The cat family, Felidae, is divided into two genera, Felis and Panthera. Roughly speaking, the Felis cats are the small ones; the Panthera cats are the biggies. But more technically, the Felis cats do not roar (though they can
purr), while the Panthera cats do roar (but can’t purr). Needless to say, your pet belongs to the Felis genus. Aside from the roar-purr divide, however, the members of Felidae are amazingly alike in shape and overall
behavior, and there’s no doubt that one of the great attractions of cats as pets is that they remind us so much of graceful and powerful lions,
tigers and
leopards.
