The document provides an overview of the biology of the domestic cat. It discusses the cat's classification, which places it in the kingdom Animalia and order Carnivora. It describes the cat's genome, which contains 38 chromosomes. The document outlines the cat's reproductive system and breeding, noting cats can have 1-6 kittens after a 65 day gestation period. It lists common cat breeds and diseases affecting cats. The document also discusses using genetically modified cats to study diseases like HIV/AIDS in humans.

1. BIOLOGY OF COMPANION ANIMAL ( CAT)
BY
CHINONSO A.NVENE,ONUOHA
IKECHUKWU AND SIMEON NDAYISENGA

2. OUTLINES
• INTRODUCTION
• CLASSIFICATION/TAXONOMY
• GENOME ORGANIZATION
• REPRODUCTION/GESTATION
• BREEDS/LIFE SPAN
• DISEASES
• CATS IN ANIMAL BIOTECHNOLOGY
• REFERENCE

3. INTRODUCTION
 Felis silvestris catus is the scientific name for the
domestic, or house cat, whose closest relative is the
species Felis silvestris lybica , the African Wild Cat.
 The domestic cat covers a wide geographical range, from
Antarctica to urban cities as well as temperate farmlands.
 Cats are common pets throughout the world, and their
worldwide population as of 2007 exceeded 500 million.
Cats have been used for millennia to control rodents,
notably around grain store and aboard ships, and both
uses extend to the present day.

4. CONT’
 Cats were first domesticated in Egypt about 4,000 years ago.
 In ancient Egypt as well as in the modern Western World, cat
is treasured as companions
 Cats often form wild colonies, in which they communicate
with each other by use of up to one hundred different
vocalizations, including purring, hissing.
 Cats are athletic animals, which can reached running speed of
up to 30 miles per hour for short distance.
 Cats in captivity typically lived from 14 to 20 years, while the
oldest known cats lived to the age of 38 years and three days
was called Creme Puff
 Lifespan range from 2 to 16 years

5. CLASSIFICATION OF DOMESTIC CAT
The domestic cat belongs to
the kingdom Animalia,
which includes all animals
Cats have backbones, which
places them in
the phylum Chordata
• subphylum: Vertebrata
• Class: Mammalia
• Order: Carnivora
• Family: Felidae
• Genus: Felis
• Species: Catus

6. GENOME ORGANIZATION
• karyotype consisting of 18 autosomal
chromosomes and the XY sex chromosome
pair, resulting in a 2N complement of 38
chromosomes for the cat genome
• The cat genome has 19 pair of chromosomes
containing 2.7 Gb with 20,000 protein-coding
genes.

7. GENOME ORGANIZATION
 Cats have three large
metacentric chromosomes
(A1 to A3)
 Four large subtelomeric
chromosomes (B4 to B7),
 Two medium-size
metacentrics (C8 and C9)
 Four small subtelomerics
(D10 to D13)
 Three small metacentrics
(E14 to E16)
 Two small acrocentrics (F17
and F18)
 The X chromosome is
midsize and subtelomeric,
similar to chromosome B4

8. REPRODUCTION
• When cats mate, the
tomcat (male) bites the
scruff of the female's
neck as she assumes a
position conducive
to mating known
as lordosis behavior.
• Female cats, called
queens,
are polyestrous with
several estrus cycles or
heat cycle during a year,
lasting usually 21 days.

9. CONT’
• They are usually ready to mate between early
February and August.
• Ovulation is not always triggered by a single mating,
females may not be impregnated by the first male
with which they mate.
• Cats are superfecund; that is, a female may mate
with more than one male when she is in heat, with
the result that different kittens in a litter may have
different fathers.

10. CONT’
• The gestation of queens lasts between 64 and 67
days, with an average of 65 days
• Cat has one to six kittens per litter, with an average
of three kittens
• They produced a mean of 1.4 litters per year, but a
maximum of three litters in a year
• Kittens are weaned between six and seven weeks of
age.

11. REPRODUCTION CONT’
• Queens normally reach sexual maturity at 5–
10 months, and males at 5–7 months
• Kittens reach puberty at the age of 9–10
months
• Cats are ready to go to new homes at about
12 weeks of age, when they are ready to leave
their mother

12. TRAITS CATS POSSES
 Neuroticism- reflects strongest levels of traits, such
as insecure, anxious, fearful of people, suspicious
and shy
 Dominance- reflects bullying, dominant and
aggressive to other cats;
 Agreeableness- reflects affectionate, friendly to
people and gentle.
 Extraversion also revealed traits normally associated
with Self-control in Scottish wildcats including
decisive, aimless, persevering and quitting.

13. BREEDING
 As of 2019, The International Cat Association (TICA)
recognizes 71 standardized breeds, the Cat Fanciers'
Association (CFA) recognizes 44, and the Fédération
Internationale Féline (FIFe) recognizes 43.
 The breeds that are not recognized by all three
associations are not as commonly seen as some of
the recognized breeds, and several factors are taken
into account prior to a cat becoming recognized as a
purebred. Smaller associations also exist, such as the
Southern Africa Cat Council.

14. Abyssinian

15. DISEASES ASSOCIATED WITH CAT
 Cat scratch disease.
 Roundworms.
 Toxoplasmosis.
 Rabies.
 Campylobacteriosis.
 Salmonellosis.
 Cryptosporidiosis.
 Giardiasis.
 Feline immunodeficiency virus referred to as cat HIV or
cat AIDS because it has a similar effect on felines

16. CATS IN ANIMAL BIOTECHNOLOGY
• A new strategy was
developed to treat fel.d 1
induced allergy in human
subject by immunizing
cats against their own
major allergen fel.d1.
• Vaccination of cats with
Fel-
CuMVTT induces neutralizi
ng antibodies and might
result in reduced
symptoms of allergic cat
owners.

17. CONT’
• Glow cat fluorescent
green felines could help
study of HIV/Aids.
• The application of this
new technology is to
develop the use of
genetically-modified
cats for the study of FIV,
providing valuable
information for the
study of Aids.

18. REFERENCES
 K. Ichikawa, L.D. Vailes, A. Pomes, M.D. ChapmanMolecular
cloning, expression and modelling of cat allergen, cystatin
(Fel d 3), a cysteine protease inhibitor
Clin Exp Allergy, 31 (2001), pp. 1279-1286
• Baker H.J. Sphingomyelin lipidosis in a cat. Vet.
Pathol. 1987;24:386–391. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
• Baker H.J., Lindsey J.R., McKhann G.M., Farrell D.F. Neuronal
GM1 gangliosidosis in a Siamese cat with β-galactosidase
deficiency. Science. 1971;174:838–839. [PubMed] [Google
Scholar]
• Baker H.J., Smith B.F., Foureman P., Varadarajan G.S.,
Varadarajan U., Martin D.R., Castagnaro M. The molecular
bases of feline GM1 and GM2 gangliosidoses. Proceedings of
the First International