Enter Their Wild Kingdom

The Discovery Channel’s “Ultimate Guide: House Cats” may not convert dog lovers into feline fanatics, but the one-hour documentary will offer them new insight into the mysterious, complex world of the country’s most popular pet.

“House Cats,” which premieres Monday, offers an inside look at the last wild animal to be domesticated, covering its evolution, anatomy, maturation, sensory abilities, socialization, communication, breeding and genetics.

“‘The Ultimate Guide’ gives people a working knowledge of the ordinary, and shows how special a cat can be,” says Gaynelle Evans, executive producer of the series for Discovery. “The beauty of the ‘Ultimate Guide’ is we put everything in its proper place.”

Evans, who is a cat lover, says one of the problems house cats have in the world is the fact people want to compare them with dogs. “There is no comparison,” she insists. “They are totally different in their types of personalities. That goes back to the fact that cats have retained a lot of their wildness.”

“House Cats” is the 16th edition of “Ultimate Guide.” The quarterly series has explored the world of bears, dogs, ants, and horses.

Executive producer Nigel Ashcroft says the objective is to make each documentary entertaining “for a very wide audience range, for 3-year-olds and up. A lot of the complicated science is, hopefully, made simple so everybody can get something from it.”

And so there are such tidbits as the fact that a cat’s front legs are connected to the rest of its body only by muscle; kittens that are not handled in their first few weeks, tend to be unsociable adults; and every cat purrs in a distinctive pitch.

The documentary utilizes special photography, computer graphics and special effects to illustrate the cat’s inner workings: their movement-sensitive binocular vision, fine-tuned whiskers, ears that swivel like radar dishes, amazing balance and a set of claws that are sharper than Ginsu knives.

Though cats became domesticated some 4,000 years ago, “House Cats” producer Karen Partridge points out felines have suffered throughout history.

“In medieval times they were persecuted terribly,” says Partridge, who has owned cats since she was 4 years old. They were considered evil, she says, because they are creatures of the night. “They hunt at night. Also, in times past, old women often had cats as companions because they didn’t have anyone else. There was a connection between them and witchcraft.”

Even one of the popes during medieval times, Partridge explains, decreed all cats were evil and should be killed: “They were put in baskets and burned.”

Partridge’s main theme in “House Cats” is the fact cats act as if they’re equal partners with their human companions. “Dogs regard us as pack leader, so they are always subservient,” says Partridge.

“Cats understand the concept of size. They understand we are much bigger than they are, but that doesn’t mean they regard us as superior.”

It wasn’t until the 1970s that it was discovered that cats were not solitary animals. An Oxford scientist, David McDonald, attached radio collars to farm cats and followed three animals for an entire year.

“He found this extraordinary behavior,” says Partridge. “When females have kittens they will hunt for each other and help each other give birth. Cats can be very sociable ... they form these quite close-knit little communities. Then it was realized they could form similar relationships with human beings.”

Despite the fact cats can be extremely affectionate, loving animals, they do retain their independent airs. “If you stop feeding a dog, it will hang around with you and starve,” says Partridge. “If you stop feeding a cat, it will say, ‘If you are not going to feed me, I’m going to find someone else.”’

Ultimately, having a cat can be beneficial to your health. Studies have shown that domesticated cats can reduce stress levels in people who have high-pressured jobs or lifestyles and they’ve also proven to be good therapy for people who have difficulties expressing their emotions.

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“The Ultimate Guide: House Cats” airs Monday at 9 p.m. on the Discovery Channel.