On Cats

We have a cat at home. When we call her she does not come. Only when she wants, she puts herself on our legs. When she sees that we are at the table to eat, she already places herself on the third chair as a guest. It seems that cats were the first animals to become domestic, thousands of years ago. It is believed that they approached man to catch mice. The genetics of the cats that archaeologists found in the Middle East, in Europe and in Africa showed us that the first cat came out of Turkey more than 10,000 years ago. In Cyprus (Kıbrıs) they found a tomb from 9,500 years ago where the man and his cat are buried one beside the other. What is interesting is that cats knew very well how to travel from one place to another on the ships where they were taken to catch mice. Thus they found the DNA of Egyptian cats in the land of the Vikings, in the north of Germany. In China, in a tomb from 5,300 years ago, cat bones were seen buried beside humans, showing us that cats formed part of the human family.

A very curious friendship we find in the culture of the era of the Pharaohs, in ancient Egypt, where some cats were mummified and others were slaughtered as offerings in the temples. Again they say that the cats of Egypt came out of Turkey to go there. In Egypt they also found an old cemetery of more than 2,000 years, organized only for cats, where they buried cats with collars of iron or of precious stones. According to the famous historian Herodotus, the Egyptians shaved their eyebrows in respect for mourning the death of the family cat, as a sign of grief. In 2018 there was an exhibition at the Smithsonian Museum of Asian Art in Washington, D.C. on the importance of cats in Ancient Egypt. There they showed that cats can be on one side protectors, on the other side independent and wicked. The interest they had in cats makes us think that mice and snakes were the only reason for keeping cats.

Comparing cats and dogs, we see that dogs have many roles, whereas cats serve two things: catching creatures like mice and being an animal of company. When we go away from home for a few days and leave the key with an acquaintance to look after her, this person never manages to see our cat, because she hides until she feels alone. Cats detest those who are not of the house. Many times she spends hours hidden in a cupboard or under a piece of furniture. It seems that cats can sense the emotions of their masters and that they have very strong vision that allows them to see 6 times better than a human in the dark. Science has shown us that cats help lower the heart rate, the blood pressure and the negative moods of their owners.

If you want to have a cat at home, pay attention to the kitchen, because the cat is a good thief. She is not afraid to taste everything, and for this she puts herself at the table believing she is part of the family. Source: Live Science