It is claimed that domestic cats are more like their wild counterparts than any other pet species. Although understanding domestic cats’ wild origins is very helpful in accounting for domestic cats’ behaviour, one must be careful not to interpret everything with reference to their wild counterparts.
Domestication over the last 3 or 4,000 years has indeed transformed the cat. Wild cats are solitary, crepuscular animals, which is admittedly not a characteristic of domestic cats which are much more social and, although sleeping for the most part of the day, have adjusted to people’s daily rhythms. We cannot overlook feline evolution through association with man, through adaptation to new environments, rural or urban and above all, through natural interbreeding as well as selective breeding. Domestic cats have been bred for specific purposes (rat catching in farms and ships), bred selectively in order to develop physical but also personality traits and have therefore moved away from their wild counterparts in more ways than one. This is why, although we may recognise some tendencies and genetic influences, the domestic cat’s behaviour cannot accurately be described. assessed or explained with the same criteria as wild cat behaviour. |
Cat-Skills cat care