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A Brief History of House Cats
Smithsonian ^ | july 26h, 2007 | DancesWithCats

Posted on 07/26/2007 6:36:16 PM PDT by 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.

(Excerpt) Read more at smithsonianmagazine.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Miscellaneous; Pets/Animals; Science
KEYWORDS: cats; housecats; pets
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EIGHT thousand years ago! Boy we've been buds a long time. Or maybe even, TWELVE thousand years !

And there are estimated to be 90 million of the little darlings trotting around in our homes in just the U.S. In England I know they are very popular as well and a study was done in the last couple of years counting how many vermin were killed off by housecats and the end result was astounding. Guess we'd all be swimming in mice and rats and lizards if it weren't for Fluffy. I don't let mine go out and roam though. Too dangerous. In England they seem to not worry, though a friend of mine had lost her cat to a fox! Not a pretty way to go.

1 posted on 07/26/2007 6:36:18 PM PDT by DancesWithCats
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To: DancesWithCats

The relationship between cats and man goes back tens of thousands of years.. Man gathers food, food gathers vermin, vermin at food is a cat’s easy catch. It’s not “rocket surgery” here. Same with dogs - man feeds dog, dog protects his “easy” food source. Dog stays warm at fire.


2 posted on 07/26/2007 6:45:19 PM PDT by xcamel ("It's Talk Thompson Time!" >> irc://irc.freenode.net/fredthompson)
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To: xcamel

BUMP!


3 posted on 07/26/2007 6:48:10 PM PDT by Publius6961 (MSM: Israelis are killed by rockets; Lebanese are killed by Israelis.)
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To: DancesWithCats
BTW: Up here in the Northeast we have a population explosion of fishers - and it seems domestic house cat is their most favorite food. :-(

Think badger with a really bad attitude.

4 posted on 07/26/2007 6:53:37 PM PDT by xcamel ("It's Talk Thompson Time!" >> irc://irc.freenode.net/fredthompson)
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To: DancesWithCats
Guess we'd all be swimming in mice and rats and lizards if it weren't for Fluffy.

My sister once had a pet named Fluffy only it was a tarantula.
5 posted on 07/26/2007 6:57:22 PM PDT by Man50D (Fair Tax, you earn it, you keep it!)
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To: xcamel

I had one of those start to climb a tree I was in while deer-hunting once, never saw me at all. I said “Buddy, you’re either outta here or your’re dead!” and he took off like he had jato bottles attached.


6 posted on 07/26/2007 7:01:50 PM PDT by rickdylan
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To: xcamel

My cat maintains cats were never domesticated but at some point decided humans were useful, to an extent, and so domesticated us. The one thing they really, really wanted from us was plastic.


7 posted on 07/26/2007 7:31:42 PM PDT by Duke Nukum (...till pity is become a trade, and generosity a science that makes men rich...)
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To: DancesWithCats; Slings and Arrows; Lady Jag; PetroniDE
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
8 posted on 07/26/2007 7:42:17 PM PDT by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: Duke Nukum

Having watched our cat (adopted after she was several years old — we didn’t have her as a kitten) methodically and adeptly apply behavioral techniques to train my husband in her optimum care and feeding, I think your cat is on to something.


9 posted on 07/26/2007 7:45:23 PM PDT by Finny (Only Saps Buy Global Warming)
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To: DancesWithCats

Rush referred to this a while back when he said “cats have staff. Dogs have masters.”


10 posted on 07/26/2007 7:48:39 PM PDT by GOP_Raider (Your one stop shop for all your useless information needs.)
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To: Duke Nukum

I’ve never adopted any cat; they’ve all made the choice to adopt me.


11 posted on 07/26/2007 7:49:38 PM PDT by Caramelgal (Rely on the spirit and meaning of the teachings, not on the words or superficial interpretations)
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To: Caramelgal
I’ve never adopted any cat; they’ve all made the choice to adopt me.

Well, I managed to do it. Three years ago. After I stuffed him in a crate.

He's still getting even.

12 posted on 07/26/2007 7:55:27 PM PDT by Publius6961 (MSM: Israelis are killed by rockets; Lebanese are killed by Israelis.)
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To: Finny

Does your husband know what happened?


13 posted on 07/26/2007 8:15:03 PM PDT by donna (...gay couples raising kids. That's the American way... -Mitt Romney)
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To: xcamel
It’s not “rocket surgery” here. Same with dogs - man feeds dog, dog protects his “easy” food source. Dog stays warm at fire.

As my lil Irish gramma would say ... 'cupboard love. Nothin' but cupboard love.'

14 posted on 07/26/2007 8:39:01 PM PDT by DancesWithCats
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To: xcamel
BTW: Up here in the Northeast we have a population explosion of fishers - and it seems domestic house cat is their most favorite food. :-(

I think I'd keep ma' kitty INDOORS at all times up there in the Fisher King territory! (I do anyway ... here in the southwest we have the very lethal and unconscionable street traffic to worry about! and some loose dogs that run the neighborhood. Kitties just don't fare well running loose as well with all that, fishers or no fishers!)

15 posted on 07/26/2007 8:49:17 PM PDT by DancesWithCats
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To: Man50D
My sister once had a pet named Fluffy only it was a tarantula.

your sister any relation to Hagrid?

16 posted on 07/26/2007 8:51:11 PM PDT by DancesWithCats
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To: Duke Nukum
The one thing they really, really wanted from us was plastic.

My cat has a plastic monkey on her back. It's pathetic.

17 posted on 07/26/2007 8:52:53 PM PDT by DancesWithCats
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To: Finny
Having watched our cat (adopted after she was several years old — we didn’t have her as a kitten) methodically and adeptly apply behavioral techniques to train my husband in her optimum care and feeding, I think your cat is on to something.

I know our cats have US trained! And if we're late with the meal, or getting up in the morning to GET the meal, we hear about it! Or going to bed at night. We have a very pushy, bossy-boots bunch.

18 posted on 07/26/2007 8:57:14 PM PDT by DancesWithCats
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To: DancesWithCats; Slings and Arrows; Glenn; republicangel; Bahbah; Beaker; BADROTOFINGER; etabeta; ...

19 posted on 07/26/2007 10:13:13 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows ("You can't strengthen a zero, it will always equal zero." --Avigdor Lieberman)
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To: DancesWithCats

I’m always amazed at how well they can tell time. Even when we switch to/from daylight savings time it only takes them a couple days to readjust. I don’t mind the weekday 4am wakeup call (I get up for work at 4:30am anyway), I just wish I could teach them the concept of SATURDAY!


20 posted on 07/27/2007 3:46:54 AM PDT by meowmeow (In Loving Memory of Our Dear Viking Kitty (1987-2006))
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