A Brief History of House Cats

Smithsonian ^ | july 26h, 2007 | DancesWithCats

[DancesWithCats]

On any of the surprising number of Web sites dedicated entirely to wisdom about cats, one will find quotations like these: "As every cat owner knows, nobody owns a cat" (attributed to Ellen Perry Berkeley); "The phrase 'domestic cat' is an oxymoron" (attributed to George F. Will); and "A dog is a man's best friend. A cat is a cat's best friend" (attributed to Robet J. Vogel). Of course, there is such a thing as the domestic cat, and cats and humans have enjoyed a mostly symbiotic relationship for thousands of years. But the quips do illuminate a very real ambivalence in the long relationship between cats and humans, as this history of the house cat shows.

The Mystery of the Ancient House Cat

It has taken a while for scientists to piece together the riddle of just when and where cats first became domesticated. One would think that the archaeological record might answer the question easily, but wild cats and domesticated cats have remarkably similar skeletons, complicating the matter. Some clues first came from the island of Cyprus in 1983, when archaeologists found a cat's jawbone dating back 8,000 years. Since it seemed highly unlikely that humans would have brought wild cats over to the island (a "spitting, scratching, panic-stricken wild feline would have been the last kind of boat companion they would have wanted," writes Desmond Morris in Catworld: A Feline Encyclopedia), the finding suggested that domestication occurred before 8,000 years ago.

[JohnCliftn]

This article is Balderdash.
People did not domesticate cats.
Cats domesticated people.

[stylecouncilor]

ping

[R. Scott]

My Killer Katt would disagree with any who dared call her "domesticated". Her father being a feral bobcat might have something to do with it.

[lowbridge]

[DancesWithCats]

This article is Balderdash. People did not domesticate cats. Cats domesticated people.

Domesticated,

Masticated,

Folded, spindled, mutilated.

Agitated, Aggravated, and ... relegated to the subservient role of obedient drone.

I, cat owner, thus live my life.

[JohnCliftn]

Cats are great in many ways already recorded and these ways too:

1. taught people agriculture
2. Spent centuries saying "MRI", "MRI" so we'd invent these life-saving devices
3. sit serenely on top computer monitors where it is nice and warm
4. teleport when they hear the can opener

[Lady Jag]

Cats are not domesticated.

They choose to live with us and then become lazy. They may get along with humans, but they can still survive in the wild and that’s the key. Domesticated animals can't survive without human management.

Cats are the only mammal on earth that have survived and increased in numbers throughout known history, which to correlates with their apparent conscious lifestyle choices.

[Jack Deth]

Hi, Lady Jag:


House Cats Haiku
(In LolCat!)




Gawntlett beez throawnd daown
Cheezburgr an fryz awaytz
Deth by non, nom nom

Hewmin’z bakk iz turnd
Himz woant noatiss if Kittehz
attakk az a teem

Himz maykeeng misstayk
Wantz a Koke 2 go wiff snakk
Kittehz purrfurr Milk

T3h Sillee Beeg Gye
finks Cheezburge iz 4 himz
Kuddn’t beez moar rong!


Jack

[NicknamedBob]

Okay, that one made me want to roar!

[DancesWithCats]

... agriculture?

[Kitty Mittens]

Lol, that's a Cute Poem, Jack! Thank you for the Ping!

[Pyro7480]

[Darksheare]

But I like rocket surgery, it’s messy and loud.

[Biggirl]

My cats aways adopted me!

[Lady Jag]

[sweetliberty]

[jaycee]

What a cute writing....the cats look mighty humble!

[Lady Jag]

[tuliptree76]

LOL!

Thanks for the cute haiku, Jack!

[Alamo-Girl]

LOLOL! Thank you!