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.
Continue reading →It is not often that you can describe a wild cat, albeit a small one, as “quite friendly” as Mel and Fiona Sunquist did in their excellent book1. And yet a well-known British biologist, R.I. Pocock described captive Pallas’s cats … Continue reading →
The Egyptians kept their cats to themselves and under close guard. They made their export illegal. This restricted the spread of the newly domesticated wildcat to other parts of the world. In 500 BC cats were almost unheard of in … Continue reading →
