Gratuitous Cat Post #2

So why is the term "cat owner" a misnomer? Read on...

The Washington Post carried a fascinating article about the domestication of cats a few days ago, called "Why do cats hand around us? (Hint: They Can't Open Cans)." The story reports the conclusion of scientists about the history of cats' domestication.

Researchers argue that cats were domesticated in a much different way than other animals such as dogs, horses, cattle, and goats. All these other critters served important functions of either food or labor for our prehistoric ancestors. So we sought them out for domestication, and we selectively bred them to be more docile and more willing to submit to our control.

Not so with cats. Our furry feline friends don't fit the profile of other domestic animals. You can't slap a saddle on them and go for a ride (like horses). You can't get them to pull a heavy load (like cattle or oxen). They're not much good in the way of hunting or protection (like dogs). And the darned little critters are just too tough and stringy to eat.

So why did they ever get domesticated? The story reports that cats were originally drawn to grain stores that prehistoric people gathered once they became settled farmers. Grain draws rats and mice. And mice and rats draw, well, cats. People like for cats to eat the vermin that civilization tends to attract, so we kept them around. But the article argues that people didn't selectively breed them (at least, not originally). Cats wouldn't allow it. What cats did, though, was selectively breed themselves. More congenial cats could count on a bowl of milk or a night indoors, and those are helpful things for survival. But cats are, according to this story, still much closer to their wild cousins than other domestic species. That explains why the average housecat can fend for itself in the wild, whereas the average Cocker Spaniel just won't last that long.

Genetic research shows that domestic cats today are all descended from a single wildcat species that existed in the Ancient Near East. Unlike other species that were domesticated independently of one another, in different times and different geographical locales, cats were really only domesticated once. And when humans moved to new areas, they didn't re-domesticate new cat species. They just carried their cats with them.

So are you a "cat owner"? Of course not. There's no such thing!