Hepper is reader-supported. When you buy via links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you. Learn more.

How Were Cats Domesticated? What Research Shows

Nicole Cosgrove Profile Picture

By Nicole Cosgrove

domestic cat lies on the floor in morning sun rays

Researchers have been trying to figure out when and where the house cat was first domesticated for decades. They initially thought that this wouldn’t be a difficult riddle—and that they would find all the answers in some of the already existing archeological records—only to be left disappointed once they learned that the ancestral remains of the domesticated cat had the same features as those of their wildcat counterparts.

Some people have resigned themselves to the fact that we’ll never know for sure when the first cat was domesticated, or where. The only thing that seemed to make sense at that point, after years of research, is that cats have a single wildcat ancestry. How cats were domesticated, however, is a fairly straightforward story. It is thought that as human settlements grew, food attracted rodents, which inevitably caught the attention of the cats living in the wild, beginning our long and mutually beneficial relationship.

Keep on reading, if you’d like to learn more.

hepper cat paw divider

What’s the Ancestry of The Domesticated Cat?

Some scientists believe that the domestication process never took place in not one, but two strains. They’ve also reiterated that our house cats possess the same genotype as the Felis silvestris lybica—a wildcat species typically found in the southwest regions of Asia and Northern Africa.

After studying this species’ DNA, they gathered that the domestication of the Felis catus (modern cat) began during the Neolithic period, in the western parts of Asia. The ancient Egyptians only got wind of what was happening on the other side of the world during the classical period.

In other words, their research discounted the notion that the ancient Egyptians were the first people to domesticate cats.

Skeletal remains of a different cat species were again discovered in China by another group of researchers. And according to those remains, the Chinese also tried to domesticate their native cats during a certain period. The researchers couldn’t tell when exactly that was, but it was pretty clear that the domestication took place centuries ago, and the species in question was the Leopard Cat.

However, there was no evidence to prove that the present-day house cat had any relation to the Leopard Cat.

Leopard Cat
Image Credit by: Michael Siebert, Pixabay

What Led to The Domestication of Felis Catus?

For the most part, ancient people never had any reason to domesticate cats. And our purring feline friends didn’t care about introducing themselves to us, because they had everything they needed out there in the wild. But things quickly changed when agricultural communities began thriving in the Fertile Crescent.

The Fertile Crescent, sometimes referred to as the Cradle of Civilization, is a crescent-shaped region in Western Asia. It’s the region credited as the birthplace of various technological innovations that have helped improve our modern society. Including the utilization of irrigation in agriculture.

The natives relied on agriculture as a source of livelihood because the region had (and still has) a steady supply of water and fertile soil. Water was being drawn from the Mediterranean Sea, and/or from the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.

As the settlements grew, they had to scale up their production. And the produce attracted rodents that quickly became a nuisance. As nature would have it, the increased population of rats and mice inevitably caught the attention of the cats living in the wild. Instinctively, they knew they had found a sustainable source of food, and that was the beginning of our mutually beneficial relationship.

They were so effective at dealing with the issue that we gave them unrestricted access to the ships that transported grains and other products to other regions. Eventually, we got so attached to them that some people started befriending them even if they didn’t have an infestation to worry about.

With all that said, the earliest true record of the domestication of cats comes from a cat found deliberately buried with its owner in a grave in Cyprus, around 9,500 years ago. It’s naturally assumed that cat domestication must have begun some time before this as there were no native cats in Cyprus.

Why Did the Ancient Egyptians Love Cats So Much?

The ancient Egyptians never liked snakes at all. Anytime they would come across one, they would assume that they had met Apopis, the demon of chaos. Also called Rerek, Apepi, or Apep, Apophis always took the form of a serpent whenever he came to visit. But when they witnessed how cats would kill snakes even without hesitating, they immediately knew that they had found a new god who would keep them safe.

Bastet was the name of the goddess who came in the form of a cat. According to their scriptures, she represented fertility, love, and family. Cats were revered so much in Egyptian communities that the people decided to draft tough laws regarding their treatment. For example, there was a law that dictated that anyone who would be caught in an act that would endanger a feline’s life would be sentenced to death.

The pharaohs were not the only members of the community who were mummified once they passed on. They also mummified their cats, together with a few mice to keep them company while they were journeying to the next world. Those cat mummies have been instrumental in today’s research, as tests of their DNA has helped us figure out the history of our feline pals.

Were the Egyptians the only people who worshipped cats? No. The Vikings had Frey, who was a cat goddess representing beauty and love. The Asians worshipped a fertility goddess who occasionally visited her people in the form of a cat.

abyssinian cat outdoor
Image Credit by: Kyselova Inna, Shutterstock

What’s The Difference Between the Modern Cat and The Wildcat?

Physically, the modern cat has a relatively smaller stature and brain. Though it’s not certain, we think this has something to do with their different diet, the changed level of activity, and decreased need for a sharp survival instinct. We also noted that their coats are more colorful compared to that of the wildcat, but then again that could be because they don’t have to blend into any environment.

Their eye pupils also evolved, as they are no longer rounded. The pupils are more vertical in nature, probably to better complement their hunting style. Scientists believe vertical pupils are superior to the rounded types since they make it easier for a predator to effectively gauge varying distances.

hepper cat paw divider

Conclusion

We’ve always loved cats the way they are. That’s why we initially didn’t see the need to crossbreed them, the way we do dogs, to improve their physical abilities. The unique features that our house cats developed over time were a result of them breeding with wildcats without our knowledge.

That was a blessing in disguise because it made people realize that they could practice selective breeding if they wanted to have a breed that had a different temperament or look.

Cats were likely domesticated due to agriculture, where the inevitable vermin were attracted to stores of grains. Cats were attracted to the vermin, and in turn, we encouraged the cat’s presence to help us get rid of them.


Featured Image Credit: oleg_aryutkin, Shutterstock

Related Articles

Further Reading

Vet Articles

Latest Vet Answers

The latest veterinarians' answers to questions from our database