Editing Cat (section)

== Interaction with humans ==
{{Main|Human interaction with cats}}
[[File:Mainecoon-lap.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|alt=A long-haired calico cat sat in the lap of a man who is sat cross-legged on the floor.|A cat lying on a man's lap]]
Cats are common [[pet]]s throughout the world, and their worldwide population as of 2007 exceeded 500&nbsp;million.<ref name="NYT">{{Cite news |last=Wade |first=N. |year=2007 |title=Study Traces Cat's Ancestry to Middle East |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/29/science/29cat.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=2 April 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090418082840/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/29/science/29cat.html |archive-date=18 April 2009}}</ref> {{As of|2024|post=,}} the domestic cat was the second most popular pet in the [[United States]], with 73.8&nbsp;million cats owned and around 42.2&nbsp;million households owning at least one cat.<ref>{{cite web |title=U.S. pet ownership statistics |url= https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/reports-statistics/us-pet-ownership-statistics |publisher=[[American Veterinary Medical Association]] |access-date= 14 February 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=12 December 2020|title=61 Fun Cat Statistics That Are the Cat's Meow! (2022 UPDATE)|url= https://petpedia.co/cat-statistics/|access-date=18 February 2022 |archive-date=18 February 2022|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220218184821/https://petpedia.co/cat-statistics/|url-status=live}}</ref> In the [[United Kingdom]], 26% of adults have a cat, with an estimated population of 10.9&nbsp;million pet cats {{As of|2020|lc=y|post=.}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=How many pets are there in the UK? |url= https://www.pdsa.org.uk/get-involved/our-campaigns/pdsa-animal-wellbeing-report/uk-pet-populations-of-dogs-cats-and-rabbits |access-date=29 March 2021 |website=PDSA.org.uk |archive-date=3 March 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210303184319/https://www.pdsa.org.uk/get-involved/our-campaigns/pdsa-animal-wellbeing-report/uk-pet-populations-of-dogs-cats-and-rabbits |url-status=dead}}</ref> {{As of|2021|post=,}} there were an estimated 220&nbsp;million owned and 480&nbsp;million stray cats in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://carocat.eu/statistics-on-cats-and-dogs/ |title=Statistics on cats |year=2021 |website=carocat.eu |access-date=15 February 2021 |archive-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210225150136/https://carocat.eu/statistics-on-cats-and-dogs/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Cats have been used for millennia to control rodents, notably [[Farm cat|around grain stores]] and [[Ship's cat|aboard ships]], and both uses extend to the present day.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Beadle|first=Muriel|title=Cat|publisher=Simon and Schuster|date=1979|isbn=9780671251901|pages=93–96}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mayers |first=Barbara |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=q3LvHwAACAAJ |title=Toolbox: Ship's Cat on the Kalmar Nyckel|date=2007|publisher=Bay Oak Publishers |isbn=9780974171395 |access-date=17 July 2020 |archive-date=31 March 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210331062435/https://books.google.com/books?id=q3LvHwAACAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> Cats are also used in the international [[fur trade]]<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.hsus.org/web-files/PDF/What-is-that-they-re-wearing_FurBooklet.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061201153853/http://www.hsus.org/web-files/PDF/What-is-that-they-re-wearing_FurBooklet.pdf |archive-date=1 December 2006 |title=What Is That They're Wearing? |publisher=[[Humane Society of the United States]] |access-date=22 October 2009}}</ref> and leather industries for making coats, hats, blankets, stuffed toys,<ref>{{Cite book |title=A Primer on Animal Rights: Leading Experts Write about Animal Cruelty and Exploitation |editor-first=K. W. |editor-last=Stallwood |publisher=[[Lantern Books]] |date=2002}}</ref> shoes, gloves, and musical instruments.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/japan-finale-for-the-worlds-most-elegant-use-of-a-dead-cat-1294096.html |title=Japan: Finale for the world's most elegant use of a dead cat |date=15 November 1997 |work=[[The Independent]] |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170621114633/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/japan-finale-for-the-worlds-most-elegant-use-of-a-dead-cat-1294096.html|archive-date=21 June 2017}}</ref> About 24 cats are needed to make a cat-fur coat.<ref>{{Cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6165786.stm |title=EU proposes cat and dog fur ban |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=22 October 2009 |year=2006 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090102231651/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6165786.stm |archive-date=2 January 2009}}</ref> This use has been outlawed in the United States since 2000 and in the European Union (as well as the United Kingdom) since 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.hsus.org/about_us/humane_society_international_hsi/hsi_europe/dog_cat_fur/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090217153420/http://www.hsus.org/about_us/humane_society_international_hsi/hsi_europe/dog_cat_fur/ |archive-date=17 February 2009 |title=EU Announces Strict Ban on Dog and Cat Fur Imports and Exports |year=2007 |first=C. |last=Ikuma |work=[[Humane Society International]] |access-date=14 December 2011}}</ref>

Cat pelts have been used for superstitious purposes as part of the practice of [[witchcraft]],<ref>{{Cite book |title=Witchcraft and Magic in Europe |volume=3: ''The Middle Ages'' |last1=Jolly |first1=K. L. |last2=Raudvere |first2=C. |last3=Peters |first3=E. |publisher=Athlone |date=2002 |isbn=9780567574466 |location=London |oclc=747103210}}</ref> and they are still made into blankets in [[Switzerland]] as [[traditional medicine]]s thought to cure [[rheumatism]].<ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/switzerland-finds-a-way-to-skin-a-cat-for-the-fur-trade-and-high-fashion-815426.html |title=Switzerland Finds a Way to Skin a Cat for the Fur Trade and High Fashion |last=Paterson |first=T. |year=2008 |work=The Independent |access-date=23 October 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090707080420/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/switzerland-finds-a-way-to-skin-a-cat-for-the-fur-trade-and-high-fashion-815426.html |archive-date=7 July 2009 |location=London}}</ref>

A few attempts to build a cat census have been made over the years, both through associations or national and international organizations (such as that of the [[Canadian Federation of Humane Societies]]<ref name="Canadian">{{Cite news |url= https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/humane-society-launches-national-cat-census-1.1185950 |title=Humane society launches national cat census |access-date=18 September 2012 |publisher=[[CBC News]] |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121024184326/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/07/17/nb-cat-census-1000.html |archive-date=24 October 2012}}</ref>) and over the Internet.<ref name="catsbe">{{cite web |url= http://www.catsbe.com |title=Cats Be |access-date=18 September 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120922235823/http://www.catsbe.com/ |archive-date=22 September 2012}}</ref><ref name="SupremeCatCensus">{{cite web |url= http://www.supremecatcensus.co.za/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120316024409/http://www.supremecatcensus.co.za/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 March 2012 |title=The Supreme Cat Census |access-date=18 September 2012}}</ref> General estimates for the global population of domestic cats range widely from anywhere between 200&nbsp;million to 600&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite web |title=About Pets |work=IFAHEurope.org |publisher=Animal Health Europe |url= http://www.ifaheurope.org/companion-animals/about-pets.html |access-date=3 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141006074439/http://www.ifaheurope.org/companion-animals/about-pets.html|archive-date=6 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Legay |first=J. M. |title=Sur une tentative d'estimation du nombre total de chats domestiques dans le monde |trans-title=Tentative estimation of the total number of domestic cats in the world |language=fr |journal=Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Série III |volume=303 |issue=17 |pages=709–712 |year=1986 |id={{INIST|7950138}} |pmid=3101986}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=xYKqluO6c8UC&q=million%20cats%20worldwide&pg=PA157 |first1=S. D. |last1=Gehrt |first2=S. P. D. |last2=Riley |first3=B. L. |last3=Cypher |title=Urban Carnivores: Ecology, Conflict, and Conservation |date=2010 |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University]] Press |access-date=3 October 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151231224128/https://books.google.com/books?id=xYKqluO6c8UC&lpg=PA157&pg=PA157&q=million%20cats%20worldwide |archive-date=31 December 2015 |isbn=9780801893896}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=0HmB3ix5IQ8C&q=million%20cats%20worldwide&pg=PA47 |first=I. |last=Rochlitz |title=The Welfare of Cats |date=2007 |publisher=[[Springer Science & Business Media]] |access-date=3 October 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151231224128/https://books.google.com/books?id=0HmB3ix5IQ8C&lpg=PA47&pg=PA47&q=million%20cats%20worldwide |archive-date=31 December 2015 |isbn=9781402032271}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Cats: Most interesting facts about common domestic pets |url= http://english.pravda.ru/society/family/09-01-2006/9478-cats-0/ |work=[[Pravda]] |access-date=3 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141006105806/http://english.pravda.ru/society/family/09-01-2006/9478-cats-0/ |archive-date=6 October 2014 |date=9 January 2006}}</ref> [[Walter Chandoha]] made his career photographing cats after his 1949 images of ''Loco'', a stray cat, were published. He is reported to have photographed 90,000 cats during his career and maintained an archive of 225,000 images that he drew from for publications during his lifetime.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sandomir |first=R. |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/18/obituaries/walter-chandoha-dead.html?emc=edit_th_190119&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=686341800119/ |title=Walter Chandoha, Photographer Whose Specialty Was Cats, Dies at 98 |work=The New York Times |date=18 January 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190119231032/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/18/obituaries/walter-chandoha-dead.html?emc=edit_th_190119&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=686341800119%2FWalter |archive-date=19 January 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Pet humanization]] is a form of [[anthropomorphism]] in which cats are kept for companionship and treated more like human family members than traditional pets.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57f414e0b8a79bc04e0a2729/t/6081b71ec312977485a24fa4/1619113759478/CD-The+Rise+of+Pet+Humanization.pdf |title=The Rise of Pet Humanization |access-date=29 March 2024 |archive-date=2 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240402002609/https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57f414e0b8a79bc04e0a2729/t/6081b71ec312977485a24fa4/1619113759478/CD-The+Rise+of+Pet+Humanization.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> This trend of [[pet culture]] involves providing cats with a higher level of care, attention and often even luxury, similar to the way humans are treated.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://advantagesolutions.net/news/the-humanization-of-pets/ |title=The Humanization of Pets |access-date=29 March 2024 |archive-date=6 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206214159/https://advantagesolutions.net/news/the-humanization-of-pets/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Shows ===
{{main|Cat show}}
A [[cat show]] is a judged event in which the owners of cats compete to win titles in various cat-registering organizations by entering their cats to be judged after a breed standard.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |url= https://animals.howstuffworks.com/pets/cat-show1.htm |title=All About Cat Shows |year=2008 |work=How Stuff Works |access-date=8 June 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143813/https://animals.howstuffworks.com/pets/cat-show1.htm |archive-date=12 June 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> It is often required that a cat must be healthy and vaccinated to participate in a cat show.<ref name=":0" /> Both [[Pedigree (cat)|pedigreed]] and non-[[purebred]] companion ("moggy") cats are admissible, although the rules differ depending on the organization. Competing cats are compared to the applicable breed standard, and assessed for temperament.<ref name=":0" />

=== Infection ===
{{Main|Feline zoonosis}}
Cats can be [[Cat predation on wildlife|infected]] or infested with [[virus]]es, [[pathogenic bacteria|bacteria]], [[fungus]], [[protozoans]], [[arthropod]]s, or worms that can transmit diseases to humans.<ref name="Chomel2014" /> In some cases, the cat exhibits no [[symptoms]] of the disease.<ref name="Ohio2016">{{cite web |title=Cats |publisher=Ohio Department of Health|url= http://www.odh.ohio.gov/en/odhprograms/bid/zdp/animals/cats |access-date=26 November 2016 |date=21 January 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161127023823/https://www.odh.ohio.gov/en/odhprograms/bid/zdp/animals/cats|archive-date=27 November 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> The same disease can then become evident in a human.<ref name="Goldstein2015">{{cite journal |last1=Goldstein |first1=Ellie J. C. |last2=Abrahamian |first2=Fredrick M. |year=2015 |title=Diseases Transmitted by Cats |url=https://journals.asm.org/doi/epub/10.1128/microbiolspec.iol5-0013-2015 |journal=Microbiology Spectrum |volume=3 |issue=5 |doi=10.1128/microbiolspec.iol5-0013-2015 |pmid=26542039 |issn=2165-0497 |access-date=8 August 2023 |archive-date=10 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810225116/https://journals.asm.org/doi/epub/10.1128/microbiolspec.iol5-0013-2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> The likelihood that a person will become diseased depends on the age and [[Immunocompetence|immune status]] of the person. Humans who have cats living in their home or in close association are more likely to become infected. Others might also acquire infections from cat [[feces]] and [[parasite]]s exiting the cat's body.<ref name="Chomel2014">{{Cite journal |last=Chomel |first=B. |title=Emerging and Re-Emerging Zoonoses of Dogs and Cats |journal=Animals |volume=4 |issue=3 |year=2014 |pages=434–445 |issn=2076-2615 |doi=10.3390/ani4030434 |pmid=26480316 |pmc=4494318|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="StullBrophy2015">{{Cite journal |last1=Stull |first1=J. W. |last2=Brophy |first2=J. |last3=Weese |first3=J. S. |title=Reducing the risk of pet-associated zoonotic infections |journal=Canadian Medical Association Journal |volume=187 |issue=10 |year=2015 |pages=736–743 |issn=0820-3946 |doi=10.1503/cmaj.141020 |pmid=25897046|pmc=4500695}}</ref> Some of the infections of most concern include [[salmonella]], [[cat-scratch disease]], and [[toxoplasmosis]].<ref name="Ohio2016" />