sensitive nerve endings are located.
In addition, the cat's limbs are extremely flexible, allowing them to move quickly while hunting. On the front paws, cats have 5, on the hind paws - 4 fingers, on which there are sharp sickle-shaped claws. It is well known that cats can regulate their position: if the animal is in a calm state, the claws are usually hidden in leathery pouches and therefore do not become dull, and when danger arises, the cat spreads its fingers and releases its claws out.
This ability is explained by the fact that they are located on the phalanges of the fingers, where there are tendons and muscles that control the release and retraction of the claws into leathery pouches.
Nature endowed cats with this feature in order to protect the main natural means of attack and defense from grinding when walking.
Cat teeth are not only a formidable weapon, but also an important component of the digestive system. With its teeth, the animal bites off and grinds food, with their help it participates in fights with relatives and defends itself in those cases when it feels the approach of danger to it or its kittens.
An adult cat has 30 teeth, which are arranged as follows:
Lower jaw: 6 front incisors, on both sides of which there are 1 canine and 3 molars (4 premolars and 2 molars);
Upper jaw: 6 front incisors, on both sides of which there are 1 canine and 4 molars (3 premolars and 2 molars).
The incisors are small teeth with jagged edges. With their help, the animal captures small pieces of food and gnaws on the bones.
The main tool of a cat during catching prey and defense from enemies are long and sharp fangs with deep roots.
Kittens are born toothless. Milk teeth grow in them during the 1st month of life. When a kitten reaches the age of 6 months, the milk teeth are completely replaced by permanent ones.
Gums in cats are not particularly sensitive, as they have few nerve endings. Outwardly, they are a mucous membrane that covers the edges of the jaws on all sides and forms tooth sockets and tooth necks. There are many blood vessels in the gums.
The tongue plays an important role in digestion. In cats, it is elongated, mobile and flat. The entire surface of its mucous membrane is completely covered with a large number of coarsened papillae, due to which it is rough to the touch. The papillae are involved in the process of licking: water or liquid food is retained in these peculiar movable funnels, which facilitates its entry into the oral cavity. In addition, the lingual papillae act as a brush when the animal washes and cleans the coat.
Also on the cat's tongue are sensitive papillae, which are responsible for the sense of touch of the animal.
The function of touch is also performed by an organ, which is often called a mustache. The scientific name for these long, stiff hairs located on either side of the nose and above the eyes is vibrissae. They are also called tactile, or tactile hairs. The follicles from which they grow have a large number of nerve endings. The skin between them also has increased sensitivity, which helps the animal to navigate not only in the light, but also in the dark.
If you carefully observe the cat, you can determine the intentions of the animals by the movements of the whiskers: concentration before the jump, an attempt to determine the source of an attractive smell and the distance to it, etc.
On the abdomen and chest, in the region of the mammary glands, there are nipples. In females, they serve to feed offspring. Different pairs of nipples produce different amounts of milk. For example, the inguinal nipples contain the largest amount of milk, while the nipples located in the upper part of the body, it decreases.
Currently, there are cats with a wide variety of colors, length and density of coat, depending on the breed to which the animal belongs. Some breeds have short and velvety coats (British Shorthair), others long and wavy (Li-Perm), and there are breeds that have no hair at all (Sphynx).
Regardless of the length, a cat's coat consists of 2 layers: a thin inner coat (undercoat) and a coarser outer coat (protective). The main function of the coat is thermoregulation and protection of the body from the harmful effects of the environment. In the hot season, the cat gets rid of the undercoat, thanks to which its coat becomes light and fluffy animals (for example, Persian cats) tolerate high air temperatures relatively calmly.
CAT WOOL PERFORMS A THERMOREGULATING FUNCTION
Also, thermoregulation is provided by the pores on the skin of a cat, in which the exits of the sweat glands, blood vessels and nerve endings are located. Along with wool, these pores prevent excessive fluid secretion and protect the body from harmful microorganisms and bacteria.
The skin of a cat is unusually mobile, which allows it to lead an active lifestyle characteristic of these animals.
This contributes to the fact that the wounds received in fights with dogs or other cats, in most cases, are superficial and not life-threatening.
The skin contains sebaceous glands that secrete a fatty lubricant necessary for the proper functioning of the animal's body.
Thanks to this, the cat's coat is protected from the harmful effects of the environment and is distinguished by silkiness and a beautiful shine.
Sweat glands are also located on the fingers and pads of a cat's paws.
Vitamin D, contained in the grease, enters the cat's digestive tract during washing and contributes to normal metabolism.
Internal structure
In terms of the location and functioning of the internal organs, the internal structure of a cat is in many ways similar to the structure of other mammals. But there are differences that are unique to this species of animals.
The main organ of the circulatory system is the heart - a hollow muscular organ that is located inside the chest, behind the median sternum. The mass of a cat's heart is directly proportional to the body mass of the animal. In each case, this is approximately 0.6% of body weight. The heart of a cat consists of 2 atria and 2 ventricles.
The cat has 2 circles of blood circulation, like all mammals. Blood circulation is carried out along the arteries going from the heart to the capillaries, which penetrate all internal tissues and organs. Metabolism takes place there, then the blood, saturated with carbon dioxide and containing the waste products of the body, enters the veins leading to the heart. The veins form the second, or pulmonary circulation. Venous blood enters the right ventricle of the heart, then through the pulmonary arteries to the lungs.
In the lungs, gas exchange occurs between blood and air, the result of which is the removal of carbon dioxide from the body and its enrichment with oxygen.
The organs of the cat's respiratory system are designed in such a way that they can function well in various environmental conditions.
The task of these organs is to ensure gas exchange and delivery of oxygen to the tissues of the body. They also serve to some extent as excretory organs, since through them excess moisture and harmful gases are removed from the body, and they participate in heat transfer, because they remove excess heat from the tissues.
The respiratory system of a cat consists of the nose, nasopharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi and lungs. The lungs are the main organ of the respiratory system. This is a paired organ, consisting of 2 lobes (right and left), which occupy most of the chest, like in all warm-blooded animals. They consist of alveoli - pulmonary vesicles, tightly braided with a mesh of capillaries, which serve as conductors in the implementation of gas exchange.
The respiratory organs are covered with a mucous membrane, which performs the function of their protection.
In the process of breathing through the nose, air enters the larynx, from there - into the bronchi and lungs. This is related to the normal functioning of the circulatory system. Breathing also helps to normalize heat transfer and remove excess fluid from the body.
A CAT IS ESPECIALLY DEVELOPED TO SMELL
The digestive system of a cat consists of the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small and large intestines. Also in the process of digestion of food, the pancreas, gallbladder and duodenum play an important role.
From the oral cavity, the food chewed by the animal enters the esophagus, which is a muscular tube that can increase in diameter when it becomes necessary to push food into the stomach. The inside of the esophagus is lined with a mucous membrane.
Under the influence of saliva, food begins to break down and partially digested already in the oral cavity. The digestion process continues in the stomach, located in front of the peritoneum. The cat has a single-chamber stomach, lined from the inside with a mucous membrane that produces gastric juice, which is necessary for the subsequent processing of food.
From the cavity of the cat's stomach, 2 holes open, shaped like cones. One of them connects the stomach to the esophagus, the other to the duodenum. From the stomach, food enters the small intestine, where the final processing of food takes place. The small intestine is a long thin tube twisted into several loops. The length of the small intestine often exceeds the length of a cat by 4 times. Inside the intestines, food is exposed to pancreatic enzymes.
The mucous membrane of the small intestine of the animal is lined with villi, which provide absorption of nutrients. Here, the food that enters the intestines is disinfected. This function is performed by numerous lymph nodes.
A continuation of the small intestine is the large intestine, which receives unprocessed solid food residues. They are enveloped in mucus secreted by the walls of the large intestine.
It consists of three elements: the caecum, or appendix, colon and rectum. The rectum serves to remove compressed feces from the body. On the sides of the anus of the cat are the anal glands. They secrete a secret with a pungent odor. In addition to its excretory function, the rectum also maintains bacteriological balance in the body, because the conditions necessary for the reproduction of beneficial bacteria are preserved inside it.
The organs of the urinary system are responsible for removing excess fluid from the animal's body. The urinary system of a cat consists of the kidneys, bladder and urinary tract - the ureters. In these organs, the formation and accumulation of urine occurs and its subsequent removal from the body along with harmful substances dissolved in it is carried out.
Urine is formed in the kidneys, more precisely, in the renal pelvis, from which it enters the bladder through the ureters, where there is a closing muscle that prevents spontaneous urination. The urethra of a cat has a distinctive physiological feature: stenoses are special narrowings that serve to speed up the passage of sediment present in the urine.
The urinary system provides salt and water balance in the cat's body. During the breeding season, the urine of the animal exudes a particularly pungent odor, very persistent, so cats mark their territory.
The reproductive system of cats consists of testicles and vas deferens, which
open into the urethra. Through this channel, sperm enters the reproductive organ. The testicles, the sex glands of cats, are located in the scrotum, which is formed by a skin fold at the base of the penis.
The testicles produce male sex cells - spermatozoa.
The internal reproductive organs of a cat are the ovaries, fallopian tubes and uterus. The ovaries produce the female sex cells, the eggs. The external genital organs of a cat are the vagina and vulva, which are located near the anus.
Of great importance for the life of the animal are endocrine glands: the hypothalamus, adrenal glands and thyroid gland. They regulate many vital processes in the cat's body and protect it from diseases.
Physiology
Cats have a uniquely organized nervous system, which is highly sensitive, and a more developed sensory system than humans.
The work of the nervous system is carried out by transmitting nerve impulses to the brain, which contain information about the state of the organs and the processes occurring in them. The role of impulse transmitters is performed by neurons, special nerve cells.
No animal has sense organs as developed as those of a cat. So it is advisable to consider this feature of the cat in more detail.
If you compare a cat with other domestic animals, you will notice that it has the largest eyes in relation to body size. For a long time, scientists have noticed a unique feature of the cat - binocular (stereoscopic) vision. This property is determined by the unusual location of the eyes: they are in front, on both sides of the nose, and the animal has the ability to view objects of interest at an angle of 205 ° in the same direction while simultaneously crossing the field of view at the central point. This property allows the cat to accurately determine the distance to a particular object. In addition, with such an arrangement of the eyes, the animal gets the opportunity to see what is located not only directly in front of it, but also on both sides.
Cats can only distinguish a limited number of colors. They see moving objects much better than those that are at rest.
The iris surrounding the pupil of the cat's eye has mobility, as in all representatives of the mammalian class. It is driven by muscles connected to the eyeball. Due to this property of the iris, in bright natural or artificial light, the pupil of the cat's eye stretches vertically and takes on an elliptical shape. This prevents the animal's eye from penetrating into it more light than is necessary for the perception of the surrounding world.
DUE TO THE PECULIARITIES OF VISION, CATS CAN UNMIRRORLY DETERMINE THE DISTANCE FROM ONE OBJECT TO ANOTHER
Due to the peculiarities of the structure of the eyes, cats can see in the dark. It is a misconception that cats can see perfectly in the dark due to the fact that their eyes can glow. The reason cat's eyes glow in the dark is that they have the ability to accumulate reflected light rays. With the help of well-developed eyesight, a cat catches the reflection from objects of even the weakest ray of light penetrating into the room where it is located, and thanks to this it orients itself in space. But in absolute darkness, the animal, of course, cannot see.
When a cat's eyes get a lot of light, the pupils constrict and become perfectly round. If the cat's pupil remains dilated in the light, this may be due to agitation, medication, or a symptom of some disease.
Representatives of the cat family have another structural feature of the eyes - the so-called third eyelid, or nictitating membrane, the function of which is that it protects the cornea of the eye from foreign bodies, such as dust, entering it. This is possible because the third eyelid is able to stretch and cover the entire surface of the eye. Despite the fact that the third eyelid performs a protective function, it is prone to inflammation and is very susceptible to infections. The owner of the cat should be aware of this and not neglect the rules of hygiene when caring for the eyes of his animal, as in some diseases, prolapse of the third eyelid is observed.
The color of a cat's eyes can vary from light golden to blue. It depends on the degree of content in the iris of the coloring matter - the pigment. As with other animals, there are also albinos among cats, whose fur does not have pigment. Their eyes are most often red.
SMELL
The sense of smell is developed in cats much better than in other representatives of the class of mammals. It contributes to the establishment of relationships between related individuals, as well as between animals and humans. This can be largely explained by the fact that felines were originally nocturnal. It was at this time of day that they went hunting and were active. They had to navigate in space in conditions of poor visibility and even in low light to find prey while hunting. In relationships with representatives of the opposite sex, cats also have a sense of smell, as cats use marks to determine the boundaries of their territory.
In young kittens, the sense of smell occurs before hearing and sight, and helps them find their mother by smell.
The sense of smell of cats is selective, they are able to feel only those smells that have one meaning or another for them, and this is an important feature of their sense of smell. Extraneous minor odors seem to be blocked, the brain does not react to them, so the animal is not distracted by them and does not go astray.
The sense of smell performs a specific function when the mating season begins in cats, since a special smell comes from a female ready for fertilization, which allows the male to detect her even if she does not make characteristic sounds.
Cats have much weaker taste organs than dogs. The papillae located on the surface of the tongue in cats allow them to distinguish only contrasting tastes: bitter, sour, sweet, salty. Therefore, food preferences can be explained more by a sharp scent than by taste.
Cats quickly get used to their environment, so they stop reacting sharply to smells that are unpleasant for them. For example, a domestic cat can easily perceive household smells of an air freshener, washing powder, deodorant.
Not a single cat will remain indifferent to valerian, which has an effect on them similar to a narcotic one. At the same time, as experts noted, animals of different sexes react to valerian in different ways. Females tend to get excited by the smell of valerian, but quickly calm down and become lazy and lethargic. This property of valerian is used by cat owners in cases where the animal is very excited and needs to be calmed down.
On males, valerian can have the opposite effect. Even one drop of valerian tincture, accidentally falling on the floor, can cause a real attack of rabies in a cat: he will begin to lick the floor, roll, rub against the place where the drop fell, howl in a hoarse guttural voice, hiss, scratch, show aggressiveness when the owner tries to erase valerian from the floor or take away the vial of tincture found from him.
TOUCH
Often the cat is the initiator of the fact that the owner takes her in his arms, caresses and strokes, while the animal squints, purrs and looks very pleased. True, this happens only in those cases when the owner strokes the cat in the direction of hair growth, and not vice versa. If you stroke a cat the wrong way, it will most likely get angry and scratch. This behavior is explained by the fact that the cat's organs of touch are located not on the skin, but on the surface of special tactile hairs, which have increased sensitivity on the head and front paws.
Cats have a highly developed sense of touch. Through the relevant organs, the cat receives most of the information about the world around it. In addition to tactile hairs located on the head and paws, this animal can sense the surrounding space with the entire surface of the body. Paw pads in cats have a special structure. Because of this, cats really do not like to step on a dirty or wet surface, after which they always shake their paws, which is explained not only by the well-known cleanliness of these animals, but also by the extreme sensitivity of the paw pads.
The organs of touch and balance in a cat work in harmony, thereby ensuring the smooth operation of internal systems, so even small kittens usually have good health and good immunity.
Unlike dogs, which get acquainted with an object of interest to them with the help of smell, a characteristic feature of all representatives of the cat family is that they first touch an unfamiliar object with their paw and only then smell it.
The external hearing organs of a cat are erect, movable auricles, in the auditory canals of which there is a huge number of nerve endings.
Due to the unique ability of the hearing organs to distinguish sounds in the ultrasonic range, cats can come into contact with their kittens. Also, this property helps cats successfully hunt rats, mice and other rodents.
PERCEIVING ANY SOUND, A CAT CAN DETERMINE ITS FREQUENCY, PITCH AND STRENGTH WITH MAXIMUM ACCURACY
The ability of these animals to distinguish more than 100 different sounds is unique, especially if we take into account that the human ear does not perceive even half of these sounds.
FEELING OF BALANCE
The sense of balance in a cat is directly related to the sense of touch. This animal is able to maintain balance in the most seemingly unimaginable conditions (the sharp tops of a palisade, thin branches of trees, a completely smooth surface of a window cornice, etc.), so its sense of balance deserves special consideration.
The sense of balance is activated by an organ located in the inner ear and closely related to the auditory and visual systems. From this we can conclude: the normal functioning of a sense of balance in a cat is possible only if all other body systems work smoothly.
Often cats calmly, without fear, walk along high fences, cornices, roofs, tree branches. Animals achieve this through a sense of balance, although they also happen to fall, and often from a fairly large height. But here, too, a sense of balance helps the cat, helping to land on its paws. This does not mean that the cat is invulnerable. A fall from a great height can cause serious injury and even death, as well as a state of shock.
Also, cats have a well-developed sense of time, the rhythm of the change of day and night. Cats follow a certain regime and extremely do not like to deviate from it. If you call the pet home and feed it after arrival, then in a few days the animal will return home from the street at the same time.
Biological features
The optimal body temperature in cats is 38–39.5 °C, and in kittens it is slightly higher than in adult animals.
Normal blood counts for a cat are as follows:
Hemoglobin (in 100 ml of blood) - 9-12 g;
Erythrocytes - 6–9 million / μl;
Lymphocytes - 30%;
Leukocytes - 8-25 thousand / μl;
Neutrophilic erythrocytes - 60%;
Reserve alkalinity - 40-50%;
The erythrocyte sedimentation rate is 7–9 mm/h;
The rate of blood clotting is 2–3 mm/min.
Both scientists and just amateurs have repeatedly noted that representatives of the large cat family are in many ways significantly different from other animals.
Cats have a sedentary nature. They quickly get used to one particular house and do not like change. It is no accident that a saying appeared among the people that the dog gets used to the owner, and the cat to the house. This saying is true, although not fully justified. For example, the habit of a certain environment in the house helps the cat to navigate in space, and any significant rearrangement of furniture deprives the cat of a sense of comfort for a while. Indeed, in their familiar territory, where everything is already familiar and has long been studied, cats, and especially cats, feel like real owners.
This is due to the fact that cats have a pronounced reflex of tameness, attachment to a person and a permanent place of residence. Kittens deal with change more easily. Adult cats, as a rule, get used to a new owner or place of residence much more slowly and more painfully.
In the relationship of cats with other representatives of the animal world, 2 important aspects can be distinguished. On the one hand, cats show aggressiveness towards rodents, on the other hand, they dislike dogs. As for the relationship of cats with rodents, then everything is clear - this is the relationship of a predator and game. But the history of mutual hostility between dogs and cats is difficult to trace, one can only speculate. Among others, there is the hypothesis of the famous English writer R. Kipling about the competition of domestic animals for a place at the hearth in a cave of primitive man. Despite this, one can give examples of the fairly frequent peaceful coexistence of cats and dogs that grew up and were brought up in the same house.
Lecture 3
Biological features of cats (2 hours)
Lecture plan:
Biological features of cats.
Food and hunting.
Reproduction.
Representatives of the cat family are distinguished by extraordinary grace and grace, mobility and vigor, which largely determines the structure of the animal.
cat skeleton
It is advisable to start describing the structural features of a cat with a skeleton, the structure of which in many respects resembles the structure of the skeleton of all mammals, differing in the shape and arrangement of some bones, which is explained by the horizontal position of the cat's spine and the fact that the work of the organ systems of this animal is adapted to its lifestyle.
The skull of a cat has a rounded shape. Moreover, it is much shorter than that of many other predatory animals. The size of the skull of an adult varies depending on sex, breed, and individual hereditary traits.
The bones of the cranium are much larger than the bones of the facial part of the skull. This feature makes the appearance of a cat not like other animals.
The spine of a cat is flexible and mobile. It consists of 27 vertebrae: 7 cervical, 13 thoracic and 7 lumbar. Below the lumbar region are 3 fused vertebrae that form the sacrum. This is followed by tail vertebrae, the number of which varies among representatives of different breeds.
On average, a cat's tail consists of 20–23 vertebrae. But there are also short-tailed and tailless cats, in which the number of vertebrae is much less. For example, in Maine cats.
Thanks to the elastic and mobile tail, cats can maintain balance during the jump and in the event of a fall from a height. Also, experienced owners of these animals can easily determine what mood they are in by the position and movements of their pet's tail.
External structure
The cat is considered to be one of the most beautiful animals. Her body is long, flexible, graceful.
A special grace of movement is achieved due to the fact that the bones of this animal are distinguished by a special density and at the same time plasticity, which increase due to the free connection with the muscles through strong and mobile tendons.
The proportions of the body of all members of the cat family are basically similar, with the exception of minor deviations (mutations) in some breeds. For example, the short tail of the Maine cat or the large ears of the Sphynx.
Most cats have strong, medium-length limbs with well-developed muscles. Thanks to this, the cat is able to quietly and imperceptibly sneak up on prey while hunting and make a swift jump.
This animal moves extremely carefully and silently, as it has pads on its paws, on which sweat glands and sensitive nerve endings are located.
In addition, the cat's limbs are extremely flexible, allowing them to move quickly while hunting. On the front paws, cats have 5, on the hind paws - 4 fingers, on which there are sharp sickle-shaped claws. It is well known that cats can regulate their position: if the animal is in a calm state, the claws are usually hidden in leathery pouches and therefore do not become dull, and when danger arises, the cat spreads its fingers and releases its claws out.
This ability is explained by the fact that they are located on the phalanges of the fingers, where there are tendons and muscles that control the release and retraction of the claws into leathery pouches.
Nature endowed cats with this feature in order to protect the main natural means of attack and defense from grinding when walking.
Cat teeth are not only a formidable weapon, but also an important component of the digestive system. With its teeth, the animal bites off and grinds food, with their help it participates in fights with relatives and defends itself in those cases when it feels the approach of danger to it or its kittens.
An adult cat has 30 teeth, which are arranged as follows:
lower jaw: 6 front incisors, on both sides of which there are 1 canine and 3 molars (4 premolars and 2 molars);
upper jaw: 6 front incisors, on both sides of which there are 1 canine and 4 molars (3 premolars and 2 molars).
The incisors are small teeth with jagged edges. With their help, the animal captures small pieces of food and gnaws on the bones.
The main tool of a cat during catching prey and defense from enemies are long and sharp fangs with deep roots.
Kittens are born toothless. Milk teeth grow in them during the 1st month of life. When a kitten reaches the age of 6 months, the milk teeth are completely replaced by permanent ones.
Gums in cats are not particularly sensitive, as they have few nerve endings. Outwardly, they are a mucous membrane that covers the edges of the jaws on all sides and forms tooth sockets and tooth necks. There are many blood vessels in the gums.
The tongue plays an important role in digestion. In cats, it is elongated, mobile and flat. The entire surface of its mucous membrane is completely covered with a large number of coarsened papillae, due to which it is rough to the touch. The papillae are involved in the process of licking: water or liquid food is retained in these peculiar movable funnels, which facilitates its entry into the oral cavity. In addition, the lingual papillae act as a brush when the animal washes and cleans the coat.
Also on the cat's tongue are sensitive papillae, which are responsible for the sense of touch of the animal.
The function of touch is also performed by an organ, which is often called a mustache. The scientific name for these long, stiff hairs located on either side of the nose and above the eyes is vibrissae. They are also called tactile, or tactile hairs. The follicles from which they grow have a large number of nerve endings. The skin between them also has increased sensitivity, which helps the animal to navigate not only in the light, but also in the dark.
If you carefully observe the cat, you can determine the intentions of the animals by the movements of the whiskers: concentration before the jump, an attempt to determine the source of an attractive smell and the distance to it, etc.
On the abdomen and chest, in the region of the mammary glands, there are nipples. In females, they serve to feed offspring. Different pairs of nipples produce different amounts of milk. For example, the inguinal nipples contain the largest amount of milk, while the nipples located in the upper part of the body, it decreases.
Currently, there are cats with a wide variety of colors, length and density of coat, depending on the breed to which the animal belongs. Some breeds have short and velvety hair (British Shorthair), others long and wavy (Liperm), and there are breeds that have no hair at all (Sphynx).
Regardless of the length, a cat's coat consists of 2 layers: a thin inner coat (undercoat) and a coarser outer coat (protective). The main function of the coat is thermoregulation and protection of the body from the harmful effects of the environment. In the hot season, the cat gets rid of the undercoat, thanks to which its coat becomes light and fluffy animals (for example, Persian cats) tolerate high air temperatures relatively calmly.
Also, thermoregulation is provided by the pores on the skin of a cat, in which the outlets of the sweat glands, blood vessels and nerve endings are located. Along with wool, these pores prevent excessive fluid secretion and protect the body from harmful microorganisms and bacteria.
The skin of a cat is unusually mobile, which allows it to lead an active lifestyle characteristic of these animals.
This contributes to the fact that the wounds received in fights with dogs or other cats, in most cases, are superficial and not life-threatening.
The skin contains sebaceous glands that secrete a fatty lubricant necessary for the proper functioning of the animal's body.
Thanks to this, the cat's coat is protected from the harmful effects of the environment and is distinguished by silkiness and a beautiful shine.
Sweat glands are also located on the fingers and pads of a cat's paws.
Vitamin D, contained in the grease, enters the cat's digestive tract during washing and contributes to normal metabolism.
Internal structure
In terms of the location and functioning of the internal organs, the internal structure of a cat is in many ways similar to the structure of other mammals. But there are differences that are unique to this species of animals.
The main organ of the circulatory system is the heart - a hollow muscular organ that is located inside the chest, behind the median sternum. The mass of a cat's heart is directly proportional to the body mass of the animal. In each case, this is approximately 0.6% of body weight. The heart of a cat consists of 2 atria and 2 ventricles.
The cat has 2 circles of blood circulation, like all mammals. Blood circulation is carried out along the arteries going from the heart to the capillaries, which penetrate all internal tissues and organs. Metabolism takes place there, then the blood, saturated with carbon dioxide and containing the waste products of the body, enters the veins leading to the heart. The veins form the second, or pulmonary circulation. Venous blood enters the right ventricle of the heart, then through the pulmonary arteries to the lungs.
In the lungs, gas exchange occurs between blood and air, the result of which is the removal of carbon dioxide from the body and its enrichment with oxygen.
The organs of the cat's respiratory system are designed in such a way that they can function well in various environmental conditions.
The task of these organs is to ensure gas exchange and delivery of oxygen to the tissues of the body. They also serve to some extent as excretory organs, since through them excess moisture and harmful gases are removed from the body, and they participate in heat transfer, because they remove excess heat from the tissues.
The respiratory system of a cat consists of the nose, nasopharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi and lungs. The lungs are the main organ of the respiratory system. This is a paired organ, consisting of 2 lobes (right and left), which occupy most of the chest, like in all warm-blooded animals. They consist of alveoli - pulmonary vesicles, tightly braided with a mesh of capillaries, which serve as conductors in the implementation of gas exchange.
The respiratory organs are covered with a mucous membrane, which performs the function of their protection.
In the process of breathing through the nose, air enters the larynx, from there - into the bronchi and lungs. This is related to the normal functioning of the circulatory system. Breathing also helps to normalize heat transfer and remove excess fluid from the body.
The digestive system of a cat consists of the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small and large intestines. Also in the process of digestion of food, the pancreas, gallbladder and duodenum play an important role.
From the oral cavity, the food chewed by the animal enters the esophagus, which is a muscular tube that can increase in diameter when it becomes necessary to push food into the stomach. The inside of the esophagus is lined with a mucous membrane.
Under the influence of saliva, food begins to break down and partially digested already in the oral cavity. The digestion process continues in the stomach, located in front of the peritoneum. The cat has a single-chamber stomach, lined from the inside with a mucous membrane that produces gastric juice, which is necessary for the subsequent processing of food.
From the cavity of the cat's stomach, 2 holes open, shaped like cones. One of them connects the stomach to the esophagus, the other to the duodenum. From the stomach, food enters the small intestine, where the final processing of food takes place. The small intestine is a long thin tube twisted into several loops. The length of the small intestine often exceeds the length of a cat by 4 times. Inside the intestines, food is exposed to pancreatic enzymes.
The mucous membrane of the small intestine of the animal is lined with villi, which provide absorption of nutrients. Here, the food that enters the intestines is disinfected. This function is performed by numerous lymph nodes.
A continuation of the small intestine is the large intestine, which receives unprocessed solid food residues. They are enveloped in mucus secreted by the walls of the large intestine.
It consists of three elements: the caecum, or appendix, colon and rectum. The rectum serves to remove compressed feces from the body. On the sides of the anus of the cat are the anal glands. They secrete a secret with a pungent odor. In addition to its excretory function, the rectum also maintains bacteriological balance in the body, because the conditions necessary for the reproduction of beneficial bacteria are preserved inside it.
The organs of the urinary system are responsible for removing excess fluid from the animal's body. The urinary system of a cat consists of the kidneys, bladder and urinary tract - the ureters. In these organs, the formation and accumulation of urine occurs and its subsequent removal from the body along with harmful substances dissolved in it is carried out.
Urine is formed in the kidneys, more precisely, in the renal pelvis, from which it enters the bladder through the ureters, where there is a closing muscle that prevents spontaneous urination. The urethra of a cat has a distinctive physiological feature: stenoses are special narrowings that serve to speed up the passage of sediment present in the urine.
The urinary system provides salt and water balance in the cat's body. During the breeding season, the urine of the animal exudes a particularly pungent odor, very persistent, so cats mark their territory.
The reproductive system of cats consists of testicles and vas deferens, which
open into the urethra. Through this channel, sperm enters the reproductive organ. The testicles, the sex glands of cats, are located in the scrotum, which is formed by a skin fold at the base of the penis.
The testicles produce male sex cells - spermatozoa.
The internal reproductive organs of a cat are the ovaries, fallopian tubes and uterus. The ovaries produce the female sex cells, the eggs. The external genital organs of a cat are the vagina and vulva, which are located near the anus.
Of great importance for the life of the animal are endocrine glands: the hypothalamus, adrenal glands and thyroid gland. They regulate many vital processes in the cat's body and protect it from diseases.
Physiology
Cats have a uniquely organized nervous system, which is highly sensitive, and a more developed sensory system than humans.
The work of the nervous system is carried out by transmitting nerve impulses to the brain, which contain information about the state of the organs and the processes occurring in them. The role of impulse transmitters is performed by neurons, special nerve cells.
No animal has sense organs as developed as those of a cat. So it is advisable to consider this feature of the cat in more detail.
VISION
If you compare a cat with other domestic animals, you will notice that it has the largest eyes in relation to body size. For a long time, scientists have noticed a unique feature of the cat - binocular (stereoscopic) vision. This property is determined by the unusual location of the eyes: they are in front, on both sides of the nose, and the animal has the ability to view objects of interest at an angle of 205 ° in the same direction while simultaneously crossing the field of view at the central point. This property allows the cat to accurately determine the distance to a particular object. In addition, with such an arrangement of the eyes, the animal gets the opportunity to see what is located not only directly in front of it, but also on both sides.
Cats can only distinguish a limited number of colors. They see moving objects much better than those that are at rest.
The iris surrounding the pupil of the cat's eye has mobility, as in all representatives of the mammalian class. It is driven by muscles connected to the eyeball. Due to this property of the iris, in bright natural or artificial light, the pupil of the cat's eye stretches vertically and takes on an elliptical shape. This prevents the animal's eye from penetrating into it more light than is necessary for the perception of the surrounding world.
Due to the peculiarities of the structure of the eyes, cats can see in the dark. It is a misconception that cats can see perfectly in the dark because their eyes can glow. The reason cat's eyes glow in the dark is that they have the ability to accumulate reflected light rays. With the help of well-developed eyesight, a cat catches the reflection from objects of even the weakest ray of light penetrating into the room where it is located, and thanks to this it orients itself in space. But in absolute darkness, the animal, of course, cannot see.
When a cat's eyes get a lot of light, the pupils constrict and become perfectly round. If the cat's pupil remains dilated in the light, this may be due to agitation, medication, or a symptom of some disease.
Representatives of the cat family have another structural feature of the eyes - the so-called third eyelid, or nictitating membrane, the function of which is that it protects the cornea of the eye from foreign bodies, such as dust, entering it. This is possible because the third eyelid is able to stretch and cover the entire surface of the eye. Despite the fact that the third eyelid has a protective function, it is prone to inflammation and is very sensitive to infections. The owner of the cat should be aware of this and not neglect the rules of hygiene when caring for the eyes of his animal, as in some diseases, prolapse of the third eyelid is observed.
The color of a cat's eyes can vary from light golden to blue. It depends on the degree of content in the iris of the coloring matter - the pigment. As with other animals, there are also albinos among cats, whose fur does not have pigment. Their eyes are most often red.
SMELL
The sense of smell is developed in cats much better than in other representatives of the class of mammals. It contributes to the establishment of relationships between related individuals, as well as between animals and humans. This can be largely explained by the fact that felines were originally nocturnal. It was at this time of day that they went hunting and were active. They had to navigate in space in conditions of poor visibility and even in low light to find prey while hunting. In relationships with representatives of the opposite sex, cats also have a sense of smell, as cats use marks to determine the boundaries of their territory.
In young kittens, the sense of smell occurs before hearing and sight, and helps them find their mother by smell.
The sense of smell of cats is selective, they are able to feel only those smells that have one meaning or another for them, and this is an important feature of their sense of smell. Extraneous minor odors seem to be blocked, the brain does not react to them, so the animal is not distracted by them and does not go astray.
The sense of smell performs a specific function when the mating season begins in cats, since a special smell comes from a female ready for fertilization, which allows the male to detect her even if she does not make characteristic sounds.
Cats have much weaker taste organs than dogs. The papillae located on the surface of the tongue in cats allow them to distinguish only contrasting tastes: bitter, sour, sweet, salty. Therefore, food preferences can be explained more by a sharp scent than by taste.
Cats quickly get used to their environment, so they stop reacting sharply to smells that are unpleasant for them. For example, a domestic cat can easily perceive household smells of an air freshener, washing powder, deodorant.
Not a single cat will remain indifferent to valerian, which has an effect on them similar to a narcotic one. At the same time, as experts noted, animals of different sexes react to valerian in different ways. Females tend to get excited by the smell of valerian, but quickly calm down and become lazy and lethargic. This property of valerian is used by cat owners in cases where the animal is very excited and needs to be calmed down.
On males, valerian can have the opposite effect. Even one drop of valerian tincture, accidentally falling on the floor, can cause a real attack of rabies in a cat: he will begin to lick the floor, roll, rub against the place where the drop fell, howl in a hoarse guttural voice, hiss, scratch, show aggressiveness when the owner tries to erase valerian from the floor or take away the vial of tincture found from him.
TOUCH
Often the cat is the initiator of the fact that the owner takes her in his arms, caresses and strokes, while the animal squints, purrs and looks very pleased. True, this happens only in those cases when the owner strokes the cat in the direction of hair growth, and not vice versa. If you stroke a cat the wrong way, it will most likely get angry and scratch. This behavior is explained by the fact that the cat's organs of touch are located not on the skin, but on the surface of special tactile hairs, which have increased sensitivity on the head and front paws.
Cats have a highly developed sense of touch. Through the relevant organs, the cat receives most of the information about the world around it. In addition to tactile hairs located on the head and paws, this animal can sense the surrounding space with the entire surface of the body. Paw pads in cats have a special structure. Because of this, cats really do not like to step on a dirty or wet surface, after which they always shake their paws, which is explained not only by the well-known cleanliness of these animals, but also by the extreme sensitivity of the paw pads.
The organs of touch and balance in a cat work in harmony, thereby ensuring the smooth operation of internal systems, so even small kittens usually have good health and good immunity.
Unlike dogs, which get acquainted with an object of interest to them with the help of smell, a characteristic feature of all representatives of the cat family is that they first touch an unfamiliar object with their paw and only then smell it.
HEARING
The external hearing organs of a cat are erect, movable auricles, in the auditory canals of which there is a huge number of nerve endings.
Due to the unique ability of the hearing organs to distinguish sounds in the ultrasonic range, cats can come into contact with their kittens. Also, this property helps cats successfully hunt rats, mice and other rodents.
The ability of these animals to distinguish more than 100 different sounds is unique, especially if we take into account that the human ear does not perceive even half of these sounds.
FEELING OF BALANCE
The sense of balance in a cat is directly related to the sense of touch. This animal is able to maintain balance in the most seemingly unimaginable conditions (the sharp tops of a palisade, thin tree branches, a completely smooth surface of a window cornice, etc.), so its sense of balance deserves special consideration.
The sense of balance is activated by an organ located in the inner ear and closely related to the auditory and visual systems. From this we can conclude: the normal functioning of a sense of balance in a cat is possible only if all other body systems work smoothly.
Often cats calmly, without fear, walk along high fences, cornices, roofs, tree branches. Animals achieve this through a sense of balance, although they also happen to fall, and often from a fairly large height. But here, too, a sense of balance helps the cat, helping to land on its paws. This does not mean that the cat is invulnerable. A fall from a great height can cause serious injury and even death, as well as a state of shock.
Also, cats have a well-developed sense of time, the rhythm of the change of day and night. Cats follow a certain regime and extremely do not like to deviate from it. If you call the pet home and feed it after arrival, then in a few days the animal will return home from the street at the same time.
Biological features
The optimal body temperature in cats is 38–39.5 °C, and in kittens it is slightly higher than in adult animals.
Normal blood counts for a cat are as follows:
hemoglobin (in 100 ml of blood) - 9-12 g;
erythrocytes - 6–9 million / μl;
lymphocytes - 30%;
leukocytes - 8-25 thousand / μl;
neutrophilic erythrocytes - 60%;
reserve alkalinity - 40–50%;
erythrocyte sedimentation rate - 7–9 mm/h;
the rate of blood coagulation is 2–3 mm/min.
Both scientists and just amateurs have repeatedly noted that representatives of the large cat family are in many ways significantly different from other animals.
Cats have a sedentary nature. They quickly get used to one particular house and do not like change. It is no accident that a saying appeared among the people that the dog gets used to the owner, and the cat to the house. This saying is true, although not fully justified. For example, the habit of a certain environment in the house helps the cat to navigate in space, and any significant rearrangement of furniture deprives the cat of a sense of comfort for a while. Indeed, in their familiar territory, where everything is already familiar and has long been studied, cats, and especially cats, feel like real owners.
This is due to the fact that cats have a pronounced reflex of tameness, attachment to a person and a permanent place of residence. Kittens deal with change more easily. Adult cats, as a rule, get used to a new owner or place of residence much more slowly and more painfully.
In the relationship of cats with other representatives of the animal world, 2 important aspects can be distinguished. On the one hand, cats show aggressiveness towards rodents, on the other hand, they dislike dogs. As for the relationship of cats with rodents, then everything is clear - this is the relationship of a predator and game. But the history of mutual hostility between dogs and cats is difficult to trace, one can only speculate. Among others, there is a hypothesis of the famous English writer R. Kipling about the competition of domestic animals for a place at the hearth in a cave of a primitive man. Despite this, one can give examples of the fairly frequent peaceful coexistence of cats and dogs that grew up and were brought up in the same house.
