It is useful to try and get inside the head of Ingrid Newkirk on the issue of domestic cats. Does she approve of them? The same question applies to dogs. Newkirk has one of the most persuasive voices in animal … continue reading…
Theis is a discussion on why there are many more dog breeds than cat breeds. It is about the differences in dog and cat domestication and trainability. I’m presenting the information in bullet form. The grey wolf was domesticated perhaps … continue reading…
Mars Petcare have created a useful and interesting index which pulls together information about homeless cats and dogs in 9 countries. They used more than 200 global and local sources. They researched attitudes towards cat and dog ownership. Germany comes … continue reading…
Introduction: this test requires that the cat’s owner has never used their hand as a toy for their cat. If that has happened, their cat will instinctively want to attack it. I am referring to a test to assess cat … continue reading…
The question is a sensible one because all of the world’s half a billion domestic and feral cats originate in a domesticated North African wildcat (Far Eastern wildcat or African-Asian wildcat). It happened about 10,000 years ago. Nowadays there are … continue reading…
Fiona Sunquist in her book Wild Cats of the World tells me that the first animal to be domesticated was the grey wolf now the domestic dog and that Felis sylvestris a.k.a. the wildcat was “almost the last species to … continue reading…
The video is described as a serval loving a Savannah cat. But in this video, we see a serval grooming what appears to me to be a cross between a Savannah cat and an American Curl. I am referring to … continue reading…
Putting aside selectively bred pedigree breeds, which are a tiny minority, most cats choose their own mates and go where they please unless they are neutered and confined to the home. However, although in the West domestic cats are spayed … continue reading…
Generally, domestic cats have better immune systems than domestic dogs. I emphasise ‘generally’ because you have to drill down to individual animals (are they purebred or random bred, for instance?). I am referring to purebred dogs and cats and their … continue reading…
It came to me in a flash about two minutes ago. Well, I’ve known about it for years and sometimes cogitated on it. The life of a domestic cat is often too easy. The reason why it is too easy … continue reading…
Domestic cats still hunt because it is in their DNA to do so. It is a characteristic which is a genetic inheritance. It is hard wired into their brains and personalities. And it has not been removed by humans controlling … continue reading…
For a long time, people believed that the first cat was domesticated in ancient Egypt about 3,500 years ago. There are lots of records of domestic cats of that time as we well know. This information is still disseminated on … continue reading…
I was told the vague but interesting story of a genuinely wild feral cat who was involved in a traffic accident. He suffered a bruised spine and broken legs. He was paralysed for a while but remarkably he recovered under … 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 … continue reading…
What does raised underfoot mean? It means to raise kittens in your home, literally under your feet, as a process of socialization to prepare them for their new home and owner.
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