It is no surprise to me and perhaps others that both domestic dogs and cats have smaller brains than their wild cousins from whom they have descended: the grey wolf for dogs and the Eurasian wildcat for cats. The reason is obvious: domestication, which has removed the challenges for survival and the lesser need …
Introduction: This article conerns a new study on cat predation. The first point to make is that the study I’m referring to concerns “free-ranging cats (Felis catus)”. That’s important because across the world there are many small wild cat species which prey upon many types of animal. This study and this article is about …
Nathan Winograd, a man who I admire and who describes himself as “The voice of America’s displaced pets and the conscience of the animal sheltering industry” literally hates PETA for the fact that they euthanize too many companion animals. Winograd and PETA have entirely different attitudes towards euthanasia. Winograd hammers PETA In a recent …
Scientists have looked into whether wild cats are smarter than domestic cat. Their study is entitled: “Are domesticated animals dumber than their wild relatives? A comprehensive review on the domestication effects on animal cognitive performance.” I discuss the study below and start off with a general discussion on the difficulties in making a comparison. …
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 …
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 …
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.
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.
Full-time indoor cats are a growing trend. Domestic cats are thankfully flexible about the amount of space they feel that they need. In contrast the captive wild cats in zoos tend to pace due to boredom and the fact that the amount of space available is a tiny fraction of what they inherently desire. …
Note: Some older videos on this page were hosted on Vimeo. That account has now been retired, so a few video blocks may appear blank. Thanks for understanding — there’s still plenty of cat content to enjoy!
