The cat or domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus) and colloquially called minino, michino, micho, mizo, miz, morrongo or morroño, is a subspecies of carnivorous mammal of the family Felidae. The cat is in close cohabitation with the human being for about 9500 years, a period higher than previously estimated, ranging between 3500 and 8000 years.

In the Romance languages, the most generalized current names derive from the vulgar Latin catus, a word that especially alluded to wild cats as opposed to domestic cats that, in Latin, were called felis.

There are dozens of breeds, some without hair or even without tails, as a result of genetic mutations and years of artificial selection, and they exist in a wide variety of colors. They are predators by nature, their potential prey being more than one hundred different species of animals. They are able to assimilate some concepts, and certain specimens have been trained to manipulate simple mechanisms.

They communicate mainly through meowing; also with moans, grunts and with different vocalizations, in addition to body language.