Nora is famous for her piano performances. She is a YouTube star, sells her own music and has inspired a composer to create a piano concerto. There is only one thing that is very special about her: Nora is a cat.
Like Nora, who is now more than 18 years old and still adored by many fans around the world, cats in general are loved by us humans. In many countries, cats are among the most popular pets – in 2021, more than 113 million cats were kept as pets in Europe only! But how and when did our furry friends find their way into our homes? Let’s find out how cats ended up as pets!
For a long time, scientists thought that cats became pets – or, in the words of scientists, were domesticated – in ancient Egypt, around 4000 years ago. Then they discovered something that completely changed their theory: A human grave in Cyprus – and a cat that had been laid to rest right next to it. The cat’s tomb was around 9500 years old! From this, the researchers came to the conclusion that cats were domesticated around 10,000 years ago.
Many people say that they like cats because they are so independent and have their own minds, quite unlike dogs. Dogs are the result of breeding, and many dog breeds need their humans to survive. Cats, on the other hand, do not need humans to survive, they could live on their own and hunt for their own food. Actually, there are only slight differences between the cat on our sofa and the wild cat. But unlike their wild relatives, domestic cats tolerate us humans and other cats.
So why have cats chosen to live with us?
As far as we know today, it was the Egyptian and Near Eastern African wildcat that discovered that where humans lived and stored their harvest, there were plenty of mice and similar animals. A perfect place to find a lot of food! The people were glad that the cats hunted the mice, which threatened their food and spread disease. They accepted and welcomed them, and over time the cats became more and more used to humans.
However, it was not until 3600 years ago in Egypt that cats became “real” pets. The Egyptians worshipped these elegant animals. They saw them as symbols of love and beauty, and even the goddess of love, Bastet, was pictured with a cat’s head. You may have heard of the Egyptian cat mummies found in many tombs – but the love for cats went even further. Cats were considered sacred and anyone who deliberately harmed a cat was punished with death. A cat was treated as an equal member of the family, and when it died, the family followed special grieving traditions. The love for their favourite animals was also used as a weapon against the Egyptians: Around 500 BC, the Persian Kambyses defeated the city of Pelusium by using cats as shields and driving them in front of his army. Of course, the Egyptian soldiers could not hurt the cats – and they had no choice but to surrender.
Probably the Phoenicians were the first to smuggle Egyptian domestic cats to Europe. Here, too, they were accepted, in some countries adored, in others seen only as useful mouse catchers. In the Middle Ages, the image of cats changed: they were thought to be evil, the companions of witches and the devil – and therefore hated, hunted and killed. Even today, some superstitious people still believe that black cats bring bad luck! Fortunately, the house cats survived this difficult time.
Cats are nowadays our furry friends and many people can’t imagine a time when we weren’t able to enjoy their company as pets. Although there are still some superstitions about cats, they have become the favourite pets in a lot of countries. What fascinates many is their ambivalence: You can still see the wild cat in them when you watch them hunting or when you find a dead animal in your living room – but they are also cute and clever friends who lie on our sofa, meowing and always ready for a cuddle!
References:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestication_of_the_cat – The Wikipedia Community, Wikipedia, 18/05/2023
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-house-cats-158390681/ – David Zax, Smithsonian Magazine, 30/06/2007
- https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/domesticated-cats-dna-genetics-pets-science – Casey Smith, National Geographic Society, 19/06/2017
- https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-taming-of-the-cat/ – Carlos A. Driscoll et. al., Scientific American, 01/06/2009
- https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/domestic-cat – National Geographic Society, accessed 24/05/2023
- https://www.britannica.com/animal/cat#ref59410 – Michael W. Fox, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 14/05/2023
- https://www.planet-wissen.de/natur/haustiere/katzen/index.html – Susanne Decker, Planet Wissen, 25/02/2020
- https://www.planet-wissen.de/natur/haustiere/katzen/pwiewissensfrage136.html – Susanne Decker, Planet Wissen, accessed 07/06/2023
- https://www.geo.de/geolino/natur-und-umwelt/15827-rtkl-video-nora-die-klimperkatze – GeoLino, accessed 07/06/2023
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/453880/pet-population-europe-by-animal/ – Emma Bedford, Statista, 27/09/2022