In honor of cats, here is my Cats and Humans article from my blog, reposted in full.

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Cats have not been with us quite as long as dogs have, but it is a near thing on a historical scale. Cats were first domesticated sometime around 9500 years ago from wildcats in Africa, likely because of their ability to catch rodents. Rodents are often found around people because of all the free food, and this would have attracted small wild cats to this scampering buffet. Humans would tolerate and perhaps encourage the cats in performing this service, and the cats in turn would grow used to humans. Once we got around to letting them in our homes and touching their soft fur, the rest is history.

Domestic cats, it must be said, are not particularly intelligent. They can be trained, but typically only if the activity is similar to something they would do naturally. They do not have nearly the same memory or cognitive function as for example the dog or the pig. Cats can be friendly and affectionate, and can easily form important social bonds with humans, but much of their behaviour is more natural than learned. They are creatures of instinct and habit.

This can be seen in the degree to which domestic cats retain the natural hunting skills of their wild ancestors. Kittens will play at pouncing and catching prey, and most adult cats enjoy hunting prey even though their dietary needs are completely looked after by their owners. Domestic cats scent-mark their territory in the same manner as wild cats, and most of their behaviour, from cleaning to body language, has natural origins. However, domestic cats have developed some few behaviours specifically because of their association with humans.

Primary among this is the meow. All cats can meow, but in the wild you will mostly only see this as a way for young to communicate a need to their mother. Domestic cats have adapted this to their human caregivers, and even in adulthood will meow to tell their owner that they want something.

Another interesting and related behaviour only found in domestic cats is a special purr-meow that domestic cats have developed just for us. Not all cats do it, and for the most part it will only be seen in situations where there is but one cat and one owner in a home, but it is unique and fascinating. The cat will combine a purr of a specific frequency with a small crying meow sound when it wants food. This sound is specifically designed to catch a human’s attention, and mimics the way that human babies call for attention — it is in fact entirely possible that cats discovered this technique by watching humans and their babies interact.

The sound is impossible to ignore, and studies have shown that it makes humans want to feed the cat. So while dogs have been adapting to understand humans better, cats have been adapting to make us feed them better. We cannot really pretend to be surprised.

And indeed, despite their aloof nature, their lack of interest in learning new skills, and their ability to manipulate us, or perhaps because of all this, we love them dearly. The domestic cat is the most numerous pet in the world, with more than 500 million estimated pet cats globally. Even in the United States, there are more pet cats than pet dogs. In addition, there are likely more than 100 million feral cats in the world, which are domestic cats that have returned to a semi-wild state without owners.

This is despite the fact that cat ownership offers fewer health benefits than dog ownership. Owning a cat tends to reduce your blood pressure, which is a good and healthy thing, but cats can also accidentally transmit parasites to pregnant women, cause allergies with their dander and saliva, and are more likely than dogs to accidentally hurt us with their claws or teeth. They damage carpets and curtains while cleaning their claws, make endless noise when they want something, and go out and get in fights with other cats over territory.

But we absolutely love them. They are furry and delightful to pet, and they can be incredibly affectionate, claiming ownership of their favourite humans by rubbing against them or claw-kneading their laps to spread scent from glands in their cheeks and paws. The companionship of a cat dispels negative feelings and has been shown to provide the same level of psychological social benefit as a human partner. They may be the most self-absorbed pets in the world, in some ways little more than small and friendly versions of wild cats the world over, but there is something about them we simply cannot get enough of, and they will be with us for many thousands of years to come.