Cats

Top row (L to R): Bill Clinton's cat Socks (pictured twice), Amy Carter's cat Misty Malarky Ying Yang and George W. Bush's cat India. Bottom row (L to R): India, Calvin Coolidge's cats Blackie and Tiger, and the Bidens' cat Willow

A Colorful History of Cats in the White House

Willow Biden isn’t the first feline to grace the presidential residence's halls

Dusty, the author's cat, lies on a catnip patch on a supervised visit outside. She has a smaller brain than her ancestors.

Your Pet Cat Has a Smaller Brain Than Its Wild Ancestors

The researchers replicated experiments done in the '60s and '70s with updated knowledge of feline lineage

Five cats pile onto a Starlink satellite dish in a snowy yard.

Outdoor Cats Are Using $500 Starlink Satellite Dishes as Self-Heating Beds

The devices—developed by Elon Musk's SpaceX—have a warming feature to prevent snow buildup from disrupting the signal

One reader wonders what graffiti was like before spray paint.

What Did Graffiti Look Like Before Spray Paint and More Questions From Our Readers

You've got questions. We've got experts.

A Louis Wain illustration of cats singing carols

See Louis Wain's Exuberant Cat Art at the Hospital Where He Spent His Later Years

The Victorian artist's famous feline portraits are on view at England's Bethlem Museum of the Mind

Cat owners can keep themselves, their pets, and wildlife safe by keeping their feline indoors.

Outdoor Pet Cats Are Spreading a Brain Parasite to Wildlife

It is one of the most common parasites in the world and has infected approximately one-third of people globally, including some 40 million Americans

A new study from Japanese researchers found that a stationary cat can track its owner's location by their voice. 

Your Cat May Know Where You Are Even When They Can't See You

New research suggests domesticated cats keep a 'mental map' of their owner's location, an ability previously unknown in felines

Archaeologists excavated the foundations of a carcer, or holding cell, where gladiators, doomed prisoners and wild animals waited before being brought into the Richborough Roman amphitheater in Kent.

Holding Cell for Gladiators, Doomed Prisoners Found at Roman Amphitheater in England

Researchers initially thought the structure was a passageway to the ancient arena

A new article suggests that cats have been underutilized in studies of genetic disease and that studying their genomes, which are structured similarly to humans', could yield new treatments.

Human Genomes Are Surprisingly Cat-Like

Cat genomes are more similar to ours than those of mice and dogs, yet researchers say felines are underutilized in genetic studies of disease

A Chinese mountain cat photographed in a field of grass.

Elusive Chinese Mountain Cats Aren't Domestic Cats' Ancestors

Past genetic studies on feline domestication hadn't included this wildcat native to the Tibetan Plateau

Illustration of Smilodon fatalis cubs playing together.

The Softer Side of Sabercats

The iconic fanged predators may have raised their young for years—dragging baby mastodon bones home for them and slowly teaching them how to hunt

Several male jaguars have been spotted in Arizona and New Mexico over the last twenty years, but no evidence of breeding pairs establishing territories beyond Mexico has been seen or reported.

It's Time to Reintroduce Jaguars in the U.S. Southwest, Scientists and Conservation Groups Say

Hunting decimated the big cat’s population in the United States by the mid-20th century

One of the cats from the experiment sits in a Kanisza square, which is four Pac-Man-like circles positioned to create four corners of a square.

Why Cats Love to Sit in Boxes—Even Fake Ones, According to Science

Scientists tested what the Internet has long known to be true: Our feline friends have an "if I fits, I sits" approach to picking the coziest spot

Currently, tourists can only view the archaeological site from street level.

Site of Julius Caesar's Assassination Will Be Transformed Into Open-Air Museum

Rome's "Area Sacra," a sunken square home to the ruins of four ancient temples, doubles as a sanctuary for stray cats

Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary, where Aboriginal Warlpiri ranger Christine Ellis hunts feral cats to help protect native species

Australia's Cats Kill Two Billion Animals Annually. Here's How the Government Is Responding to the Crisis

A new report from the federal parliament recommends cat registration, nighttime curfews and spaying and neutering

Some of the animals—including this dog—were buried in pieces of pottery.

Is This 2,000-Year-Old Egyptian Burial Site the World's Oldest Pet Cemetery?

Excavations show how humans treated cats, dogs and monkeys in first- and second-century Egypt

Most cat foods contain high-quality proteins but are often plant-based and may drive cats to hunt to get the micronutrients they are missing from their cat food.

To Protect Local Wildlife, Feed Your Cat Meatier Meals

Well-fed felines brought 36 percent fewer kills back home—if allowed outside

Catnip and a plant called silver vine, Actinidia polygama, are not closely related, but both make cats go wild.

Felines May Use Catnip for More Than Just Euphoria

The plant may keep pesky mosquitos away

Writer and photographer Paul Koudounaris' new book, A Cat's Tale, finds his pet kitty, Baba, channeling famous and little-known felines from history.

A History of Felines, as Narrated and Illustrated by a Cat

Baba the cat is both storyteller and photographic model in what is perhaps the most unique cat history book ever published

“[It] was about to disappear because it’s situated on quite a steep slope that’s prone to the effects of natural erosion,” Peru's Ministry of Culture explains.

2,000-Year-Old Nazca Line Featuring Lounging Cat Found in Peru

The enormous glyph is one of hundreds of ancient etchings scattered across the arid region

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