Posted on 12/08/2014 12:07:41 PM PST by shove_it
Unlike dogs, cats are at best semi-domesticated—and we love them for that.
Dog lovers will find it baffling that cats are the world’s most popular pet. After all, they’re passive-aggressive, emotionally unavailable, and known for their chilly independence—traits that at most qualify felines for the role of “man’s best frenemy.”
It turns out, though, there’s an evolutionary reason for this tense relationship. That is, cats are in many ways still wild.
“Cats, unlike dogs, are really only semi-domesticated,” says Wes Warren, professor of genetics Washington University and co-author of the first complete mapping (paywall) of the house cat genome—specifically, that of an Abyssinian named Cinnamon.
~snip~
They came for the mice, stayed for the food scraps, and whenever it suited, kept cuddly with the cats from the other side of the granary. In other words, not only are cats still mostly wild, but they also pretty much tamed themselves. Maybe that means humans are “cats’ best friend.”
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
This must be the reason one mourns when he has to put down his dog...and when he puts down his cat he wonders why he waited so long.
If cats were the size of dogs, we would be food.
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And if dogs were the size of elephants, I’d be
um... “uncomfortable” ;0)
Dogs come when they are called; cats take a message and get back to you.
Not before sniffing your crotch then licking his privates. You really want a dog doing CPR on you after that sequence of events?.....LOL!
My cat trained me to forget about all that crap, she doesn't do anything........
I'm so freaking sick and tired of hearing how emotionally distant and aloof cats are. I've never had a cat that didn't love me just as much as any dog.
LOL! I have never trained a cat either. But my sister’s cat was amazing — just like a dog. In fact, I have never been able to train a dog to speak. The rest of the tricks I have been successful training with dogs.
The think was, my sister’s cat was CRAZY about Pounce. She would do ANYTHING for a Pounce. My cat hated Pounce.
You have a very lucky cat!
Yes...he was in rough shape when I found him...loaded with fleas and ill with a resperatory infection....so was in the vets office the next day with him.
My landlord said the cat thinks he won the lottery coming here! I do spoil him a lot because he had it rough for so long.
Then he brought home a kitten one day...pictured just before this post....remarkably surprised he would do so as he was very territorial here and chased off any who even thought of coming on the deck.
So I kept the little kitty too...
I had a Tuxedo like that too until my apartment complex found out and I had to get rid of Boots........
She too would fetch spongy balls over and over and over again..........
Fortunately a good friend and his wife took her in and had her for 17 years until she finally died in Marilyn's lap while on the way to the vet............I loved that cat and cried when I found out of her passing..........
Charlie is a rescue But I believe he was raised with dogs. That’s great, you never have to use those plastic bags.
Ahem, based on you pic, the dog sounds an awful lot like an Øbama supporter.
Sorry.
Still I love my cainine and feline critters. Well, except when the canine sticks his cold wet nose in my face at 3am to ask out cause he spent too much time on coon watch before bed to bother with bodily functions. But then again, he is rather volcal about strangers passing by his house without permission. So I cut him some slack on the 3 am stuff.
As for the feline, I must say the the yard and garden is free, or at least sparse of moles, voles, mice and chipmunks. Just wish my little hunter didn’t feel the need to leave the remnants at the back door.
LOL! I have a cat in that exact same position as I type.
I thought it was generally accepted that cats self domesticated?
People that think cats are unloving and distant have never had a head bonk.
It’s pretty clear that God gave cats and dogs the ability to feel and show love.
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