Why Do Cats Hang Around Us? (Hint: They Can't Open Cans)

[icymist]

Genetic Research Suggests Felines 'Domesticated Themselves'

By David Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 29, 2007; Page A03

Your hunch is correct. Your cat decided to live with you, not the other way around. The sad truth is, it may not be a final decision.

But don't take this feline diffidence personally. It runs in the family. And it goes back a long way -- about 12,000 years, actually.

Those are among the inescapable conclusions of a genetic study of the origins of the domestic cat, being published today in the journal Science.

The findings, drawn from an analysis of nearly 1,000 cats around the world, suggest that the ancestors of today's tabbies, Persians and Siamese wandered into Near Eastern settlements at the dawn of agriculture. They were looking for food, not friendship.

They found what they were seeking in the form of rodents feeding on stored grain. They stayed for 12 millennia, although not without wandering off now and again to consort with their wild cousins.

Read the full article

[Why Syzygy]

1. Uh-huh

...The consequence of one other feline behavior -- the average cat's uncertainty about whether it wants to be indoors or out -- was also written in the genes Driscoll studied. ...

I salute those who have true indoor cats. I've never seen one.

[icymist]

2. We got one.

He likes to go outside to lay in the sun, but when we go back in, he's mostly first at the door, wanting to go back inside.

[Why Syzygy]

3. My son's dad

always declaws. I hate that so. He has a pure housecat and I feel so sorry for him. He wants so badly to go out back with the dogs and us. :cry:

[icymist]

4. De-clawing is cruel.

Some of the people I know do that because they don't want the cat scratching up the furniture! All they really need to do is open the frigging door and let the animal outside.

[Maat]

5. My 4 cats are indoor cats.

In two and one half decades of having cats, I've had a fourteen year-old and a twenty-one year-old, both of whom thoroughly enjoyed their time indoors, and never sought to go outdoors.

My current four have exhibited NO desire to go outdoors, as they have a huge home, which they love to explore and which they regard as their territory.

They have no fleas, parasites, or injuries. They are always clean, and well-groomed. They lead a fairly carefree life. And, they are declawed. They have not exhibited any lack of abilities for it.

But, that's just MY experience.

I love them all, and they are very dear members of our family.