Feline Friends.

Cats are believed to have been ‘domesticatted’ first about 5000 years ago in the Sudan, then part of the greater Egyptian empire. This was not to be kept as pets, but to protect the grain against rodents.

While excavating an ancient burial site, archaeologists found bones of humans, cats and mice buried in the same grave in Cyprus.

In ancient Egypt cats were treated as gods; worshipped in the temples. The cat was a very important symbol in the Egyptian religion.

People were compelled by law to care for cats. The punishment for harming or killing a cat was swift and harsh. Diodorus Siculus said:

Whoever kills a cat in Egypt is condemned to death, whether he committed this crime deliberately or not. The people gather and kill him. An unfortunate Roman, who accidentally killed a cat, could not be saved, either by King Ptolemy of Egypt or by the fear which Rome inspired.

There was a total ban on the export of cats to other countries, but Phoenician traders stole some and sold them in Europe. In Europe they quickly multiplied and, because of their willingness to kill rodents without eating the grain, became very popular. Because of their good toilet habits people embraced them in their homes.

The Church soon associated them with witches and therefore the devil itself and started a 1000 year cat hunt that would almost exterminate all cats in Europe by 1400 AD. On religious days cats were often thrown off the spires of churches and cathedrals.

The rodent population exploded and the Black Death killed almost 100 million people in Europe as a direct result. Only by putting an end to the killing of cats, the Black Death was brought under control.

It is estimated that the number of stray cats today are more than double that of dogs, but you don’t see them as often, because of their promiscuity and ability to fend for themselves.

You never own a cat. Cats keep humans to pet them. Look well after your kitty; if you don’t he’ll simply find himself another human.