Cat History

Cats would be better pets if they weren’t great predators

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The domestic cat is a top predator. Should we live with them?

Many cat owners might say that their domestic cat companion is an excellent pet. I’m going to say something which is almost heretical and something which sounds anti-cat as if said by a cat hater. But I’m not; I am a cat lover and a realist. And with that character trait, I have to …

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In 1821, in the UK Parliament, there were howls of laughter about protecting cats

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Illustration showing interior of House of Commons

Times have moved on substantially from 1821 in Britain. I think this was a time when the consequences of an era called The Enlightenment were being felt. Animal welfare in Britain was being discussed in Parliament perhaps for the first time. The first proposal for a law to prevent abuse of animals was a …

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Living with companion animals has not worked out and it needs to be re-evaluated

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Cat and dog domestication has not worked out as planned

Some people think that it is time to give up our cats and dogs as it is unethical and their domestication not worked out well. It’s time to end it. This would apply to other animals as well. It’s a whopping suggestion. It’s probably entirely impractical seeing as there are probably up to 500 …

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The classic blotched tabby (infographic)

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Silver classic tabby Scottish Fold kitten with a WOW appearance

Scroll down for an infographic on the classic tabby cat coat which is also referred to as the blotched tabby. Of the three types of tabby coat: the mackerel, spotted and classic, as stated in the infographic, the classic is believed to have evolved the last in the Elizabethan era due to a genetic mutation. But domestic cat tabby coats have evolved from the original domesticated cats which were all stripped/spotted tabbies as they were domesticated wildcats. Back in the day there was only one type of tabby.

Agouti tabby (infographic)
Click the link above for an infographic on the agouti gene which is responsible for the tabby coat.
The classic blotched tabby

The discovery that disproved that the Ancient Egyptians were the first to domesticate the wild cat

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The discovery that disproved that the Ancient Egyptians were the first to domesticate the wild cat

Credits:

  • The picture is deemed to be in the public domain
  • The words at the base of the image are from The Taming of the Cat published on the PMC Pub Med Central website.
  • Citation: Driscoll CA, Clutton-Brock J, Kitchener AC, O’Brien SJ. The Taming of the cat. Genetic and archaeological findings hint that wildcats became housecats earlier–and in a different place–than previously thought. Sci Am. 2009 Jun;300(6):68-75. PMID: 19485091; PMCID: PMC5790555.
  • Link to study.

P.S. I have one comment. It is possible that the cat in the image was tame and not truly domesticated whereas the Ancient Egyptians domesticated the cat.

The reason why humans and their pets might never have existed

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Early humans might have been wiped out by catastrophic climate change as their population had dwindled to less than 1300 adults of reproductive age because of droughts according to research.

There is an interesting article in The Times today, Friday, September 1, 2023 which I would like to discuss briefly. The title is “Early humans were on brink of extinction”. Remarkably the research that Kaya Burgess reports on found that the population of Homo sapiens’ ancestors dwindled to less than 1300 adults about 900,000 …

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What is the difference between a pet cat and a wild cat?

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African wildcat versus tabby domestic cat

The question seems innocuous and the answer obvious but the explanation is not quite as simple as people might expect. The comparison will be to the pet cat’s wild cat ancestor. Here is my answer for what it is worth. Please add yours in a comment. The difference between a pet cat and a …

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