Section VII — Lexicon
CAT VOCABULARY
Queen, tom, kitten, clowder, colony, feral, moggy. A small dictionary of the words we use to talk about cats.
- Queen Cats
- An unspayed female cat, especially one used for breeding.
- Tom Cats
- An unneutered male cat, especially one used for breeding.
- Kitten Cats
- A young cat. Generally considered a kitten until about 1 year old.
- Molly Cats
- A spayed female cat.
- Gib Cats
- A neutered male cat.
- Clowder Groups
- A group of cats. (Yes, this is the actual word.)
- Colony Groups
- A group of (usually feral) cats living together in a territory, often with shared feeding.
- Kindle Groups
- A group of kittens — same word as the e-reader, no coincidence.
- Feral Status
- A cat born and raised in the wild with little or no human contact. Feral adults are usually not adoptable as house cats.
- Stray Status
- A cat that was once socialized to humans but is now living outdoors — typically still approachable.
- Domestic shorthair Type
- The common short-haired mixed-breed cat — not a breed, but a category. The most common cat in the world.
- Domestic longhair Type
- A long-haired mixed-breed cat. Also not a breed, but a coat-length category.
- Pedigree Type
- A cat whose lineage is documented and meets a breed standard.
- Moggy Type
- British slang for a mixed-breed (non-pedigree) cat. Affectionate.
- Bunting Behavior
- When a cat rubs their head against you — leaving scent marks from facial glands. A compliment.
- Kneading Behavior
- Rhythmic paw-pressing on soft surfaces. A leftover kitten nursing behavior — means contentment.
- Trilling Behavior
- A chirpy "brrrt" sound between a meow and a purr — usually a friendly greeting.
- FRAP Behavior
- Frenetic Random Activity Period — the technical term for the zoomies.
- Dilute Coat
- A coat color gene that "softens" black to blue (gray) and red to cream.
- Colorpoint Coat
- A coat pattern where the extremities (face, ears, paws, tail) are darker than the body. Siamese are the classic example.