The Long History of Cats and Humans

For a long time, books said cats were first domesticated about 3,500 to 4,500 years ago in ancient Egypt. Egyptian art clearly shows cats under human control. The story was that large grain stores attracted wild cats, who ate the rodents, and the Egyptians appreciated them.

But newer evidence pushes the date back much further. In 1983, archaeologist Alain le Brun found a cat jawbone in Cyprus. It was dated to 6000 BC. The important detail: Cyprus has no native wildcats. That cat must have been brought to the island by humans. And no one would bring a spitting, scratching wildcat on a boat. It must have been at least partly tame. So cats were domesticated at least 8,000 years ago, probably on the nearby mainland.

We shouldn’t be too surprised. By that time, humans had already switched from hunting to farming. They had domesticated goats and sheep. They were storing grain, which attracted mice and rats. They needed cats. Older cat bones have been found in places like Jericho, but those could be from wildcats that were hunted and eaten. The Cyprus jawbone is stronger evidence. And the cat was the same species that the Egyptians later domesticated.

So cats are not our newest animal companions. They’re one of our oldest. And who knows? Future discoveries might push the date back to 10,000 years ago, to the very beginning of the Neolithic.

What did domestication change in cats? Not much. Modern cats are still very close to their wild ancestors. They look and act like African wildcats. The changes are mostly cosmetic: coat colors, fur length. Under the surface, even the most pampered purebred is still a rodent-killing machine.

A few important changes did happen. Domestic cats can breed up to three times a year, while wildcats breed once a year in spring. That’s why urban cat populations explode. Domestic cats are also slightly smaller than wildcats. And they’re more juvenile. They stay playful and dependent longer. That makes them easier to live with. It also makes them more likely to treat humans as parents and the house as a den.

But cats can go feral fast. A house cat that loses human protection can raise kittens that are completely wild. A farm kitten that never meets humans may grow up hissing and spitting. With enough patience, it can be tamed, but it takes time. Cats have a dual survival strategy: they can be tame house cats or wild killers, depending on the environment. That’s why they’ve been so successful for thousands of years.

Tabby cats have a strange history. The tabby pattern is the most common coat in domestic cats. It goes back to the African wildcat, which had a faint, diluted tabby pattern. When Romans brought Egyptian cats to Europe, they met native European wildcats. The mixing created the bold tabby pattern we know today. The first tabbies were striped, like tiger stripes. Later, blotched tabbies appeared in England during Elizabeth I’s reign. They spread around the world on ships. For reasons we don’t fully understand, blotched tabbies outcompeted striped tabbies. Today, striped tabbies are rare, and blotched tabbies are everywhere.

The Manx cat has no tail. Legend says it was the last animal on Noah’s ark, and Noah accidentally slammed the door on its tail. The truth is less charming. The tailless gene also distorts the spine, sometimes causing spina bifida. Manx cats have short front legs, long back legs, and a hopping gait. Breeding two tailless Manx cats can produce severely deformed kittens that die before birth. So breeders usually pair a tailless cat with a tailed cat. The result is a mix of rumpies, stumpies, and longies.

Why are so many cat breeds from the East? Europe was where cat shows began, but most old breeds come from the East. Persia, Turkey, Thailand, Burma, Egypt, Ethiopia, Russia, Singapore—these regions gave us the Persian, Angora, Siamese, Birman, Burmese, Turkish Van, Japanese Bobtail, Egyptian Mau, Abyssinian, Russian Blue, Singapore, and Korat. Europe gave us the British Shorthair, Chartreux, Norwegian Forest Cat, and Manx. The reason is religion. For centuries, the Christian church persecuted cats in Europe. Cats were seen as evil. At best, they were useful pest killers. Only in the Victorian era did cats become fashionable again. The first big cat show was held in 1871 at the Crystal Palace in London. It was organized by Harrison Weir. There were 170 cats and 25 breeds. Weir’s own 14-year-old tabby, “Old Lady,” won a prize. Two of the three judges were Weir and his brother. That’s how cat shows started.