
Characteristics
- small, furry and carnivorous mammals (carnivorous comes from the Latin words caro which means meat and vorare which means to devour/eat; a carnivore is a meat-eater)
- strong flexible bodies
- sharp retractable claws
- quick reflexes
Cats are intelligent and we are able to be a friend and helper to mankind. We can hear sounds too high in frequency for humans, making us adept at catching mice whereas they are too slow and clumsy. We can see in the dark, and we have an acute sense of smell.
Domestication
We were domesticated from the Wildcat species 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, Egypt. We roamed around as fearless hunters. We would outrun dogs, eat fresh berries and pin down chickens. We had no home to call our own until domestication but we survived. Domesticate comes from the Latin word domus meaning house; in this case it means bringing cats under human control and in the house for company and/or to carry out tasks like catching mice.