This is an interesting article claiming that while man domesticated animals such as dogs, horses, goats and pigs, cats pretty much just domesticated themselves: Ancient DNA Shows Cats Domesticated Themselves – Why Are We Not Surprised?
‘Domestic’ house cats look pretty much exactly like wild cats…research reveals that wildcat ancestors share essentially the same genetics as house cats today…
It was the cat, itself, who came to prize the territory around the homes of the ancient farmer, or the wharf of the ancient mariner. They were drawn to a plentiful supply of prey in the form of rodents—which brought their species and ours to be inseparably linked.
Or as Glenn Reynolds succinctly noted: They basically just showed up and demanded to be fed.
More from the article:
The two lineages of cats—the European forest cat (felis silvestris silvestris) and Southwest Asia/North African wildcat (felis silvestris lybica)—are solitary hunters that lack any strong social hierarchy, which would make them poor candidates for domestication by humans.
Rather than merging social hierarchies and breeding selectively like humans did with wolves—cats simply existed in close proximity to humans, without ever fully entering societal processes.
So essentially they come for food, pretend to be domesticated to curry favor with the proprietor, perform the occasional useful task when and if they feel like it,
and demand you adapt to their habits rather than the other way around. Now what does that remind me of? Oh yes, the “migrating” mousers.
“They basically just showed up and demanded to be fed.” In return they promise to vote Democrat
The moral of this story is the real reason that dogs have masters but cats have staff:
If you didn’t make 'em you can't break 'em.
Much to their perpetual frustration.
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