Knowledge, Information and Experience
Cats known in ancient Egypt as “Mau”, were considered sacred in ancient Egyptian society. Based on recent DNA comparisons of living species, it has been estimated that cats were first domesticated from the Middle Eastern subspecies of the wildcat about 10,000 years ago.
Praised for controlling vermin and its ability to kill snakes such as cobras, the domesticated cat became a symbol of grace and poise.
Two main theories are given about how cats were domesticated. In one, people deliberately tamed cats in a process of artificial selection as they were useful predators of vermin.This has been criticized as implausible, because the reward for such an effort may have been too little; cats generally do not carry out commands and although they do eat rodents.
The alternative idea is that cats were simply tolerated by people and gradually diverged from their wild relatives through natural selection, as they adapted to hunting the vermin found around humans in towns and villages.
Cats have excellent night vision and can see at only one-sixth the light level required for human vision. Cats have an acute sense of smell, due in part to their well-developed olfactory bulb and a large surface of olfactory mucosa, which is about twice that of humans. Cats have relatively few taste buds compared to humans. They have no ability to taste sweetness.
Cats conserve energy by sleeping more than most animals, especially as they grow older. The daily duration of sleep varies, usually between 12 and 16 hours, with 13 and 14 being the average. Some cats can sleep as much as 20 hours.
Domestic cats, especially young kittens, are known for their love of play. Owing to the close similarity between play and hunting, cats prefer to play with objects that resemble prey, such as small furry toys or a red laser light that move rapidly, but rapidly lose interest.
According to a myth in many cultures, cats have multiple lives. Some say nine, some seven and some claim cat has six lives.
Many cultures have negative superstitions about cats. An example would be the belief that a black cat “crossing one’s path” leads to bad luck, or that cats are witches’ familiars used to augment a witch’s powers and skills.
The cat goddess, Bast was the deity representing protection, fertility, and motherhood.
