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The Story of Cat Domestication Just Got a Major Twist
Nautilus ^ | November 28, 2025 | Molly Glick

Posted on 11/28/2025 3:32:27 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin

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To: Diana in Wisconsin

I thought cats domesticated people.


21 posted on 11/28/2025 7:31:04 PM PST by fella ("As it was before Noah so shall it be again," )
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

So... which cat snitched?


22 posted on 11/28/2025 7:47:36 PM PST by Clutch Martin ("The dawn cracks hard like a bull whip and it ain't taking no lip from the night before" Tom Waits)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

We have a cat that walked into our house at age 6 Months and never left.

Couldnt get her out.

Shes now asleep on our Doberman.


23 posted on 11/28/2025 7:55:24 PM PST by TheThirdRuffian (Orange is the new brown)
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To: MtnClimber

A bobcat mama and I have an understanding for about 8 years now.

She brings her kittens to the barn.

I leave them alone.

The kittens follow me around and watch while I work in the barn.

They grow up and leave but periodically visit as adults, from a distance.

Not remotely domesticated but plenty friendly.

I supply water and shelter. No food.


24 posted on 11/28/2025 7:59:00 PM PST by TheThirdRuffian (Orange is the new brown)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

Feed ‘em and they’ll never leave you alone. I didn’t need a study to figure this out.


25 posted on 11/28/2025 8:06:31 PM PST by Bullish (My tagline ran off with another man, but it's okay... I wasn't married to it.)
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To: DoodleBob

Lol


26 posted on 11/28/2025 8:13:27 PM PST by Bullish (My tagline ran off with another man, but it's okay... I wasn't married to it.)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

“To a dog, you’re family. To a cat, you’re staff”. - Ken Davis


27 posted on 11/28/2025 8:31:20 PM PST by Some Fat Guy in L.A. (Still bitterly clinging to rational thought despite its unfashionability)
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To: CottonBall

“I’m sure pretty sure he’s just going to decide it’s his due and he’ll become just as ungrateful as the others.”

he can’t help it: that’s in his DNA ...


28 posted on 11/28/2025 9:12:49 PM PST by catnipman ((A Vote For The Lesser Of Two Evils Still Counts As A Vote For Evil))
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To: Some Fat Guy in L.A.

i think the article’s description of humans who cohabit with cats as cat “caretakers” is the perfect description of the relationship ...


29 posted on 11/28/2025 9:19:14 PM PST by catnipman ((A Vote For The Lesser Of Two Evils Still Counts As A Vote For Evil))
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To: Diana in Wisconsin; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; ...
...the exact origins of our feline friends have long remained fuzzy.
Sounds about right. 😹 Thanks Diana.

30 posted on 11/28/2025 10:04:08 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Kudos to the Admin Moderator, reason: "Randspam" [ 4354167 ])
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

Cats are “domesticated” one at a time. Without that they are instinctively feral. The first reason they are not feral is that being fed is easier than havin to feed yourself. When you are fed hunting becomes sport and not survival. Cats quickly adopt that mode.


31 posted on 11/28/2025 10:22:38 PM PST by Sequoyah101
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To: CottonBall

Cats domesticate us. They know a good deal when they see it. I take care of three cats that live at my shop. They came to me for food that I provided. They are useless with the exception I have not had one mouse in the shop in years. They like me, I think? They rub me with affection when I feed them. After they do not give a damn.


32 posted on 11/28/2025 10:44:37 PM PST by cpdiii (cane cutter, deckhand, oilfield roughneck, drilling fluid tech, geologist, pilot, pharmacist, MAGA)
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To: cpdiii

Forgot to add, like those worthless cats. I pet them in my lap and know the are using me.


33 posted on 11/28/2025 10:51:02 PM PST by cpdiii (cane cutter, deckhand, oilfield roughneck, drilling fluid tech, geologist, pilot, pharmacist, MAGA)
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To: MtnClimber

When I was a little kid, my dad took me to see his friend’s pet bobcat.

Hillbilly childhoods are different.

That wasn’t the most unusual pet I ever got to meet.

(and he wondered “where I got it from”)

EllieMay


34 posted on 11/28/2025 11:40:58 PM PST by Salamander ( Please visit my profile page to help me go home again. https://www.givesendgo.com/GCRRDa)
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To: SunkenCiv

35 posted on 11/29/2025 12:53:48 AM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: FLNittany

“Dogs eat their own feces and lick their asses all the time.”

And their balls. (Because they can, of course.)

And dogs eat cat feces, too. Right out of the litter box.


36 posted on 11/29/2025 1:15:32 AM PST by MayflowerMadam (It's hard not to celebrate the fall of bad people. - Bongino)
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To: Bullish

“Feed ‘em and they’ll never leave you alone.”

I think it was our animal control people who told us that if you feed them you own them. I don’t know if that’s an actual TN law, or just (sort of) common sense.


37 posted on 11/29/2025 1:27:36 AM PST by MayflowerMadam (It's hard not to celebrate the fall of bad people. - Bongino)
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To: BenLurkin

I did read somewhere — here on FR, I think — something about cats having some kind of alien DNA. I don’t recall if it was alien as in not native, or Twilight Zone alien-alien.


38 posted on 11/29/2025 1:31:17 AM PST by MayflowerMadam (It's hard not to celebrate the fall of bad people. - Bongino)
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