Snowy's cats, kittens and other animals thread

[Tania]

Re: Kitty & Tania's Animal Thread

Cat history

Cat prehistory: ARCHAEOLOGY
​

from Source1
Source2

Cat history and the evolution of the cat dates back about 200 million years to when their earliest ancestors evolved from reptiles.

Prehistoric remains of catsare few and far between but the dental pattern of modern day cats is similar to that found in fossilised creodonts - primitive fish-eating mammals which lived about 50 million years ago.


However, this genetic line failed to survive and there are no direct descendants today. At the same time, another group of animals called the miacids (which lived 40 - 50 million years ago) also had cat-like cutting teeth. These were small weasel-like forest-dwelling creatures. Not just cat history, but the history of all land dwelling carnivores can be traced back to these animals.

Even though everyone has heard about the "Sabre-toothed Tiger" or Smilodon - which had canine teeth 8 inches (20cm) or longer - this animal is not in fact related to the big cats found on Earthtoday. The last sabre toothed "cats" died out as recently as 30,000 years ago (based on fossil records in Britain) and possibly only 13,000 years ago (fossil records in California).
The sabre-toothed tiger:

The skeleton of the sabre-toothed:

Fossils from 12 million years ago are similar to modern small cats. By 3 million years ago there were a wide variety of cats which populated the whole world except the Arctic, Antarctic, Australia and the inhospitable tundra regions. However, Australia does have some indigenous cat-like species e.g. the "marsupial cat".

The marsupial 'Tiger Cat' which is now on extinction list :

Northern quoll, a cat-sized marsupial - here he has another name :-[ :

 

[Pk_#2]

aWWWWWWWwwwwwwWWWWWWwwwww

cUTE!! YeShh

looks like sum1 jus' *coughed* him..

 

[IbnAbdulHakim]

i cant stop laughing every time i look at the himalayan persian breed!!!!!! looooool !!!! i like it!!!!

 

[Al-Hanbali]

Re: Kitty & Tania's Animal Thread

:salamext:

Cats breed

Part XXXII Breed profile:Himalayan-Persian ​

​

^ That one looks evil!

 

[Tania]

Re: Kitty & Tania's Animal Thread

Cat history

Cat History in The Ancient World
​

from Source1
Source2


Before there was any companionable association between cats and humans, killer cats hunted our ancestors about 2.5 million years ago. But, thankfully, after a couple of millennia, things changed with our mutual association apparently beginning about 10,000 years ago.


Cat skeletons have been found in very early human settlements but archaeologists have assumed that they were wild cats. In all likelihood, the first time cats began associating with humans was toward the end of the Stone Age. It took many centuries, however, for the cat to become established as a domestic animal.

About 5,000 years ago (3,000 B.C.) cats were accepted members of the households of Ancient Egypt. Many of the breeds we now know have evolved from these ancient cats.

The Egyptians used the cat to hunt fish and birds as well as to destroy the rats and mice that infested the grain stocks along the Nile. They called their cats "Mau" and adorned them with jewels and gold earrings.

The cat Goddess Bastet:

The cat was considered so valuable that laws protected it, and eventually a cult of cat worship developed that lasted for more than 2,000 years. The cat goddess Bastet - whose name was also spelled Bast, Pasht, and many other ways - became one of the most sacred of all figures of worship. She was represented by the head of a cat. Soon all cats became sacred to the Egyptians, and all were well cared for.

Bubastis - The cat cemetery:

If someone killed a cat, the punishment was usually death. When a pet cat died, its Egyptian master shaved off his eyebrows as a sign of mourning. After a cat's death, its body was mummified and buried along with mummified mice and saucers of milk in special cemeteries. One cemetery found in the 1800s contained the preserved bodies of more than 300,000 cats.

Egyptian cat mummies:

Skulls found in Egyptian cat burial grounds mainly come from the species Felis libyca which at that time was a wild cat that inhabited Asia and North Africa. This desert-living cat is now thought to have been the main ancestor of the domestic catswe have today. Migration and interbreeding with native cats resulted (in Europe) in the emergence of a thicker set domestic cat - similar to the European Wild Cat (Felis silvestris).

Felis Libyca its a much smaller cat than the european cat:

 

[Tania]

Re: Kitty & Tania's Animal Thread

Cat history

Cat History in The Ancient World - cat domestication
​

from
dr. Jon Petplace
Source1
Source2


During the cats reign in ancient Egypt, grateful the people made numerous inscription at their death, like this one:
Inscription on the royal tombs in Thebes read:

"Thou art the Great Cat, the avenger of the gods, and the judge of words, and the president of the sovereign chiefs and the governor of the holy Circle; thou art indeed…the Great Cat"

The Egyptians had strict laws prohibiting the export of cats; however, because cats were valued in other parts of the world for their rat-catching prowess, they were taken by the Greeks and Romans to most parts of Europe. Naturally, humans would have selected cats with a docile nature and kept those that responded positively to human behaviour. From North Africa, domestication of cats spread through the Middle East, India and into China but human settlements in Europe didn't have domesticated cats until the Romans introduced them much later. While cats didn't reach Japan until 999 A.D., they were prized as pets as well as rodent catchers.

Paintings and inscriptions of cats from 2,000BC, in Egypt, suggest that they were living with humans as domesticated animals at that time and later the cat became an important religious symbol, even being buried in their own cemeteries.


Cats were kept on ships to control the rodent population and, as a result, the seafaring explorers from Europe carried and introduced domesticated cats all over the world.

Overland caravans lengthened the cat's popularity to the north and east. Slowly cats migrated to India, China, and Japan, where they were highly prized as pets and impressive rodent killers.

Once royalty in Egypt, the cats will known a very sad faith in the years which will come .

 

[Tania]

Re: Kitty & Tania's Animal Thread

Cats breed

Poll results​

The second winner of the june is:

THE AUSTRALIAN MIST BREED ​

:bravo:

 

[- Qatada -]

-

:salamext:


Poll opened till 1st July 2007.

 

[snakelegs]

i voted yes - why would anyone object to them killing rodents? it is a good thing! my cat is also fond of killing cockroaches - an extra bonus.

 

[Tania]

i voted yes - why would anyone object to them killing rodents? it is a good thing! my cat is also fond of killing cockroaches - an extra bonus.

I hope you didn't feed to them the Bawanschi family:-[

 

[Pk_#2]

I hope you didn't feed to them the Bawanschi family:-[

what's that sis?,

i would be happy if my cat ate a rat, or even killed it...coz i hate rats dey scare me...even mice..

eeeeeeeek!

Peace.

 

[snakelegs]

no - i wouldn't feed him madame blavatsky!!!
(madame blavatsky is a colony of brazilian cockroaches who live in a cage in my bathroom. i bought them to feed to tarantulas and alligator lizards, but they didn't like them).
i also have a couple of nice little goldfish my frog didn't eat - have had them for about 4 years now.
(yes, i know i'm insane!)

 

[Tania]

I was sure i didn't write correct their name :giggling:

 

[Khayal]

.
Yes! I think so.....Voted!!!:blind:​

.​

 

[Tania]

Re: Kitty & Tania's Animal Thread

Cat history

Cat History in The MIDDLE AGE​

from
Source1
Source2

The course of cat history took a nasty turn in Europe during the Middle Ages. Cats became an object of superstition and were associated with evil. People who kept cats were suspected of wickedness and were often put to death along with their animals.

Assumption
Often dwelling alone out in the woods, Witches lived close
to Nature, and attuned to Her cycles. Their gardens grew not only food,
but also many kinds of herbs, including those valued for their medic-
inal, anesthetic and hallucinogenic properties. In a period of time
when good Christian folk maintained only those domestic animals that
could be considered "livestock" (i.e., useful to humans), Witches
frequently kept wild animal pets: foxes, ferrets, owls, ravens and of
course, the ubiquitous cats. Such became known, appropriately enough, as
familiars.

Action
In the 13th century, the first witchcraft trials began. The pagan religions held that witches turned into cats and so cats were blamed for everything from souring the beer to spreading disease. It was commonly believed that their teeth contained venom and that their breath caused disease and infection. Any cat that was seen in the company of an old woman was assumed to be a witch's familiar.

Consequence
When Witches came to be persecuted, so did these familiar
animals, and the brutal capture, torture and burning of millions of cats
that accompanied the Witch burnings begat the horrible Black Plague that
devastated Europe in the 14th century, for the cats had kept the rat
populations under control, and it was rat fleas that were the carrier of
the bubonic plague bacillus."The Burning Times"

 

[Tania]

Re: Kitty & Tania's Animal Thread

Cat history

Cat History between XIII - XVII centuries​

from
Source1


Pope Gregory IX denounced the black cat as diabolical in his 1233 Papal Bull 'Vox in Rama' and this launched the extermination of many cats. In the late Middle Ages, thousands of cats were burned alive in the cause of searching out the devil. Many of the European Fire Festivals and Wicker traditions involved the sacrifice or burning of cats. Women who owned cats were accused of being witches, using their cat's as 'familiars' to do evil to others. The glittering eyes, fecundity and lustful mating behaviour of the cat became signs of ungodliness rather than symbols of divinity. By the Medieval period, cats in Christendom had lost most vestiges of divine status although they were still believed to have magic powers. The cat was therefore a symbol of luck to some and an instrument of evil to others.
!!!As the cat population dwindled, the disease-carrying rat population increased, a factor that contributed greatly to the spread of plagues like the Black Deathand other epidemics throughout Europe. In fact the domestic cat population of Europe came close to being wiped out.

Cardinal Richelieu:

Although superstition and persecution was the fate of the common cat in Europe, cats were often accepted by the upper classes and in academic circles. Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642) even left pensions for his 14 cats. The church was also divided in it's treatment of the cat. Whilst cat's were being persecuted and butchered as demonic, others enjoyed the affection and protection of some religious communities. They proliferated in church carvings and were viewed as useful domestic animals, keeping vermin under control.

In countries not influenced by the spread of Christianity, the cat did not experience demonic associations. In Japan, cats were the prized pets of the nobility although this close association with the upper classes meant that cats were often distrusted by the ordinary people. Today, 'Maneki Neko' statues of a cat with a raised paw are still considered to bring good fortune and the Buddhist Gotoku-ji Beckoning Cat temple in Tokyo is dedicated to cats.

In the Islamic world, cats were considered clean and were widely acceptable as pets much earlier than in the Western world. Mohammed himself is reputed to have kept pet cats.

 

[Star]

I voted NO. i dont like cast, doesnt matter what they do im terrified off them.

 

[Tania]

Re: Kitty & Tania's Animal Thread

Cat history

Cat History between XVII - XIX centuries​

from
Source1

By the 17th century the cat had begun to regain its former place as a companion animal and a controller of rodents. Many writers, particularly in Franceand England, started keeping them as pets and writing about their good qualities. It became fashionable to own and breed cats, especially the long-haired varieties.

By the late 1800s, cat shows were held in England and the United States and cat fanciers' organizations were established. Many of the superstitions that arose during the period of cat persecution, however, are still evident today in the form of such sayings as "A black cat crossing your path brings bad luck."

 

[Tania]

Re: Kitty & Tania's Animal Thread

Cat history

DNA studies​

from
BBC

Domestic cats around the world can trace their origins back to the Middle East's Fertile Crescent, according to a genetic study in Science journal.
They may have been domesticated by early farming communities, experts say.

But the study suggests the progenitors of today's cats split from their wild counterparts more than 100,000 years ago - much earlier than once thought.

At least five female ancestors from the region gave rise to all the domestic cats alive today, scientists believe.

The earliest archaeological evidence of cat domestication dates back 9,500 years, when cats were thought to have lived alongside humans in settlement sites in Cyprus.

However, the new results show the house cat lineage is far older. Ancestors of domestic cats are now thought to have broken away from their wild relatives and started living with humans as early as 130,000 years ago.



The researchers focused on DNA in the mitochondria, the power plants of cells which supply energy and have their own genetic material.

Comparison of the genetic sequences enabled researchers to determine the relationships between different cat lineages.

The scientists found the cats fell into distinctive genetic "clades", or groups.

The results show that, apart from accidental cross-breeding, European wildcats are not part of the domestic moggy's family tree.

Neither are the Central Asian wildcat, the Southern African wildcat, or the Chinese desert cat.

But domestic cats formed a clade with some wildcats from the Middle East, suggesting that today's moggy stems from the wild felines of this region.

Rodent catching

Experts believe cats originally sought out human company, attracted by rodents infesting the first agricultural settlements.

The early farmers of the fertile crescent - present-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Israel - would have found the animals extremely useful for protecting their grain stores - an association that continues to this day.

"The felidae family is well known as a successful predator - very deadly, very ferocious, very threatening to all species including humankind," said co-author Stephen O'Brien, of the US National Cancer Institute.

"But this little guy actually chose not to be that," he said, "he actually chose to be a little bit friendly and also was a very good mouser."

The study included researchers from the UK, the US, Germany, Israel, Spain and France.

 

[Tania]

Re: Kitty & Tania's Animal Thread

Cat history

Poll results​

With only 1 objection the cats can stay calm: they can follow their natural predator instincts because the owners would never be ofended:statisfie