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It is now theorized, with strong support, that the green-eyed brown tabby is the original phenotype of the domestic cat. Striped camouflage would be the most useful pattern for an animal who hunts in the dark. Since 10,000 years ago, when evidence of domestication first became part of the archaeological record, cats have been hanging with their people.
And cats have been misunderstood. I see cats as having a Public Relations Problem. People continue to believe the most pervasive myth about cats; that their independence interferes with full pet enjoyment.
When the opposite is true.
In some ways, cats have undergone great changes. Lack of stripes, longer fur, and different head shapes are the most readily identifiable evidence of human input into the favored gene pools. Still, this was in response to environmental factors as much as human preference. The hotter climates favored the long limbs and close fitting fur of many Oriental breeds, while colder regions gave us stocky bodies and longer fur.
To me, the largest input humans must have had into our present cats is in their personalities, not their looks. The Russian Farm Fox experiment showed humans can take a promising species from wild to domesticated in as little as three generations. Consistently choosing cats who like humans has had much more time to gain traction, and the result is our cats of today; highly capable of deep, close, loving human bonds.
Since the cat was also prized for their hunting abilities throughout this process, this is the part of the cat which is virtually untouched. They stalk, hunt, and dispatch very much the same as a wild cat does. Their attitude towards their territory, their interest in all aspects of their daily routine, their abilities to impact their environment; all served them well as canny predators, and all must be acknowledged and supported to make the cat happy in our homes.
This mix of utter wildness and open hearts is how cats define their niche as human pets. If we loved Dr. Doolittle when we were children, if we always wanted a piece of the wild world to live with us, if we understand how our own wild nature roams in the human psyche; we connect with cats.
They are the best bridge to the natural world available to us in our civilized homes of today.
As solitary predators, cats developed their vaunted independence. But that is only one facet of the gem that is the pet cat. When we tilt this facet towards the light of compassion, we get a rainbow of intelligence and love that is completely dependent; dependent on the care and attention they receive.
Unlike other animals kept as pets, cats have no hierarchy. They have zero compulsion to obey, to accept submission, or to conform behavior based on group pressures that create easily pressed buttons.
Cats have no buttons.
That’s the wild in them, but more than that; it’s the cat in them.
This is what I love most about cats. What I get is completely determined by what I give.
When we give a lot, we get a lot.
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There’s more ways to understand our cat with The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See all of my posts on WHY CATS DO THAT.
