Many differentspecies ofmammal can be classified as cats (felids) in theUnited States. These includedomestic cat (both house cats andferal), of the speciesFelis catus; medium-sized wild cats from the genusLynx; andbig cats from the generaPuma andPanthera. Domestic cats vastly outnumber wild cats in the United States.
At least 67 species ofsabertoothed cats existed in North America between 42 million and 11 thousand years ago before goingextinct. Their disappearance can be attributed to both the changing climate at the end of theIce Age and the appearance ofhumans in the Americas.[1]
Some prehistoric animals referred to as "saber-toothed cats" were in factmarsupials and not cats at all, but called such because of their resemblance to truefelines with largecanine teeth.
Two main species ofbig cat once inhabited the United States. One is thejaguar (Panthera onca), which is related to many species of big cat found on other continents. Though there are single jaguars now living withinArizona,[2] the species has largely beenextirpated from theUnited States (in the states ofTexas,Colorado,New Mexico, andLouisiana) since the early 20th century; although it is found throughout most of South America, its territorial limit being lands further south than northernArgentina.
The other North American 'big cat' is thecougar (Puma concolor), which is also known as the puma, mountain lion, catamount, panther, and many other names. Despite weighing 70 kg. (150 lbs) on average and being called a 'mountain lion,' the cougar is not a member ofPanthera and is more closely related to the domesticated cat than it is tolions.
Cougars can be found throughout the continentalAmericas. Though they may have been more evenly distributed in the United States andCanada (as far north as the southernYukon border), their populations are currently highest in the western states and provinces respectively. However, western (and possibly southern) cougars are migrating and being encountered more frequently in ranges where theeastern cougar population was previously extirpated and declared extinct.[3][4][5] This includes the US mid-west and east coast, and central and eastern Canadian provinces. Populations of cougars inFlorida have always been continuous and well known.
Three mammal species in the United States are referred to as "wild cats": theocelot (Leopardus pardalis), theCanada lynx (Lynx canadensis), and thebobcat (Lynx rufus). However, none of these animals belong toFelis, the genus of thewildcat and thedomestic cat. The ocelot is found in low numbers only in Arizona and Texas (and was once found inArkansas and Louisiana as well), and is in the genusLeopardus, small spotted cats that inhabit the Americas; the Canada lynx (distributed in the Western United States, New England, Alaska, and Canada) and bobcat (ranging from southern Canada to central Mexico) are both in the genusLynx, which inhabit Eurasia and North America. Thejaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi), found in Central and South America, also once occurred near the lower Rio Grande Valley in the southern tip of Texas, along with themargay (Leopardus wiedii); both are considered possiblyextirpated from the United States.
Thedomestic cat (Felis catus) is a popular pet, with an estimated 93.5 million cats kept as pets and about one third of all households in the United States keeping at least one. Eighty-seven percent of owned cats are spayed or neutered[6]
TheCenters for Disease Control and Prevention does not require a certificate of health for cats brought into the United States, but cats are subject to inspection at ports of entry and may be denied entry. Cats must be quarantined regardless of place of origin when brought into Hawaii and Guam.[7]
Various organizations using the termSociety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and in United States all organizations using the name SPCA are independent; there is noumbrella organization. Some of the more notable organizations include:
TheNational Cat Groomers Institute of America is an organization devoted to training and certifying people in the grooming of cats. Headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina, it was founded in 2007 by Danelle German, the organization's current president.
Cats Indoors! is a public education campaign byAmerican Bird Conservancy and supported by theNational Audubon Society and other conservation organizations to encourage control ofcats in order to protectbirds frompredation by cats. The objective of the conservancy's campaign is that all domestic cats should be kept safely indoors.[8]
