Here's an interesting story about how cats became domesticated. Apparently it only happened once.

Our current feline companion, Jessica, is less cat-like than many others I've known. She's very affectionate, and even though she has a door, she rarely goes out, and never leaves the yard. She does, though, as the article points out, have the standard feeling of ambiguity about which side of the door she wants to be on.

Let me out myself initially and say I'm a dog guy. I don't like cats because I won't have an animal around the house that's any sneakier than I am.

Having said that, doesn't this smack of just another example of how superior cats are from the cat side people? They domesticated themselves, for our good, then stuck around because it was advantageous? PUHlease!! Rats are in many ways as intelligent as cats. Why didn't they worm their way into our hearts and families?

I'm with Alf on this one. The only good cat, is a stir fried cat.

My favorite president Andrew Jackson's directive to persons attending his horse races still stands, "If you bring your dogs, they will be shot!"

CATS RULE!

There's a good reason for that edict. Beyond the supposed obvious anti-dog sentiment. Some horses are spooked by dogs. Been there seen that when I was a lad learning to be a farrior.

Dogs and horses are a bad mix. Especially race horses. High strung.

I said supposed anti-dog sentiment earlier because I've heard this quote from pro-cat friends before. Jackson was from South Carolina and Tennessee. At the time parts of both states were still considered "frontier". As such Jackson would have been a hunter. Hunters and frontiersmen rely on their dogs for hunting and security.

I expect Jackson wanted the horses treated well and safely, as opposed to disliking dogs.

They domesticated themselves, for our good...

I don't recall anything in the article indicating that they did it for our good. They did it for their good, but we benefit. It's a symbiotic relationship.

If you want an extremely affectionate, almost violently social cat, then get a siamese (preferably the older round headed variety, not the modern wedge heads). But be prepared to be assaulted if you try to do things like read or sleep. :)

Cats are domesticated?

Cats recognize a easy life when they meet it. The fact that we humans self-select to adopt pets (primarily as child substitutes) just makes it easier for the cat.

And yes, I like both cats and dogs.

Our little formerly feral long haired tabby is the sweetest kitty in the world, although it took over a year just to be able to touch him. He is a wedgehead and a half too.

He even brings us cicada's (sans head) for us to share.

As the joke goes, "Dogs have owners. Cats have servants."

Cats are the welfare queens of the animal kingdom. They're moochers of the highest order. Too bad my wife's allergic to them. They can be terrific owners.

Rand,
the for "OUR good" was meant tongue in cheek.

I tried to find the article 0nline, unsuccessfully, but one of the vet schools did a study of house cats a few years ago. They looked at around 50 cats from good families and only about 1 in 5 would chase a mouse. Which was why they originally came to live with us, free food. Whether they domesticated us or we domesticated them that was the win/win. But most cats have reached the same use as goldfish, they're fun to look at.

Even the dumbest dog will bark if somebody is breaking into the house. They may run and hide after barking, but they will at least wake up the homeowner.

I've had watch-cats. Siamese are good for "first alert" notice; so was my little El Nath, a small gray-and-pink DAS. Pansy, my Seal Point Siamese, would attack intruders including dogs much larger than he. I've had dogs, cats, horses, ferrets, rabbits, mice, birds, hamsters, fish, rats, and assorted snakes and lizards as pets. All were wonderful in their own way, though I happen to be fonder of cats than any other species I've owned. Or as the SF people say, "There are many intelligent species in the universe. They are all owned by cats." :-)
And when all else fails, cats are good for lowering your blood pressure.

Mr. Mistoffelees
You ought to know Mr. Mistoffelees!
The Original Conjuring Cat -
(There can be no doubt about that).
Please listen to me and don't scoff. All his
Inventions are off his own bat.
There's no such Cat in the metropolis;
He holds all the patent monopolies
For performing surprising illusions
And creating eccentric confusions.
At prestidigitation
And at legerdemain
He'll defy examination
And deceive you again.
The greatest magicians have something to learn
From Mr. Mistoffelees' Conjuring Turn.
Presto!
Away we go!
And we all say: OH!
Well I never!
Was there ever
A Cat so clever
As Magical Mr. Mistoffelees!

He is quiet and small, he is black
From his ears to the tip of his tail;
He can creep through the tiniest crack
He can walk on the narrowest rail.
He can pick any card from a pack,
He is equally cunning with dice;
He is always deceiving you into believing
That he's only hunting for mice.
He can play any trick with a cork
Or a spoon and a bit of fish-paste;
If you look for a knife or a fork
And you think it is merely misplaced -
You have seen it one moment, and then it is gawn!
But you'll find it next week lying out on the lawn.
And we all say: OH!
Well I never!
Was there ever
A Cat so clever
As Magical Mr. Mistoffelees!

His manner is vague and aloof,
You would think there was nobody shyer -
But his voice has been heard on the roof
When he was curled up by the fire.
and he's sometimes been heard by the fire
When he was about on the roof -
(At least we all heard somebody who purred)
Which is incontestable proof
Of his singular magical powers:
And I have known the family to call
Him in from the garden for hours,
While he was asleep in the hall.
And not long ago this phenomenal Cat
Produced seven kittens right out of a hat!
And we all said: OH!
Well I never!
Did you ever
Know a Cat so clever
As Magical Mr. Mistoffelees!

-TS Eliot

Cats are great, there's no doubt about that.

"I expect Jackson wanted the horses treated well and safely, as opposed to disliking dogs."

So true. But facts intrude upon my quote.

"And when all else fails, cats are good for lowering your blood pressure."

Not my cats. Somebody else's cats, maybe. Want to trade? (Just kidding.)

And speaking of ambiguity regarding doors, there's Heinlein's classic though dated "The Door Into Summah" featuring a meowser.

Anyone own a cat that fetches? We have a 17 yr old cat that will still run after a ball of aluminum-foil and bat it back to us so we could throw it again. She is beginning to show signs of her age though, which is not pleasant to observe.

Cats will display gratitude. I've rescued several cats in dire or life-threatening straits. Each one immediately attached itself to me, for life. Total loyalty from that moment forward.

I owe my sanity to my childhood companion, Blackie, who came to me in my 11th year. Only child in a super-religious household, with a fanatical mother, who chased away any girl showing any interest in me, 3 church services on Sundays, no kindergarten, frequent whippings with a belt into my 16th year, etc., etc., I survived because of Blackie's friendship.

When my mother decided it was the army for me upon high school graduation, a letter arrived in W. Germany to let me know that she could no longer stand Blackie's pitiful meowing, looking for me, and she had taken him to the vet's and had him put to sleep.

Some horses are spooked by dogs.

Only if you let them.

Horses will spook at anything, if you let them. (Birds are especially terrifying. It's a well known fact that thousands of horses are eaten by birds.)

The proper response is to look the horse right in the eye and tell him, "Look, stupid, it's a dog. Get over it."

"When my mother decided it was the army for me upon high school graduation, a letter arrived in W. Germany to let me know that she could no longer stand Blackie's pitiful meowing, looking for me, and she had taken him to the vet's and had him put to sleep.

Posted by Norm at June 29, 2007 11:45 PM
"

Once I had retrieved all my stuff, that would have been the final contact I ever had with my mom.

I am sorry Norm but anyonw shelfish enough to put a cat down for meowing isn't much of a human being or a Christian.

WWJD? Not put it to sleep I am sure.

Here's a cat that walks on a leash!

We had tons of cats around our house when I growing up. They will certainly breed like rats if you let them. At one point we had as many as 25 cats hanging around the backyard. We'd take them by the crate full to have them fixed when a local vet would have a weekend set aside to do them for free. I certainly love cats, especially that energy and intensity in their eyes. However, I guess now I'm all catted out. Now I'm all about the little dog. All the personality and loyalty of a dog with the cuddlibility of a cat.

Here's someone who treasures cats.

Ah, someone already mentioned Alf.

I remember his response when Willie said he was going to the "Cats" musical: "Take me! After it's over, we'll go backstage and eat the cast!"

I was nearly thrown off a job once because of Alf. The customer asked if I minded their cat watching me work, to which I replied, "not at all, here Lucky, here Lucky."