This episode of Dnews is brought to you by Domain.com.
Want to know why your cat only loves you some of the time?
Then come see me after this intro.
Look at this face.
Stare into it’s ferocious untamable eyes.
Cower in it’s innate ability to stealthily stalk prey to satisfy it’s carnivorous desire
for blood.
That little grumpy cat retains a wild side my friends.
By wild side, I mean wildcat side, as it is still very closely related to the wildcat,
as researchers who have been tinkering around in the genome of house cats have discovered
that they are still very closely related to their wild brethren and as a result, are only
semi-domesticated.
Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis found that your little kitty still
retains numerous characteristics shared by its wild kin, like hunting abilities, sensory
traits, and digestive similarities.
The human-feline relationship began around 9,000 years ago as man’s agricultural efforts
thrived.
As a result, researchers speculate that undomesticated wild feline ancestors utilized the crops as
a hunting ground for rodents that fed on the grains.
This created a very symbiotic bond with humans who were like, these potentially dangerous
cats are great, I’ll reward them with other scraps of food.
And maybe try stroking one once in awhile...depending on its stroke to claw my face ratio.
This reward system encouraged the ferocious felines to return for some easy eats, and
over time, the fear of humans diminished as genes associated with reward response and
fear slowly altered over time.
These more domesticated cats would then breed with similar domesticated cats, eventually
leading to the lazy thing thing in the corner of your house bathing in that splash of light
pouring in through the window...but don’t turn your back on that fat cat… it’s still
very wild at heart and will end you in your sleep.
Compared to dogs, which we’ve been domesticating for an estimated 30,000 years, it turns out
the human impact on cats has been relatively small and that explains why your cuddly little
furball is so solitary and frequently terrorizes the mouse and bird populations of your cul-de-sac.
Interestingly enough, it seems the biggest impact we humans have had on felines is in
fur and color pattern as we have aggressively been breeding them for their looks for the
past 200 years.
Make that one make it with that one cause I want a fluffy calico.
Whatever you want dear.
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Guys, let’s initiate an intense discussion.
Dogs or cats.
What’s better?
Go.
Leave your answers in the comments below and keep coming back for more DNews every day
of the week.