The history of our domestic cats does not go back that far. The cats were not domesticated either, they sought out human contact and domesticated themselves. How did that happen?
They only became pets after humans settled down, around 10,000 years ago. As long as people were on the move, there could only be contact when wild cats, like wolves, ate leftover meat that humans could not use. Cats don't migrate, they are stationary.
When people then farmed and stocked up, especially storing larger amounts of grain, mice and rats were magically attracted and became a nuisance and danger. Nowhere else could cats find easier prey. This happened in ancient Egypt, the Middle East and the Fertile Crescent area. The wild form was probably mainly the wild cat Felis silvestris lybica. Their hind feet are not pigmented black on the underside, as in the European wildcat Felis silvestris silvestris. The same applies to the steppe cat Felis ornata, which probably also belongs to the ancestors of our domestic cats.
In Egypt, about 5000 years ago, cats were revered as guardians of the granaries and after death were embalmed and buried like humans. This explanation of self-domestication, i.e. the approach of cats to human settlements, will be correct. But not the idea that the cat, worshiped in the cat deity Bastet, took the place of the lion gods or goddesses, Tefnut and Sekhmet, in ancient Egypt because it was smaller and therefore easier to handle.
In ancient China there had been domesticated house cats as early as 7000 years ago, even earlier than in Egypt, as bone finds have shown. It has not yet been possible to clarify exactly which wild species they descended from. The reed cat (Felis chaus), of which there are several subspecies, comes into question. In Asia there are several species of wild cats that can be mated and whose offspring are fertile. A few years ago it was even possible to mate another species, the Bengal cat (Prionailurus bengalensis), with the domestic cat because of its fur markings. Some offspring were fertile. A new breed, the "Leopardette", was born.
Genetically, cats have changed far less than dogs, they are still almost wild cats, which you can also see from their behavior and behavior. Most breeds would be perfectly self-sufficient if allowed to hunt.
Cats are finicky, not scavengers like dogs. And they certainly aren't grain eaters. There was no reason to feed them grain products either, their food supply was limitless and still is when allowed outside.
Their favorite food is mice of all kinds. Mice are the ideal food for cats because they contain everything a cat needs, especially taurine, which is found in large quantities in the heart muscle of the prey. They will eat everything from a mouse except the stomach. With a pH value of approx. 2, it is too acidic for them. So they eat up the stomach. The intestinal contents are also eaten because they are alkaline.
The more the cats are now being pursued, every free roamer caught and castrated as allegedly ownerless and thus slowly but surely eradicating the house cats, the greater the mouse plague will become. Last year there was a vole plague. Fields and paths, but above all orchards, were tunneled under by voles. What is the consequence? Poisons against mice. Is that what you want to achieve? I keep asking myself whether the good intentions of animal rights activists are being deliberately abused by lobbyists for the pesticide manufacturers and animal lovers don't notice. They think they are helping the cats and are promoting the poison industry.
Now you can't offer mice as food to domestic cats, but you can offer fresh meat. We like to feed chicken hearts twice a week. And for teeth and jaws, chicken wings, legs or carcasses.
But there is nothing wrong with good canned food if bones are offered from time to time. The criteria are similar to those for dogs. However, the need for vegetables and herbs is significantly lower. However, vital substances should not be missing. But small amounts are enough.
Dangerous feeding mistakes
Why are bones so important for dogs and cats?
There are also constant hate campaigns against bones, such as against BARF. Dogs and cats supposedly don't need bones, dry food would do. These are the arguments of the animal feed industry, which are repeated uncritically.
Of course, the bones have to be raw, so that they don't splinter like cooked ones, and they shouldn't come from pigs or chickens, but from beef, lamb or chicken. If our two dogs get bones, then it's cracking. That's the way it has to be.
Skulls of wild cats in zoos and in the wild have been measured and compared and found that the skulls of lions and tigers in zoos differ significantly from those in the wild, a recent publication in Science Spectrum reports. The result was that the cranial bones of zoo animals atrophied because they were fed soft, uncooked, but supposedly nutritionally balanced meat instead of whole animals.
Nutrition was now recognized as the cause of the atrophy, but above all the lack of bones. We experience exactly the same thing in dogs and cats all the time, especially on the teeth. The number of cats and dogs suffering from periodontal disease and caries is constantly increasing.
If you ask, you will almost always get the answer that they were fed dry food or canned food, but without bones. They didn't learn how to handle bones from an early age. Something like that has to be noticed. But far from it, dry food is still recommended, which is said to clean the teeth, and discouraged from bones. Dental problems are good business, so why change?
In the case of our cats, too, this ready-to-feed feed leads to medication in the repair shop, which causes other serious problems to arise. Do not get involved in this cycle - there is another way!
