Basically, there are three types of cat.
We're excluding the big chaps, of course; the lions, tigers, leopards, etc.
We'll have a look at them in a later article.
But our ordinary old domestic house cat, Felis catus, is the first.
Then there's the Feral cat.
It was once domesticated, but was either returned to the wild or returned itself.
A distinction should be made here between him, or her, and the stray cat, who's owners either abandoned it, or they moved and somehow it became lost in the hubbub of moving.
The third type is the true wild cat, or Felis silvestris.
There's very little difference between this cat and the domestic cat, except for the markings, which are far more uniform.
The wildcat ranges from pale yellow to medium brown, with black stripes or spots.
They live all over the world.
Across Europe, Scandanavia, and even Northern Scotland.
There aren't any in Ireland nor England.
As to when the first cat was domesticated, the argument's just as fierce as the one about humans walking upright.
I've heard figures of between seventy thousand and a hundred thousand years, all the way down to ten thousand years ago.
The latter bears more credence, I think, if only because of the agricultural revolution which took place around that time.
As the various crops were stored in barns, they enticed the mice and rats, and the cats followed hungrily on the heels of the former.
Indeed, a recent excavation in Cyprus uncovered a man's skeleton with that of a domestic-sized cat alongside him.
DNA analysis has traced the domestic cat's maternal ancestors back to what's known as the Fertile Crescent, which used to comprise Egypt, Israel and Mesopotamia.
Today, it's Iraq, Syria and Cyprus.
But of course no-one ever really 'owns' a cat.
A cat will stick with you provided it isn't mistreated, that it finds warmth and comfort with you and you feed it.
It does have a certain loyalty, but not like that of a dog's.
Cats are the most popular of all household pets, and the reason isn't far to seek.
Provided you leave enough food down, you can go away for a few days without any thought of how the cat will survive.
It's almost certainly been trained to a litter box and in any case, cats are really quite fastidious.
Dogs, on the other hand, can be tied to a long leash outside, but this isn't very nice if it starts raining.
Presumably, you would have some sort of a dog house into which the animal could retreat, but in the final analysis, cats are certainly more self-sufficient than dogs.
This picture pops up in my mind sometimes about training a Great Dane to use a litter box.
Just think of how enormous that would have to be, and it would take you half the morning to clear it up!
We're excluding the big chaps, of course; the lions, tigers, leopards, etc.
We'll have a look at them in a later article.
But our ordinary old domestic house cat, Felis catus, is the first.
Then there's the Feral cat.
It was once domesticated, but was either returned to the wild or returned itself.
A distinction should be made here between him, or her, and the stray cat, who's owners either abandoned it, or they moved and somehow it became lost in the hubbub of moving.
The third type is the true wild cat, or Felis silvestris.
There's very little difference between this cat and the domestic cat, except for the markings, which are far more uniform.
The wildcat ranges from pale yellow to medium brown, with black stripes or spots.
They live all over the world.
Across Europe, Scandanavia, and even Northern Scotland.
There aren't any in Ireland nor England.
As to when the first cat was domesticated, the argument's just as fierce as the one about humans walking upright.
I've heard figures of between seventy thousand and a hundred thousand years, all the way down to ten thousand years ago.
The latter bears more credence, I think, if only because of the agricultural revolution which took place around that time.
As the various crops were stored in barns, they enticed the mice and rats, and the cats followed hungrily on the heels of the former.
Indeed, a recent excavation in Cyprus uncovered a man's skeleton with that of a domestic-sized cat alongside him.
DNA analysis has traced the domestic cat's maternal ancestors back to what's known as the Fertile Crescent, which used to comprise Egypt, Israel and Mesopotamia.
Today, it's Iraq, Syria and Cyprus.
But of course no-one ever really 'owns' a cat.
A cat will stick with you provided it isn't mistreated, that it finds warmth and comfort with you and you feed it.
It does have a certain loyalty, but not like that of a dog's.
Cats are the most popular of all household pets, and the reason isn't far to seek.
Provided you leave enough food down, you can go away for a few days without any thought of how the cat will survive.
It's almost certainly been trained to a litter box and in any case, cats are really quite fastidious.
Dogs, on the other hand, can be tied to a long leash outside, but this isn't very nice if it starts raining.
Presumably, you would have some sort of a dog house into which the animal could retreat, but in the final analysis, cats are certainly more self-sufficient than dogs.
This picture pops up in my mind sometimes about training a Great Dane to use a litter box.
Just think of how enormous that would have to be, and it would take you half the morning to clear it up!