{"id":2191782,"date":"2026-07-18T06:00:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T05:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/?p=2191782"},"modified":"2026-07-15T09:14:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T07:14:46","slug":"whats-the-worlds-smallest-cat-meet-the-tiny-felines-barely-larger-than-a-ruler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/test-platform5\/whats-the-worlds-smallest-cat-meet-the-tiny-felines-barely-larger-than-a-ruler\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s the world&#8217;s smallest cat? Meet the tiny felines barely larger than a ruler"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Vying for first place in the smallest cat in the world category are the rusty-spotted cat (<em>Prionailurus rubiginosus<\/em>) and black-footed cat (<em>Felis nigripes<\/em>), which are very close in size, measuring 35-48cm and 35-52cm in length respectively.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-the-smallest-cats-in-the-world\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The smallest cats in the world<\/h2>\n<p>Each cat is the smallest species on its continent \u2013 the rusty-spotted cat is found in Asia (India, Sri Lanka and a small part of Nepal) is the smallest cat in Asia, whilst the black-footed cat (also known as the small-spotted cat) is found in southern African (including South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe) is the smallest cat in Africa. The black-footed cat is one of the\u00a0rarest cats in the world.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"World's smallest cat &#x1f408;- BBC\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/W86cTIoMv2U\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Both species are thought to be nocturnal, feeding mainly on rodents and small birds \u2013 though black-footed cats are known to prey on Cape hares which are heavier than the cat.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-the-best-cat-hunter\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The best cat hunter<\/h2>\n<p>Black-footed cats hit their targets 60 per cent of the time, making them the most successful feline hunters and the second-most\u00a0successful of the mammals\u00a0(following\u00a0African wild dogs\u00a0in first place with 85 per cent).<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-landscape_thumbnail\">\n<p><figure id=\"attachment_68402\" class=\"thumbnail wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"width: 2127px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==\" fifu-lazy=\"1\" fifu-data-sizes=\"auto\" fifu-data-srcset=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2022\/10\/Black-footed-cat.-GettyImages-200209590-001-1fdcbfc.jpg?webp=1&amp;w=1200&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=75&amp;resize=75&amp;ssl=1 75w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2022\/10\/Black-footed-cat.-GettyImages-200209590-001-1fdcbfc.jpg?webp=1&amp;w=1200&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=100&amp;resize=100&amp;ssl=1 100w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2022\/10\/Black-footed-cat.-GettyImages-200209590-001-1fdcbfc.jpg?webp=1&amp;w=1200&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=150&amp;resize=150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2022\/10\/Black-footed-cat.-GettyImages-200209590-001-1fdcbfc.jpg?webp=1&amp;w=1200&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=240&amp;resize=240&amp;ssl=1 240w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2022\/10\/Black-footed-cat.-GettyImages-200209590-001-1fdcbfc.jpg?webp=1&amp;w=1200&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=320&amp;resize=320&amp;ssl=1 320w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2022\/10\/Black-footed-cat.-GettyImages-200209590-001-1fdcbfc.jpg?webp=1&amp;w=1200&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=500&amp;resize=500&amp;ssl=1 500w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2022\/10\/Black-footed-cat.-GettyImages-200209590-001-1fdcbfc.jpg?webp=1&amp;w=1200&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=640&amp;resize=640&amp;ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2022\/10\/Black-footed-cat.-GettyImages-200209590-001-1fdcbfc.jpg?webp=1&amp;w=1200&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=800&amp;resize=800&amp;ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2022\/10\/Black-footed-cat.-GettyImages-200209590-001-1fdcbfc.jpg?webp=1&amp;w=1200&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=1024&amp;resize=1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2022\/10\/Black-footed-cat.-GettyImages-200209590-001-1fdcbfc.jpg?webp=1&amp;w=1200&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=1280&amp;resize=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2022\/10\/Black-footed-cat.-GettyImages-200209590-001-1fdcbfc.jpg?webp=1&amp;w=1200&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=1600&amp;resize=1600&amp;ssl=1 1600w\" class=\"wp-image-68402\" fifu-data-src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2022\/10\/Black-footed-cat.-GettyImages-200209590-001-1fdcbfc.jpg?webp=1&amp;w=1200&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"Black-footed cat walking under a log at night in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Gallo Images\/Dave Hamman\/Getty\" width=\"2117\" height=\"1415\" title=\"\"><figcaption class=\"caption wp-caption-text\">Black-footed cat walking under a log at night in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Gallo Images\/Dave Hamman\/Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n<p>Ongoing studies of black-footed cats have revealed that the species feeds on 40 different vertebrates. It catches and eats up to 14 individual small animals each night, and is able to catch birds in flight \u2013 jumping up to 1.4 metres in height to do so.<\/p>\n<p>Though they are named to be black-footed, it\u2019s actually only the soles of their feet that are black or dark brown.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"844818405\" title=\"Deadliest cat on Earth - Big Cats: Preview - BBC\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/s6d9rqhivQY?feature=oembed&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.discoverwildlife.com\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-129157385_7=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-18=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-25=\"true\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Whilst the black-footed cat is usually solitary (with the exception of females with kittens), little is known about the behaviour of the rusty-spotted cat.<\/p>\n<p>Black-footed cat is\u00a0listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, and the rusty-spotted cat is\u00a0listed as Near Threatened.<\/p>\n<p><em>This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/mammals\/worlds-smallest-cat\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">article <\/a>by Megan Shersby was first published by Discover Wildlife on 6 July 2026. Lead Image: Rusty-spotted cat on a tree branch (in captivity). \u00a9 Colin Langford\/500px\/Getty.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>What You Can Do<\/h2>\n<p>If you believe in our good work, please support us in any way you can. Your generosity allows us to work to protect wildlife and habitats. Thank you!<\/p>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" defer=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/donorbox.org\/install-popup-button.js\" id=\"donorbox-popup-button-installer\"> <\/script><a id=\"preview_inline_popup_button\" class=\"dbox-donation-button\" style=\"background: #0dc5dc; color: #ffffff; text-decoration: none; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; display: flex; gap: 8px; width: fit-content; font-size: 16px; border-radius: 5px; line-height: 24px; padding: 8px 24px;\" href=\"https:\/\/donorbox.org\/focusing-on-wildlife-needs-your-support?default_interval=m&amp;amount=25\" data-reminder-widget-enabled=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">DONATE NOW<\/a><script type=\"module\" src=\"https:\/\/donorbox.org\/widgets.js\" async><\/script><\/p>\n<hr style=\"border-top: 1px solid white;\" \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vying for first place in the smallest cat in the world category are the rusty-spotted cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus) and black-footed cat (Felis nigripes), which are very close in size, measuring 35-48cm and 35-52cm in length respectively. The smallest cats in the world Each cat is the smallest species on its continent \u2013 the rusty-spotted cat [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":441,"featured_media":2192089,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2022\/10\/Rusty-spotted-cat.-GettyImages-1181938866-18f7238.jpg?w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3680,5],"tags":[2940,4050,527,4076,4077,4054,4068,588,4049,4078],"class_list":["post-2191782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-wildlife","tag-african-wild-dog","tag-big-cats","tag-birds-in-flight","tag-black-footed-cat","tag-felines","tag-hares","tag-hunters","tag-mammals","tag-rodents","tag-rusty-spotted-cat"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/test-platform5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2191782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/test-platform5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/test-platform5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/test-platform5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/441"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/test-platform5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2191782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/test-platform5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2191782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/test-platform5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2192089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/test-platform5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2191782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/test-platform5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2191782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/test-platform5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2191782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}