

Cat evolution

Oct 30, 1995 07:59 AM
by Jerry Schueler

Ann:<I've read recently that in ancient Egypt worshipped the cat (called miw)
<people who killed cats, even accidentally, were lynched. Domestic cats were
<officially equal with humans - they even sat at the table with them at
<When the family cat died, the whole family mourned and the cat was buried with
<all the pomp and ceremony usually reserved for humans.
<Yet, during the Dark Ages they were a lot of superstitions about cats and they
<were killed. As the rat population increased, more people died from fatal
<diseases that were carried by the rats' fleas.
<Seems like the evolution of the cat species has periodically changed from being
<worshipped and valued to being hunted as companions' of witches. If the
<collective soul of the cat could talk, I wonder what it would say it had
<learned from these experiences?

My wife, Betty, is doing her Ph.D. on cattery management. One
of her courses is the evolution of the cat and how our changing view's have
been expressed in art and culture. You are right about the two
extremes ways of looking at cats - from gods to demons. I suspect
that cats would think of us humans as being pretty fickle. They probably
laughed when the rat populations grew, and would likely say that it
served us right.

Jerry S.

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