Interaction with humans

Tuesday, September 16, 2008


Human attitudes toward cats vary widely. Some people keep cats for casual companionship as pets. Others go to great lengths to pamper their cats, sometimes treating them as if they were children. Cats are also bred and shown as registered pedigree pets, in a hobby known as the cat fancy.

Because of their small size, domesticated house cats pose almost no danger to adult humans — the main hazard is the possibility of infection (e.g., cat scratch disease, or, rarely, rabies) from a cat bite or scratch. Cats can also potentially inflict severe scratches or puncture an eye, though this is quite rare (although dogs have been known to be blinded by cats in fights, where the cat specifically and accurately targeted the eyes of the larger animal).


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