Why You Shouldn't Trust Your Cat

TheAtlantic ^ | 13 Nov 2014 | GWYNN GUILFORD

[shove_it]

Unlike dogs, cats are at best semi-domesticated—and we love them for that.

Dog lovers will find it baffling that cats are the world’s most popular pet. After all, they’re passive-aggressive, emotionally unavailable, and known for their chilly independence—traits that at most qualify felines for the role of “man’s best frenemy.”

It turns out, though, there’s an evolutionary reason for this tense relationship. That is, cats are in many ways still wild.

“Cats, unlike dogs, are really only semi-domesticated,” says Wes Warren, professor of genetics Washington University and co-author of the first complete mapping (paywall) of the house cat genome—specifically, that of an Abyssinian named Cinnamon.

~snip~

They came for the mice, stayed for the food scraps, and whenever it suited, kept cuddly with the cats from the other side of the granary. In other words, not only are cats still mostly wild, but they also pretty much tamed themselves. Maybe that means humans are “cats’ best friend.”

[Pontiac]

Well if you make totem statutes of cats and burry them with your god/kings I would think that they were just animals running the streets

[Red Badger]

Gotta keep the vermin outta the tombs...................

[Pontiac]

Well the vermin gods anyway

[W.]

[Hugin]

That is, cats are in many ways still wild.

Well, duh! That's why we love them. A little wild predator that likes to climb on your lap and purr.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

As my wife says, “Happiness is being owned by a cat.”

[Red Badger]

They also buried ‘servants’ with their masters so they could continue to ‘serve’ them in the afterlife...................whether they were ready or not.................

[Hulka]

LOL. . .spot on!!

[Hugin]

The number one reason cats are better than dogs.

Or should I say the number two reason?

[boatbums]

Yep. Mine follow me from room to room and cuddle up to me. Even when they aren’t hungry!

I think dog owners don't understand how important it is to earn trust, love and devotion from kittehs - they automatically expect it in dogs because that's a dog's nature to be devoted in spite of how they are treated. Those of us who are long time cat lovers know that our relationships with them are cultivated and we KNOW that this approach works because we SEE the results every day. It is SO worth it!

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

[Slyfox]

This looks like my cat Radar. He pretty much acted like a dog.
He could fetch and come when I called him. I sure do miss him.

[YoungCurmudgeon]

My husband is a county coroner. He was told at a conference that a dog will usually wait until you’ve been dead a few days before eating you. Cats don’t always wait until you are dead to start.

[Himyar]

My Jack Russell digs holes and does her business like a cat. She learned it when she was a wee pup. Her Uncle Timothy Cat taught her. He was her daddy’s best friend.

[KarlInOhio]

Domestication is usually done by selectively breeding wild or semi-wild animals and deciding which ones to keep. Considering how cats act around a new boyfriend or girlfriend of their owner that they don't approve of, I'm pretty sure that cats are trying to domesticate us.

[Fast Moving Angel]

I’m sure there are unfriendly cats out there, but not around me.

Must be your salmon-scented cologne ;-)

[ExGeeEye]

I do believe it matters if the cat picks you as owner instead of you picking the cat.

That's true.

The last cats my family owned were sisters, littermates. My sister and I each picked and named one for "our own".

The kittens settled in and began to socialize with us, and we found that they gravitated to the opposite sibling...

Which is why it transpired that my sister's chosen kitten became "my" cat, and vice versa :)

RIP, Tiger and Stripey, 1972-1988; you are still missed.

[Nepeta]

Emotionally unavailable? I beg to differ. My current cat and his predecessors were/are the most loving creatures I’ve ever known. I had boyfriends who were far less caring.

It's all in the upbringing! My cats over the years were all raised with plenty of attention, playing, and affection, and they turned out to be MUSHES who follow me around the house. One used to sit in the front window and wait about an hour for me to return! They all liked to cuddle--even in summer!

Cats can be incredibly affectionate and sweet.

[boatbums]

LOL! We have FIVE Lazy Larrys! If I don't make a daily offering to them of five little piles of seeds and nuts (sometimes older bread or crackers) - one for each - they go after the "squirrel-proof" bird feeder just to irritate me and the birds. Recently, they broke a finch feeder we had hanging up by climbing unto the bottom tray that catches tossed off nyler seeds. I think I'll wait until Spring to replace it.

[Fightin Whitey]

are we talking about cats or women?

Same principle involved with cats and bitchy, beautiful women.

When they are bad they are the worst.

But when they are good they are....purrrrrrrfect.