People are confused as to where domestic cats came from. Researchers also disagree about the place and time when cats were domesticated. Some of them also say that cats have domesticated themselves. Check out the various theories on this.
The first domesticated cats
About 40 centuries ago, the Egyptians were believed to have domesticated cats. This belief is geographically based as it is based on DNA evidence; Today’s domestic cats have the same ancestors as the African wild cats. When a nine-and-a-half-thousand-year-old Neolithic tomb was excavated in Cyprus in 2004, the remains of a cat next to a human suggested that humans cared for cats as early as 4,000 years ago.
On the other hand, some studies show that cat domestication may have started as early as 12,000 years ago during the boom in agricultural industry in the Fertile Crescent (crescent-shaped fertile land surrounding Egypt and Syria) in the Middle East.
More farming is said to bring in more vermin, which will produce more cats. This is a reasonable theory considering that even today’s feral cats continue to band together to live in places with ample food supplies, whether it’s a restaurant with plenty of litter or a farm where they might hunt vermin .
Greeks and Phoenician traders are believed to have brought domestic cats to Europe around 3000 years ago. The Romans valued cats greatly when it came to controlling vermin, so Roman legions took them with them whenever they traveled to Gaul (modern-day France) and Britain.
Cats were brought to Britain
When the Romans left Britain some 1600 years ago, most of their cats stayed behind. When the Vikings invaded Britain around 1000 years ago, they took with them a number of domestic cats that the Romans had left behind when they returned to Norway.
witchcraft
Something unfortunate happened to cats in Britain about 700 years ago. During this Middle Ages, news spread that cats were suddenly suspected of being involved in witchcraft. Therefore, a cat massacre took place in Europe and hundreds of thousands of cats were slaughtered. Most people hypothesized that this cat slaughter led to an increase in the rat population in Europe, which in turn caused the increase in the spread of bubonic plague from 1346 to 1353.
Cats were introduced to the New World
In the 16th century, cats not only regained their popularity, but also took another big leap. During the 17th and 18th centuries, New World explorers and traders left Britain and Spain to introduce domestic cats to the United States.
The current cat
Cats have become very popular and there are currently around 8.5 million domestic cats in the UK. They are considered the most popular pet in the world.
Many households have a dog, but many cat owners show their love by having multiple cat households. There are currently more than 100 breeds of domestic cats and people are constantly developing new breeds.
