‘Kilkenny Cats’ refers to soldiers who fight with tenacity and conviction. However, the phrase originates in cat cruelty. It is said that the cat’s aloofness is partly the reason why people were and continue to be cruel to cats. However, … please continue reading
By Gina Shahbander Cats would have saved Europe from the Plague. Europe in the 13th century did not understand the concept of an allergy caused by cat’s dander. They accused the cats of stealing people’s breath, they also did not … please continue reading
It’d be interesting if someone could try and untangle the interpretation of this 16th century religious painting by Barocci containing a domestic cat. It is called ‘The Madonna of the Cat’ (La Madonna del Gatto). Please click on the image … please continue reading
The winner of America’s first cat show was a “brown tabby” cat. That sounds strange today but in those days, cats were described by their coat and almost never by breed. There were almost no cat breeds in 1895. The … please continue reading
How can cats be so loving yet vicious? We are obviously referring to domestic cats. You can answer the question in a sentence. Domestic cats can be both loving (a lot) and vicious (rarely) because they are barely domesticated North … please continue reading
How did the domestic cat evolve? I am going to answer this without reference to anyone’s work. Anyone is free to add information in comments. The first domestic cat was a North African wild cat and domestication happened around 10,000 … please continue reading
We don’t know when ocelots were discovered because it happened at a time before science and record keeping was developed and the classification of the species had taken place. You’d have to go back perhaps hundreds of thousands of years … please continue reading
Trixie was her name; quite a modern name for cat who kept her owner company in the Tower of London from 1601-1603. Trixie belonged to the Third Earl of Southampton, Henry Wriothesley. Queen Elizabeth I imprisoned him we are told. … please continue reading
Domestic dogs vary in size much more that cats because they have been selectively breed for a much longer time. With a head start of thousands of years the relentless selective breeding of dogs has forced their sizes to new … please continue reading
Why was the cat domesticated? The advent of farming was the reason why the wild cat came to be domesticated. As Dr Morris says ‘there would have been no taming of the cat before the Agricultural Revolution’. This happened during … please continue reading
