Cat news, features and articles
From why cats meow and purr to how they get their stripes and squeeze through small spaces, Live Science tells you everything you need to know about our feline friends — wild and domestic, past and present. Live Science's expert writers and editors cover the best stories in cat science, whether they're the biggest cats in the world, like lions and tigers, or the domestic cats sharing our homes, so you'll always find cat news, features and articles to read.
Discover more about cats
Explore Cats
Latest about Cats
Mountain lions in Los Angeles are becoming nocturnal to avoid humans
By Patrick Pester published
The mountain lions of Greater Los Angeles are becoming more active at night to cope with humans hiking, cycling and jogging in their habitat.
Cats are better at word association than human babies are, study finds
By Victoria Atkinson published
Cats are quicker than babies to associate a picture of a word with its corresponding picture, new research shows.
New DNA findings shed light on Tsavo's infamous man-eating lions
By Elise Poore published
Scientists extract DNA from hair embedded in the Tsavo lions' jaws that reveals the species of prey they ate while they were alive.
Why do cats 'chatter'?
By Victoria Atkinson published
Some cats chatter, oftentimes when they see prey. But why?
How do cats squeeze through small spaces?
By Charles Q. Choi last updated
Cats can squeeze through impossibly small holes, but how does their anatomy enable them to do this?
Over 40% of pet cats play fetch — but scientists aren't quite sure why
By Skyler Ware published
About 40% of cats play fetch with their owners, but it's not clear why.
Why do cats hate closed doors?
By Margaret Osborne published
Meowing, sticking their paw under the door or pawing at the door are just some of the strange things cats do around closed doors. But why?
'It's pretty incredible, the guy's got three legs': Watch lion looking for sex make record-breaking swim across treacherous river filled with crocs and hippos
By Hannah Osborne published
Ugandan lion brothers Jacob and Tibu were filmed swimming a mile across the Kazinga Channel in Uganda — the longest swim ever recorded for the species —after getting their "butts kicked" by rival males.
Bornean clouded leopard family filmed in wild for 1st time ever
By Elise Poore published
Camera traps in Indonesian Borneo recorded a clouded leopard mother with her two cubs in the first footage of its kind.
Bear vs tiger: Watch 2 of nature's heavyweights face off in the wild in India
By Sascha Pare published
Visitors at a tiger reserve in India recently filmed an encounter between a tigress and a bear, with the bear charging after the tigress but deciding at the last minute it was not worth the fight.
Sign up for the Live Science daily newsletter now
Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.