CAT HISTORY
From a wildcat following grain-store mice in the Fertile Crescent to a cat with its own Wikipedia page. A small history of how cats got everywhere.
- 01~10,000 years ago
🌾Domestication in the Fertile Crescent
Cats essentially domesticated themselves. As humans in the Fertile Crescent began farming and storing grain, rodents gathered. Wildcats (Felis lybica) followed the rodents — and humans tolerated the cats because they killed the pests. Unlike dogs, cats were never fully tamed: we did not select them for obedience. We just kept the helpful ones around.
- 02~3,000 BCE
🐍Cats in Ancient Egypt
In Egypt, cats went from pest-control to sacred. The goddess Bastet was depicted as a cat and represented home, fertility, and protection. Killing a cat — even accidentally — could be punished by death. Cats were mummified and buried by the thousands. When a household cat died, the family would shave their eyebrows in mourning.
- 03Middle Ages onward
⛵Ships, sailors, and the global cat
Cats traveled the world on ships — protecting grain stores, ropes, and food from rodents (and the diseases they carried). Vikings kept cats on longships; some Norwegian Forest Cats likely descended from these ship cats. Sailors also prized black cats — many believed they brought safe passage. Cats reached the Americas with European colonists, and again spread with traders, missionaries, and pirates.
- 04Varies by culture
🌑Cats in folklore and superstition
Cats occupy a complicated place in folklore. In many cultures they were good luck: in Japan, the maneki-neko (beckoning cat) brings fortune. Sailors prized ship cats. But in medieval Europe, cats became linked to witchcraft — black cats especially — leading to widespread killings. Some historians think this cat-killing helped rats spread the plague faster.
- 051800s
🏅The rise of pedigreed breeds
The first formal cat show was held at London's Crystal Palace in 1871. Pedigreed breeds — Persian, Siamese, British Shorthair — were classified by appearance and lineage, much like dogs. Breed clubs and standards formed. The cat fancy had begun, and with it the modern concept of "breeds" rather than just "cats".
- 062000s onward
📸The age of the internet cat
From LOLcats to Keyboard Cat to Grumpy Cat, no animal has dominated the internet like the cat. Why? Cats fit small screens, their expressions are readable, and they live indoor lives alongside the people who created the internet. The internet cat is the modern descendant of ancient cat worship — same cats, new mediums.
Cats did not really need us. They tolerated us because our grain attracted their prey. Ten thousand years later, we are still the help.