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 ...
I love these cat articles! =^..^=
Bump
cays = katz
My old boy, Bubba, has saved me quite a few times with his own internal alarm clock. Although, like you, I wish he understood about Saturday.....
One of our cats is a terror to rats, mice, rabbits, an occasional bird. She even bagged a possum. If times were rough, I'm sure she kill us in our sleep.
One morning she had four mice laid out on our porch, in a neat row. she was meowing loudly, as to say "Hey, look at this!"
I’m glad mine’s not the only one. Around 10:30 she starts screeching about it being her bed time and she’ll allow me to pet her if I go then.
Back in the day I had a kitten who would climb up my pants leg while I was fixing her food. I had her trained to wait until I finshed eating and I’d give her something. She loved KFC biscuits. I miss that cat.
He thinks so, but that's meaningless. Been married to the guy for 18 years ... we finally get a cat 16 years into the marriage, me thinking he'd be indifferent to a cat, but I want a cat because we've finally got a place where we can have one without paying exhorbitant security deposits, and to me a home with a fireplace needs a cat just because it's right. Especially if there are gophers in the yard and it's your yard.
Soon I discover that I'm married to a Cat Sap. He didn't know it, I didn't know it. I wouldn't be surprised if he's got pics of the cat in his wallet. She has him wrapped around her little claw, totally, and she's nothing fancy -- just an ordinary little generic gray-and-white kitty. It's pathetic. But we neither of us are quite so troubled by this disturbing development since we discovered that one of his friends, an ultra-manly, battle-worn fighter pilot, is as much a cat sap as my husband. Clearly cat-sappiness in men is not a reflection on their masculinity, but only on their tender vulnerability!
ROFLOL !! OMG that is hysterical! I know about six other people who would love to get that! Do you have a link to this file that you could share? I tried to Save Image As ... but it only gave me the non-animated white cat. Funny, funny, funny stuff! Good laugh for the morning!
LOL Yup! IF you're headed in ... if not, they run away from you with their tails held high and wagging their total annoyance with your stupidity! LOL Such attitude babies! Little Hitlers ... I can see why some of them carry the mustache.
I had a cat one time that would eat you alive, climb up your leg, rip open an artery ... for a cucumber.
LOL LOL We JUST bought that book and last night, my mom’s cat Sweetie (who’s not) was doing JUST that to it! LOL LOL
LOL, very nice story and entertainingly written, too.
Glad you liked it...of course it is purr-loined.
[Right click ...copy image location ...should get you this]:
http://images114.fotki.com/v962/photos/1/127099/5208350/beta166-vi.gif?1185508518
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