Name: Cat
Rating: 4.1 (70 reviews)
Author: Katharine M. Rogers

What’s in it for me? Learn how cats went from prehistoric felines, to harbingers of evil, to pouncing their way into our hearts and homes.

Do you share your home with a cat? If you do, you probably know that cats make wonderful roommates – they’re tender, playful and just a tad diva-like.

But mice would tell you a different story: they’d say that you’re feeding and pampering a cold-blooded killer with menacingly astute senses.

And then there’s the mysterious behavior. Sometimes, seemingly out of nowhere, your cat appears on a shelf, and rather than greeting you with its usual kitty kindness, it fixes you with a sphinx-like, unwavering stare.

These blinks will tell you all about these seemingly incongruous aspects of cats and our relationship to them. You’ll learn how cats evolved over millions of years, how they came to live with us as pets, why they make such incredible hunters, and why our superstitious ancestors feared and fought them.

You’ll also find out

about the link between a sexist zoology book and prostitutes;
why one wounded woman was accused of being a shapeshifter; and
just how far back your cat’s ancestry goes.

Cats have evolved over millions of years and domestication occurred only a few thousand years ago.

Maybe you have a cat curled up on your lap right now. The way it naps and happily purrs throughout the day can make your feline friend seem rather unassuming.

Yet today’s cuddly cats actually have a fascinating backstory involving 30 million years of evolution.

The first cat, known as Proailurus, weighed around 20 pounds and spent most of its time hanging out in trees. It had a long slender body that resembled today’s civet, and, compared to the modern cat, it had more teeth and a less complex brain.

Then, following 10 million years of evolution, Pseudaelurus emerged. While this species still had a longer body, it had teeth similar to modern-day cats.

From Pseudaelurus, two different relatives emerged: the sabre-toothed cats, which became extinct (along with their prey) around 10,000 years ago, and Felinae, the ancestors of our beloved cat.

Unfortunately, fossil records aren’t perfect and it remains unclear how these first felines evolved into the domesticated cat. But fossils that have been found reveal that its close relative, the wildcat, has been around for as long as two million years.

As for domestication, while the ancient Egyptians were close with their pet cats, widespread domestication as we know it today didn’t take place until the eighteenth century.

However, before humans took cats into their homes, we already had an ongoing, mutually beneficial relationship; they often lived close to our settlements and helped keep them free of rodents.

But then, around 2000 BC, the Egyptians began a new and close relationship with their cats, which they documented in paintings on tomb walls that date back to 1450 BC. These paintings capture domestic scenes of family members and their cats sitting nearby, being fed or sometimes even being held on a leash.

After the ancient Egyptians, it wouldn’t be until around the seventeenth-century in Europe that the status of the cat would start to shift from being a helpful mouse catcher to that of a cherished pet.

People throughout history believed that cats were mischievous and even related to witchcraft.

If you have a fear of cats, don’t feel too ashamed – people have a long track record of associating cats with some pretty shady behavior.

In previous centuries, cats were sometimes seen as magical beings, even bearing the label of sinister creatures that were tied to witchcraft.

The cat has been seen as a symbol of female sexuality and prostitution.

Tom Jones famously sang the song, “What’s New, Pussycat?”, and over the years, other feline-related words such as “kitten” have been used to describe attractive women. But where and why did all this start?

Believe it or not, cats have been associated with femininity since ancient Egypt, where the goddess Bastet had feline features and represented maternity and sexual allure.

Today, we consider cats to be individuals and celebrate their independence and intelligence.

Cats have indeed come a long way in just the past few centuries alone. And the good news for them is that, these days, they have come to be more like an adopted family member than a symbol of something sinister.

Today, many people regard cats as individuals. In the United States, there is even a movement to stop people using the term “pet owner,” which implies that cats are property, and start using the term “guardian.”

Kernaussagen in Cat

Worum geht es in Cat?

Cat (2006) offers a lovingly detailed look at the biological, historical and cultural history of our furry feline friends. Each blink looks at a different stage of development, chronicling how the relationship between humans and cats has evolved from horrific superstitious misunderstandings to domesticated bliss. Meow!

Über den Autor

Katharine M. Rogers is a professor emeritus of English literature at the City University of New York, and has written extensively on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century literature. As an author, Rogers has shown her interest in a wide range of subjects with books such as Meet the Invertebrates and Port – A Global History. Rogers is now retired and currently lives in Maryland, where she indulges in her passion for national history.