By Analise Gottschalk and Ava Thorpe
When you look at the small, adorably furry thing sitting next to you, you may wonder what they might’ve been many years ago. Well you're in luck, cause this is what this article speaks about! First we’ll delve into the very beginning of cat domestication, learn a tad more about Egypt and how they treated cats, and then the present day (with a couple of cat facts at the end!)
Cat Domestication
Although varying sources say different things, it appears that the domestication of cats was somewhere between eight thousand and ten thousand years ago. Cats did live with humans before they were even domesticated, thousands of years before they were domesticated in fact. It has been found that the current species of cats (Felis cactus) originated from Felis silvestris, which was made of five different species, although one of the species, Felis silvestris lybica is most likely the direct ancestor of the domesticated cat today. An archeologist suggested that there are most likely three ways to domesticate an animal, the prey pathway (they killed the prey, but eventually captured the animals such as pigs, goats, and cows, eventually leading to domestication) , the directed pathway, where they used other efforts such as the prey pathway to domesticate horses, donkeys, and camels, which could increase walking speed and carrying heavy loads, and the commensal pathway (Animals being attracted to human settlements for scraps or smaller prey that lived there, also the most likely way cats were domesticated). Cats spent many thousands of years unnoticed by humans until eventually they realized how well they hunted the small pesky rodents, and began letting them into their homes.
Egypt
Ah yes, cats in Egypt, what so many people have learned about. Well, we’re going to dig deeper into the relationship between felines and humans in Egypt. Ancient Egyptians worshiped many different animals for their own separate reasons, like the dog, who were worshiped for their ability to protect and hunt for their owners, yet cats were on another level of worship. They were said to bring good luck to those who invited the animals into their home. Cats were not treated as gods, but as vessels that gods could inhabit. To honor cats, people spoiled them rotten. The wealthy families dressed them in jewelry and fed them divine treats fit for royalty. The cats were even mummified as they were so important. Cat owners shaved their own eyebrows in mourning, and continued to mourn until they grew back, sometimes entire cities would mourn for the deceased cats. It was against the law for anybody, either rich or poor, royalty or not, to harm a cat. If a cat was hurt/killed, accidently or not the guilty person would be sentenced to death.
Present Day
Some of the many cats today have changed much much more than their original species. The size, marking variety, and colors have changed quite a bit, but not as drastically as dogs. There appears to be currently over 600 million cats in the species currently, and the city that has the most population of cats is Istanbul, Turkey, although the most populated country with cats is the United States, with the cat count going over a whopping 117 million (including strays). Cats are great emotional support pets, and will ensure you will have some noise in your house (with special occasions.)
Cats are great companions and have a long line of history, and all those who have cats will know just how good these sassy independent little creatures are at making you happy.
Fun facts!
- Cats developed meowing for the sake of human interaction, so if you meow back at them (I know you have!) they probably won’t understand what you're trying to say.
- Cats can develop a syndrome called Cerebellar Hypoplasia, (more commonly known as wobbly cat syndrome) where it affects a cat's ability to balance.
- Cat’s (like dogs) can develop human separation anxiety.
- Cats do not taste sweet things.
- Cats normally can’t see one foot in front of them, they rely on sense to identify things so close to their face.