Cat History
The evolution of cats began millions of years ago. 50 million years ago carnivores called the Miacis, flesh-eating creatures, emerged resulting in today's carnivorous mammals. The early form of a cat dates back to 40 million years. This creature was known as a Dinictis and was about the size of a Lynx. Surprisingly it is only in the last few thousand years the cat has become domesticated
The first felines to live with humans came to Egyptaround 4000 BC. Egypt's first permanent human settlements, with their granaries and silos, offered the felines concentrations of rodents and edible waste as shelter and safety from larger predators. The jungle cat "Felis chaus" and the African wildcat "Felis silvestris lybica" lived in this region. The African wildcat was less fearful in nature so was not frightened to enter this new environment in search of rodent prey.
Due to these drastic environmental changes, the wildcat soon evolved into the domestic cat. The wildcat changed his character by becoming more placid so as to enable it to co-habit with humans and other animals. He also showed physical changes. One of these changes was his coat pattern as it was no longer required as camouflage. His more varied diet caused changes to his gastrointestinal system and over time the wildcat's intestines became longer. The wildcat's brain was also affected and became 30 per cent smaller as it was no longer so dependent on its senses for survival.
People began adopting motherless kittens and raising them as pets. Kittens raised by humans during the first seven weeks of life did not develop a fear of them on reaching adulthood; they remained willing companions. The death penalty was later imposed for killing cats inEgypt . Cats were deeply respected and soon the Egyptians even began turning them into symbols of deities. We have evidence of this from the many carved and painted images of cats found on ancient Egyptian tomb walls. Paintings in the tombs of several pharaohs depict cats as beloved pets of the royal family. A painting of the mother of the Pharaoh Akhnaton shows her at a dinner party, slipping scraps of food to a large furry tabby sitting under her chai
Grieving Egyptian cat lovers mummified and buried their dead pets with care. Bastet, the Egyptian goddess of love and fertility took the form of a cat. As word spread about these domesticated cats they were welcomed in many countries and even exported to various other parts of the world
Unfortunately cats' luck changed over the years as they were accused of many wrong doings including: representing evil, spreading the Black Death (bubonic plague) and other diseases (all of which were never true). In 1484, Pope Innocent VII decreed that all cat-worshippers inEuropebe burned as witches. He believed that witches worshipped Satan and that they took on the form of their animal helpers, the usual of which were cats. Their habit of prowling around at night further connected them to the devil and witchcraft. Any cat that was in the company of an old woman was assumed to be a witch's evil associate. In many countries, black cats are still considered to be unlucky, while in other countries, a sign of good luck
The lives of cats didn't appear to improve inEuropeuntil the 17th Century when they became mousers. By the 18th Century they had become popular household pets. Fortunately, today, cats have a much easier life. 25% of the British population now own cats as pets. Some cats are even better off than humans. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Hellcat and Brownie, two 15-year-old cats, were left nearly $415,000 in the early '60's from the estate of their owner, Dr William Grier ofSan Diego!
Cats really only became domesticated 5,000 years ago which is a very short period of time considering dogs have been human companions for more than 10,000 years. No wonder dogsare easier to train…or maybe it's just because cats are too smart to let us!