 Cats have a high breeding rate . Under controlled breeding , they can be bred and shown as registered pedigree pets , a hobby known as cat fancy . Failure to control the breeding of pet cats by neutering and the abandonment of former household pets has resulted in large numbers of feral cats worldwide , requiring population control . This has contributed , along with habitat destruction and other factors , to the extinction of many bird species . Cats have been known to extirpate a bird species within specific regions and may have contributed to the extinction of isolated island populations . Cats are thought to be primarily , though not solely , responsible for the extinction of 33 species of birds , and the presence of feral and free ranging cats makes some locations unsuitable for attempted species reintroduction in otherwise suitable locations . 
