How Cats Domesticated Us Twice

Hey guys! Did you know that not only did we domesticate cats over 10,000 years ago — we did it twice? How did we convince these finicky felines to move in? Okay, we didn’t. It was probably their idea. Even though cats are domesticated animals, it’s more accurate to say that cats domesticated themselves.

But cats weren’t the first animals to do so. That honor goes to the dogs. Dogs fell in love with us the moment we started the whole hunting and cooking over fire thing. Cats, of all kinds, were lurking around those same campfires, but they had no interest in helping us hunt or herd, and our attempts to train them failed.

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TIMESTAMPS:
How we domesticated rats and mice 1:59
The best mousetrap 2:41
You aren't your cat's master 3:22
A type of marking you won’t see in your house cat 5:03
Quanhucun cats 6:54
What happened to them? 7:41

#cats #pets #brightside

SUMMARY:
- We started planting edible food, like grain. At which point, you could say, we domesticated rats and mice.
- They ate all our grain, left a mess, and brought disease.
- And that’s when cats found their niche in the human world. Cats love mice!
- Wherever people stored grain, rats and mice moved in, and then cats showed up to catch them.
- It wasn’t long before people started encouraging the kitties to stay. Maybe not offering them the best spot in front of the fire, but…. letting them take it.
- Compare a tabby cat, or Felis Catus, to her ancestor, Felis Sylvestris, also called the African Wild Cat or “Middle Eastern Wildcat.”
- Today’s housecats share an almost identical genetic make-up with their wild ancestor—and one of the few ways to tell them apart is by the markings on their coats, which generally don’t last long enough to be dug up in an archeological site.
- One type of marking you won’t see in your house cat—except two occasions I’ll tell you about later—is leopard spots.
- Dot hungry breeders have crossed Felis Catus with other species to get spotted offspring… with varying degrees of success. The Savannah Ocicat and Bengal are two examples.
- Recent excavations in the early farming village Quanhucun, in central China, show that 5,000 years ago, Chinese farmers enjoyed the company of Quanhucun cats.
- Archeologists even found one Quanhucun Cat so carefully buried that its skeleton remained intact for thousands of years, proving that someone thought it was pretty special.
- Today, cats are the most popular pets in the world. People in the U.S. alone love nearly 75 million of them!

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[BRIGHTSIDEOFFICIAL]

Hey! I know you have a cat! 😺 What breed is it?

[mattyclad]

Our last cat stuck around for 21 years. He chose us. We had no say over it. 🤣 I miss him everyday.

[easylifemyg]

My cat always came when i called him. He was snuggling and cuddling with me. Love him

[poughkeepsie]

I can’t imagine living without cats. We have five of those adorable love bugs sharing our home with us. So fortunate

[duchi]

Dogs: My owner is feeding me, he must be God!

Cats: My owner is feeding me, I must be God!

[case]

Dogs- i eat after i work

Cats- my job is eating

[kamerad_marzuki]

I saw a feral cat in the field a few weeks ago, it is fascinating to see them in the wild with minimal human contact like their wild ancestors in Africa.

[cryingangle]

I am so lucky that my cat chooses me to pet her...😭

[DefinitelyTheRealFBI]

No one:

Cats: I'm a gold digger

[karenlong]

Our cat is awesome. Another animal was trying to attack my boyfriend and our cat jumped right the animal before it could hurt him and scared it off!
She even watches over the both of us when we are sleeping make sure we are okay and safe! Got to Love her ♥️😁

[ronniefranks]

The only reason cats allowed themselves to be domesticated is because they can’t reach door knobs!

[TriviaNight]

Raise your hand if you are a cat person.

[YemayaIndigo]

I had my Tabby cat since I was 15 and she was only weeks old. I'm 29 now and scared to lose her because of her age 😩 I hope she stays with me for a long time without major health issues because I don't want her to pass away 😔

[LucianaVIP]

Cats are angels🐾🐈💕 fragrant, soft, loving, caring, sensitive, best companions😻 most animals are.

[alexidk]

Yah my cat adopted me to his name is water bottle Im serious thats his name

[thatgirlontheinternet]

I really miss the days that we could scroll down comments and find something to laugh at or to reply to but finding these comments are really hard these days and if you really want likes write something and hope for the best people like me scroll down in the comments to look at random things but desperate likers are lying to your face and they just want likes dont think its a harmless comment because its affecting the channel as well comments that are really informative and nice dont get shown because the only comments with likes are whos been a fan of brightside or other likes its annoying and im pleading everyone to stop i really love this channel and how informative it is dont ruin it for the people who wanna have a good laugh down in the comments just think alright

[jacksmith]

Who else has there cat with them right now

[RosheenQuynh]

Cats became self-domesticated because over time, they saw us as equals. Dogs, on the other hand, became co-dependent on us and saw us as alpha. I'd rather be on equal grounds to an animal, being a leader is too much pressure. But as a cat person who appreciates dogs on some level, I'll never fit into a pack, only a colony.

[tropikal]

Timestamps:
How we domesticated rats and mice: 1:59
The best mousetrap: 2:41
You aren't your cat's master: 3:22
A type of marking you won't see in your house cat: 5:03
Quanhucun cats: 6:54
What happened to them?: 7:41

You’re Welcome Have An Awesome Christmas.

[cherylann]

🙋🏼‍♀️I have a tabby (grey/yellow mix) cat.
She was born in a barn and she was a survivor of a house fire Nov 2011. I adopted her in 2011 and she's been such a loveable companion at my side all the time. I love her purring every night when we go to bed. What a sweet cat with a cute face!!! I love her so much! 😍😚😻