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Domestic Cats Today

Cats brushed shoulders with prehistoric humans. From the first traces of their domestication until the 18th century, cats adapted to living with humans and were alternately loved, destroyed, hunted, and worshipped. The cat has often been considered the wildest of the tame animals. After all, cats can return to the wild, and aren't mixed breeds the freest of all cats? The domestic cat's history is interwoven in the history of the Feline species over the centuries until today. If "tame" means "less wild, less dangerous," and "domesticated" means, with respect to a wild animal, "having long been tame, living alongside humans for their aid or pleasure and belonging to a species that reproduces in conditions controlled by humans," then cats became truly domesticated when humans became involved in their selective breeding and reproduction. Indeed, despite the cat's long history alongside humans, the pedigreed cat was not born until the late 19th century. Since then, cats have slowly and majestically entered the world and the environment of their owners.

Cats brushed shoulders with prehistoric humans. From the first traces of their domestication until the 18th century, cats adapted to living with humans and were alternately loved, destroyed, hunted, and worshipped. The cat has often been considered the wildest of the tame animals. After all, cats can return to the wild, and aren't mixed breeds the freest of all cats? The domestic cat's history is interwoven in the history of the Feline species over the centuries until today.
If "tame" means "less wild, less dangerous," and "domesticated" means, with respect to a wild animal, "having long been tame, living alongside humans for their aid or pleasure and belonging to a species that reproduces in conditions controlled by humans," then cats became truly domesticated when humans became involved in their selective breeding and reproduction. Indeed, despite the cat's long history alongside humans, the pedigreed cat was not born until the late 19th century. Since then, cats have slowly and majestically entered the world and the environment of their owners.

A Successful Integration

Now truly tame and familiar, the domestic cat's status reflects its official recognition as an individual. Tattooed and vaccinated, the cat is tracked by the administration that keeps its papers up to date. Recorded and monitored, the cat, whether purebred or not, has acquired a certain importance for its owner and has made a place for itself in the regulated world of humans.
The more we observe the cat's behavior and reactions, the better we understand and respect the cat for its true self. In the 20th century, the areas of veterinary practice and Feline nutrition were marked by innovations in diet and in preventive and curative medicine. Better cared for, the cat can now escape illness. The cat's resulting well-being has made it calmer, gentler, and more pleasant to live with.
Over the past century, a new relationship was established between cats and humans. Cats developed loyalty to humans, bridging the gap that once separated them from us. Cats have come to trust us.

Once used to the half-sleep of a hunter, the cat is much less on the alert now and can relax its attention and let go. Released from the preoccupation with survival, the cat has more energy for humans and can therefore devote more time to companionship, petting, cuddling, and cajoling. Cats may have accepted humans as their friends, but they are still troubled by solitude. This is a sad situation that must be avoided for today's cat.

Cats may have accepted humans as their friends, but they are still troubled by solitude. This is a sad situation that must be avoided for today's cat.

Cats have invented a new dialog. Once content to simply respond to cuddling, they now call their owner, demand food, and request that the door be opened. Their repertoire is expanding, and they vary their intonation as if to make themselves better understood. We can tell what they are feeling from the way they move their ears. We now have cat flaps, harnesses, travel bags, scratching posts, cathouses, automatic feeders, and so on. These inventions for the small feline prove that we have studied its behavior and requirements in an effort to enhance its daily life.

Diversification of Breeds and Feline Standards

Whether the result of mating or of spontaneous mutation, the cat breeds would not be what they are today without human intervention. In 1871 at the first cat show in Londons Crystal Palace, twenty-five classes of cats (not yet actual breeds) were presented to the public, including European Shorthairs and Persians with various coats. In the early 19th century, sixteen breeds were officially recognized. Since then, great changes have occurred. There are now fifty-four registered cat breeds, and dozens of Persian and Oriental varieties. The broad range of Feline breeds throughout the world reflects physical as well as behavioural diversity.

Organized breeding has increased the number of breeds and distinct traits.

Shapes and Colors

A round or triangular head, a slender or stocky body. Feline morphology has changed gradually. The standard describes five body types, ranging from cobby, or short and stocky (like the Persian, Himalayan, Manx, Burmese, and Cymric), to semi-cobby, or with a longer body and limbs (like the Norwegian Forest Cat and the Ragdoll). Additional types include the long-limbed foreign (like the Abyssinian), the semi-foreign, with fairly long limbs but a relatively heavy bone structure (like the Devon Rex, Egyptian Mau, and Singapura), and the very long-limbed and slender Oriental (like the Siamese).

Head shape is also part of the description (round in the European Shorthair, triangular in the Siamese), as are eye color and tail size (long in the Norwegian Forest Cat, absent in the Manx), not to mention the coat.

The hair can be up to 15 cm long (Persian, Himalayan), semilong (Turkish Angora), or short (European Shorthair, Chartreux). The colors allowed for each breed are specified. The palette is vast: solid-color, bicolor, particolor (tortoiseshell, smoke), and silver (like the Chinchilla Persian), as well as patterned coats, including colorpoint like the Siamese, tabby like the European Shorthair, and marked with patches, spots, or thick or thin stripes.