International Cat Day

Today is International Cat Day!

This day was started in 2002 by the International Fund for Animal Welfare out of a desire to honor cats. Humans and cats have had a long relationship. It's believed that cats were domesticated in Africa and the Near East during the Neolithic Era. It's believed the modern domestic cat is descended from the African wildcat. In fact, there is evidence that Neolithic Man and wild cats had interacted quite a bit, presumably due to human settlements providing plenty of rodents for them to eat. From here, domesticated cats would spread to the Mediterranean into Europe via maritime trading and into Asia via the Great Silk Road. 

In actuality, what we call "domesticated" doesn't quite apply to cats. They never were selectively bred for complete domesticity. As a result, cats often retain behaviors of their wild ancestors. Ancient Egypt famously loved their cats, even mummifying them on their deaths. When the family cat died, the mourning family would shave their eyebrows and take said cat to Bubastis to be mummified. The goddess Bastet was depicted as having a cat's head, which led the Ancient Greeks to associate Artemis with cats. In the 19th century, cat breeds started to emerge.

Cats are known for their love of perching in high places and having excellent night vision. They only require one-sixth of the light humans require to see. They also have better noses and ears than humans. However, we have them beat in taste. Humans have 9,000 taste buds on their tongues, much greater than the cat's 470, and cats can't taste sweet things. Cats love hunting small prey, mainly rodents and birds. They either actively stalk prey, or ambush them. They can cause a lot of problems for local wildlife. 

As of 2007, over 500 million cats are kept as pets. Owning cats have been shown to help improve mental health, easing anxiety and depression. So show some love to cats today! Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!