How We Domesticated Cats (Twice)

[Uncle Joe]

[Warpy]

1. I think three things contributed

We were messy eaters. They cleaned up after us and caught any rodents that happened by by for a snack.

Cats seem drawn to humans sleeping on their sides, so likely a few hunter/gatherer people woke up during the night buried in cats seeking warmth and comfort, like snuggling with their moms when they were kittens.

The third thing is the age old "He followed me home, can I keep him?" Kittens are notoriously easy to tame down, and while cats are more attached to territory than they are to people, most likely the semi sedentary life of the Mesolithic saw cats moving in permanently, usually as kittens who'd been kicked out by Mom.

Whatever it was, I'm grateful. Cats and dogs are two species who actually like us, a rarity even among our own kind.

[wnylib]

2. Nah, I think that, for all this guy's efforts

to explain the relationship between cats and humans, he's got it backwards.

It is cats who domesticated humans. Cats demonstrated what they could do for us and our ancestors were humbly honored to have been chosen by such regal beings to receive their assistance. From that time on, we became dependent on cats, not vice versa.