Where do Abyssinian cats come from?

We are not sure where Abyssinian cats come from. However, the best assessment is that they come from Abyssinia which is what the citizens of Ethiopia call their country nowadays. Officially it is called the Ethiopian Empire. It is in north-east Africa. It is believed that the first Abyssinian cat in England was called Zula. This individual cat, it is believed, was brought to England by the wife of Captain Barrett-Lennard in 1868. 

This is according to Gordon Stables writing in 1874. The date, 1868, coincides with the end of the Abyssinian confrontation and it is probable that she obtained the cat from one of the returning soldiers from that war. The name of the cat, Zula, is the name of the northern Abyssinian port at which the British military force established its first base in 1867.

 Where do Abyssinian cats come from? See map above.

It is then believed that the cat was selectively bred in England during the early years of the cat fancy from ticked tabby coated cats brought back to England from Abyssinia after this brief war. It appears that more than one cat was brought back which allowed selective breeding to take place and to found or create the new breed which was labelled the Abyssinian cat.

The cat was first listed as a distinct breed in 1882. Its status was contested. The first breed standard for this cat was published in 1889 by Harrison Weir who is described as the father of the cat fancy. The first Abyssinian cats to be registered in the National Cat Club studbook occurred in 1896 and in 1907 the first Abyssinian caps were exported to the United States.

Abyssinian cat. Photo in public domain nowadays/

It should be strongly noted, however, that there are a lot of theories about the origin of the Abyssinian cat. We don't know for sure. A lot of what is said is either a best guesstimate, a decent analysis or pure speculation. But the name of the cat points strongly to Ethiopia as the country of origin and it does tie in quite nicely with the fact that there was a war there which allowed soldiers to bring animals back. The cats must have seemed quite exotic at that time because of the interesting ticked tabby coat. This is a coat which does not have markings like the classic tabby (except the M on the forehead and a dark tipped tail) but the coat has a broken and rusty appearance.

Some writers of the era speculated that the Abyssinian cat might be a direct descendant of the sacred cat of the ancient Egyptians. Egypt is close to Abyssinia. And the Abyssinian cat, when in the sitting position, looks very like the statuettes of the ancient Egyptian era right down to the appearance of the face. But there's no hard evidence to back up the idea that this is a cat from ancient Egypt.

Ubasti - legendary cat and asteroid

Ubasti is another name for the Bast, Bastet or Pasht, the ancient Egyptian goddess who represented as either a seated cat is as a cat-headed woman. Read more about Bastet by clicking this link: Why is Bastet a cat?

Baster. Image: MikeB from images in the public domain.

4257 Ubasti, provisional designation 1987 QA is a stony asteroid. A near earth object about 1.5 kilometres in diameter. It was named after Bastet (Reference: Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(4257) Ubasti". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 365).

Three rival ideas about the history of the Angora cat

The term "Angora cat" is sometimes used interchangeably and rather confusingly with "Turkish Angora cat". The real Turkish Angora cat can be seen in the Ankara Zoo. These are the originals and they do not look like the selectively bred Turkish Angora cats that you see created in America. But they are quite long-haired with dense fur and you wonder why a domestic cat should have evolved into having long hair in a climate in Turkey which does not demand the extra protection of long fur. The same, incidentally, goes for the Persian which is meant to have originated in Persia, now Iran.

Real Turkish Angora cat. Photo: Ankara Zoo. This cat lives in the zoo.

There are three rival theories about the origins of the Angora, the first of which is without any scientific foundation and highly improbable. This is that the breed developed from the wild Pallas's cat better known as the manul. In other words, the theory is that this small wild cat was domesticated and evolved into the current Angora. This is completely impossible and I think we can discount it, in part because the appearance is completely different and ironically the manul has a longer, denser coat because they genuinely do live in very cold climates.

A more acceptable theory is that an old-an established Russian domestic cat developed a long-haired coat as a protection against the intensely cold Russian winter and this breed was taken south to Asia Minor on board commercial trading ships and eventually arrived in Turkey and Iran resulting in a long-haired cat residing in a warm country.

An alternative theory would be that the Angora was taken from the cold mountains of eastern Persia by Islamic invaders in the 15th century. Once they arrived in Turkey the coat evolved into becoming slightly less thick and fluffy than that of their Persian ancestors.

The Turkish Angora is one of the ancient cat breeds and the true and original ones currently reside in Turkey and they are, as mentioned, very different to the selectively bred variety in the artificial world of the American cat fancy. There was quite a lot of trading between countries a thousand years ago and on board the ship there would be domestic cats which is how the original domestic cats from the Middle East (the Fertile Crescent) spread out across the planet.

I have no preference for the two plausible theories mentioned above. It is likely that the cat was introduced into Turkey from the north i.e. Russia or perhaps one of the satellite states of that country before they became satellite states.

The first domestic cats of Europe in Poland lived off mice and voles

In confirmation of currently accepted fact that the first domestic cats in existence some 10k years ago were effectively working cats living on farms and feeding on mice and other rodents in the Fertile Crescent (this area includes Syria), a study on the first domestic cats in Europe, in Poland, found that they lived the same lifestyle. They studied domestic cat remains dated to 4200-2300 BC and confirmed through isotopic evidence that they preyed upon mice and voles. In their own words this is the conclusion:

Archeological dig in Europe researching early domestic cats (believed). Photo: Magdalena Krajcarz

"The isotopic signature of Late Neolithic NE cats suggests that they were free-living, not dependent on a human-produced food, and preyed upon synanthropic mice and voles (i.e., crop pests). The NE cats shared their isotopic niche with European wildcats although the native subspecies utilized a much broader niche than the NE cats did."

Note: the late Neolithic period varies depending upon which part of the world one is referring to but in Poland it is the dates as specified above. It is interesting that they decided that the cats were free-living. This meant that they lived side-by-side with people not in the classic domestic cat relationship. They appear to have been more like barn cats. The word "synanthropic" refers to animals or plants that live near and benefit from an association with human beings and the artificial habitats the people create around themselves.

These cats were imported by traders from the Middle East and lived in a country were there was an abundance of European wildcats who lived on a similar diet.

The study: Ancestors of domestic cats in Neolithic Central Europe: Isotopic evidence of a synanthropic diet. It is published on PNAS.

The cat: humankind's most interesting friend

The dog is often referred to as "man's best friend" so perhaps it is fair to say that the domestic cat is "humankind's most interesting friend". We have to drop the word "man" nowadays because of equality policies, rules and in all fairness to be honest. It's about time the word was dropped. In 2003 Linda P Case said that the cat had surpassed the dog in total numbers as a household pet in the United States.

The domestic cat. Photo: in public domain.

I'm not sure that we know that for certain. I've always considered the number of cats and dogs to be very similar in America and indeed in the UK and other developed countries. In less well developed countries the dog surpasses the cat because the dog is utilitarian i.e. working animals.

In the West it is also more common for people to share their lives and their homes with two or more cats at the same time. And it is known now very clearly that cats provide a range of benefits to their human carers, the most important of which are emotional and psychological. Domestic cats are perhaps more important than people realise in society today.

The domestic cat is probably a distinct species today. Some people refer to the domestic cat is a subspecies but I would call the household cat a species in the same bracket as the African wildcat, the Chinese desert cat, the European wildcat, the jungle cat, the sand cat and the black-footed cat. They are described as the "domestic cat lineage" in terms of the taxonomy of the cat family by two distinguished authors (the Sunquists).

The cat, although similar in terms of status with the domestic dog, has an entirely different relationship with their human caretakers and co-specifics within the human society. Doctor Bradshaw says that the cat is barely domesticated which means that they have retained to a large extent their independence, certainly of mind and their ability to hunt effectively. So although they develop enduring bonds with humans they have a necessity to express these innate desires.

Perhaps in another 1000 or 2000 years of domestication they will have lost this mentality and at that time they will behave more like a domestic dog. Domestic cats are somewhat of an anomaly in that they are beloved members of the family as well as being feral in far too great a number. This is only due to human carelessness. It is a great shame that humankind has been so careless in the domestication of the cat.

This was never envisaged at the beginning of domestication of the North African wildcat about 10,000 years ago. It wasn't part of the deal. And feral cats are the cause of so much argument among people as to how to deal with them and invariably there is a large section of society who want deal with them in an inhumane way. I am referring to the politicians and administrators of the continent of Australia as a sharp example.

The cat is a member of the order, Carnivora. This includes a diverse group of animals all of which are predators. They are named because of their carnassial teeth. These are at the back of the jaw where the human molars are. They have a shearing action a bit like scissors to tear flesh from the bodies of the animal that they've killed.

Cats evolved during the Eocene epoque. This is about 54 million years ago. Many of these animals were tree dwellers. They had long slender bodies and short legs with a long tail.

About 30 million years ago the miacids split into two groups: the viverines and the miacines. The former are now known to be the oldest ancestor of the domestic cat whereas the latter are the ancestors of the dog, bear, raccoon and weasel. The viverines branched into two primary lines. One of these lines produced several very large prehistoric cats including the sabertooth tiger. The other line included a small cat, Dinictus, which later evolved into several distinct cat species. The evidence suggests that Dinictus is the main ancestor of all cat species alive on the planet today including our beloved domestic cat.

The first domestic cats in North America?

 The first domestic cats in North America? No cats visible in the 
picture! But there were some and they were the first domestic
cats of North America. Picture in the public domain (assessed).

We don't know exactly the date of the first domestic cats in North America but it's likely that the English and European settlers who first arrived in 1607 and thereafter in the 1700s brought domestic cats. These were the first domestic cats in North America. They settled at Jamestown which is located as per the map below:

Christopher Columbus set foot in the Americas on Oct 12 1492 but we don't have any record of cats being aboard that ship! What if there was a ship's cat and it came ashore? It would have been the first domestic cat in North America. He made landfall in the Caribbean.

The Europeans settled on the east coast such as Maine. These cats were the forerunners of the Maine Coon cat.

I have nothing more to say as I have answered the question. I hope! :)  -- I forget to mention one thing: there were no native domestic cats in North America, never have been, which is why they had to be imported. In other words no small wild cat was domesticated in N. America. The bobcat was and is too big and the ocelot has the wrong character.

First domestic cats in Europe

A study published on July 28th 2020: Ancestors of domestic cats in Neolithic Central Europe: Isotopic evidence of a synanthropic diet, states that 'the early migration of the Near Eastern cat...preceded the known establishment of housecat populations in the region by around 3,000 BCE (Before Common Era). The Common Era means AD (Anno Domini). So 3,000 BCE means 3,000 BC (Before Christ).

African wild somewhat like the first domestic cats of Europe. Photo: Pixabay.

To recap, they believe that the Near Eastern wildcat migrated to Poland around 4,200 years before Christ (BC) and after around 1,200 years the first Near Eastern wildcats in Poland were domesticated or semi-domesticated.

The first domestic cats worldwide are estimated to be dated at 9,500 BC on Cyprus. It is believed that this cat was similarly a domesticated Near Eastern wildcat that was imported into Cyprus by ship with its owner.

One theory is that the wildcat followed the migration of farmers into Poland as 'synanthropes'. Synanthropes are animals or plants which live near humans because it benefits them.

Back in those first years of domestication of the wild cat it was a successful process as both species benefited (not so successful today). There were no feral cats. All domestic cats were first generation domesticated wild cats at the very beginning. Then subsequent wildcat offspring were domesticated and true domestication began. 

At present there are an estimated 500 million domestic and feral cats in the world. At around 3,000 BC the number of domestic cats was probably in the tens of thousands worldwide if that.

Did cats domesticate themselves?

It claimed that 'cats domesticated themselves'. But what does it mean? Firstly the statement should be amended to read, 'wildcats domesticated themselves'. That makes more sense and is more precise.

The cat domesticated itself? This is a European wildcat. The African-Asia version
of this wild cat species allowed themselves to be domesticated around 10,000
years ago but they did not 'domesticate themselves' in my opinion. Photo: Creative Commons
license on Flickr.

Specifically the African-Asian wildcat domesticated itself. But I am unsure if this is correct. The process of domestication takes two parties: the animal and the human. They play at least an equal role and perhaps in this instance the human played the major role.

What it means is that wild cats liked to be around farmers' grain stores about 10,000 years ago because there were hordes mice and other rodents there providing a supply of food. It was very attractive to a wild cat and it still is.

You'll still see wild cats near human settlements in Africa which is why they become hybrids having matted with domestic or semi-domestic cats.

Anyway because the cats willingly came to the farmers and hung around allowing the humans to get to know them it is said that the cats domesticated themselves. 

The better description would be that they allowed themselves to be domesticated as a consequence of being in contact with people. And of course the people desired that wild cat domestication. A two-way process.

The leader in the process must be the human. It is still the same now in the human-domestic cat relationship. The human leads and largely dictates the terms of the friendship.

Although there is a large amount of training that goes on by the domestic cat of the human. It is a gradual, informal version of training but equally effective but it once again relies on the agreement and cooperation of the owner.

Can Turkish Angoras be black?

Yes, Turkish Angoras can be black as they come in all colors, all divisions of the traditional category. The white cats are favoured both in the West and certainly in Turkey.  The traditional colours are: black, chocolate, cinnamon, blue, lilac, fawn, red, cream and white.

Believed to be a black Turkish Angora. Photo: Reddit.

The black Turkish Angora bred in America looks like a fairly standard semi-longhaired domestic cat but more refined due to selective breeding. They are an elegant cat with flowing long hair. Their body is described as foreign-type meaning slender. The cat fancy see foreign cats as slender! 

The true Turkish Angoras at Ankara Zoo (yes, they are in a zoo as they are very special) look like all-white, doll-faced Persian cats i.e. traditional Persian cats. There may be a connection in history. Perhaps the original Persian cats originated in Turkey. They certainly did not originate in Persia now Iran to the best of my knowledge. Wrong? Tell me in a comment, please.

A real Turkish Angora in Turkey:

A real Turkish Angora cat. Photo: copyright Angora Cat Association.

Is it true that cats only meow at humans?

I am referring to domestic and feral cats. It is not 100% true that cats only meow at humans but you will find that feral cats do not meow at each other very often. This is because the meow is a learned request by the domestic cat living in the human home for something such as food or interaction.  It's been learned over thousands of years. That's what the experts say. It is quite rare for the average person to mingle with feral cats in a colony to check this advice. But it makes sense.

Feral cat colony. All shorthairs. Photo: in public domain.

In fact the domestic cat has refined the meow sometimes so that it sounds a little bit like a baby crying. Some cats have learned that this slightly modified meow is more effective in getting their way.

Long-haired feral cats?

As an aside, you will also rarely see long-haired feral cats. Why is this? It must depend upon how long-standing the colony is. You will get new cats coming into a colony and some of them may be strays having been abandoned and these cats may have long hair. But if feral cats have had time to evolve their family over several generations, within a colony, it is argued they will normally be shorthaired cats because shorthair is more effective when living in the wild.

This, though, must only apply to countries where the climate allows it. Arguably, in very cold climates you should see long-haired feral cats. Perhaps the argument about feral cats normally being shorthaired relates to most parts of the USA, particular the south, where the climate is amenable to a shorthaired coat which requires less maintenance by the cat to keep it in good condition.

Excessively long hair, we know, is beyond the means of a domestic cat to maintain themselves. This is why owners of Persian cats have to support their cat by grooming him or her. This is an anomaly and it would never have happened under normal evolutionary pressure.

Aelwaer's cat

Aelwaer's cat is a cat held aloft by St Aelwaer. The cat is in her right hand and she is sitting on a donkey. She has tucked under her left arm a pig and on her head sits a bird. It is a bizarre image and it can be seen in a Dutch woodcut of 1550 by Cornelis Anthonisz. The picture obviously represents something but the question is what? I have different interpretations.

St Aelwaer and cat in her right hand. This image is in the public domain due to lapse of time

Sarah Hartwell on her website messybeast.com tells me that the woman is a joke patron saint of quarrels, rioters, troublemakers et cetera. She is a troublesome, gossiping and malicious busybody. Sitting on the donkey indicates her stubbornness. The bird on ahead is a magpie which symbolises scolding. In other words it symbolises the fact that she always wanted to be right and had a big mouth. The pig under her arm represents the injustices of her life. 

And now to the cat: the cat held aloft is not a symbol of evil or of being in league with the devil. The cat represents a catfight, a fierce quarrel because St Aelwaer is predisposed to such behavior. This cat is not a witch's familiar. Although cats were persecuted in the Middle Ages in their many hundreds of thousands this particular cat represents a quarrelsome person.

Set against that argument is perhaps a more conventional view as presented by Dr Desmond Morris in his book Cat World. He argues that the pig represents gluttony and the magpie symbolises immortality. The cat is meant to signify that the woman, St Aelwaer, is "in league with the devil". He also refers to the Middle Ages and the persecution of domestic and stray cats. It was a time when cats were persecuted as familiars of witches and they were seen as creatures of wickedness.

You take your pick. I have to say that I favour Sarah Hartwell's version. She is an expert on the strange and the weird of the cat world. She is also an expert on cat genetics. Although I greatly respect Dr Morris. Hartwell is a specialist cat person while Dr Morris is a zoologist.

My thanks to Sarah Hartwell for the info and the image.

Abuherrira's Cat

Abuherrira's Cat is a legendary cat, a pet belonging to one of the companions of the Prophet Mohammad, Abu Hurairah. He loved cats and was known as "the father of the little cat". Abu Hurairah, was one of the sahabah (companions) of Muhammad and, according to Sunni Islam, the most prolific narrator of hadith.

For illustration purposes only. Photo in public domain.

The Favoured Beasts is a poem by Goethe. His favourite cat was one of the four animals admitted to the Muslim paradise: "Abuherrira's Cat, too, here purrs around his master blessed, for holy mast the beast appear the Prophet has caressed."

Another version of that poem reads:

Abuherrira's cat appears,

Purrs around the Lord and flatters:

For since the Prophet stroked his ears

He's wholly where it matters.

Goethe noted that the name Abuherrira means "father of the cats". He knew that cats were considered as pets in the Islamic world as opposed to dogs who were considered unclean. The Prophet, as we all know, loved the cat greatly and it was believed that it would enter paradise.

P.S. It seems that the cat should have been referred to as "Abu Hurairah's cat" but has become distorted or have I got this wrong? Also I have seen Abu Hurairah spelled "Abu Huraira".

If ancient Egyptian mummies were prepared for the immortal afterlife why are we digging them up?

It is uncivilised, disrespectful and unethical for archaeologists to dig up the mummified remains of people and their pets from ancient Egyptian sandy graves. They excitedly and eagerly want to discover another ancient coffin to inspect while apparently brushing aside the ethical issues. And this applies to domestic cats and dogs as well. Indeed any other animal, and many species of animal were buried with their owners.

2,500 year old coffins exhumed in Egypt recently. Credits: Xinhua/REX

As I understand it, they were buried in mummified form with their owners to accompany their owners to the afterlife. The afterlife was for eternity. They became immortal and this applies both to their owners and their pets.

What interests me, and indeed what upsets me to a certain extent, is that the intention of the people who buried these bodies was to allow them to travel to the afterlife and live there for eternity. If they are dug up and desecrated like this does it not stop their journey into eternity? Does it stop them being immortal in the eyes of the people who buried them?

Cat mumies - Photo: Getty Images.

I know this is about beliefs rather than facts because we cannot talk about the afterlife and immortality in a factual sense but beliefs are important. We have to respect the beliefs of the people who buried the pets and their owners. In many countries in the world people cannot exhume the remains of the deceased without obtaining permission from the local authorities beforehand.

Why should it be any different with respect to 2,500-year-old remains? Perhaps the archaeologists obtained a licence from the Egyptian authorities but those licences would have been granted come what may. There will be no, in my view, discussion about the ethics of digging up human and pet remains and whether it was uncivilised or not. The commercial aspects and the archaeological interest rides roughshod over the intentions, views and attitudes of the ancient Egyptians who buried them.

Associated: What was the penalty for killing a cat in Ancient Egypt?

Domestic Cat First Brought to Australia in 19th-Century

It appears to have been confirmed that the domestic and feral cat in Australia was first introduced onto that continent in the 19th century by Europeans. This probably coincided with the 162,000 convicts which were transported to various Australian penal colonies by the British government between 1788 and 1868. I, for one, had always thought that that was the case. We know that there are no wild cats in Australia and there never has been because of the water barrier between the Asian mainland and Australia.

A study examined the genetic structure of Australia's feral cat populations and found the link, it appears, to 19th-century European immigrants. I say European because that's what my source says but it seems to me that most of the Europeans would have been British.

Before the study there are various suggestions as to where this "invasive species" had come from. Perhaps, it was suggested, they come from ship's cats or European explorers in the late 18th century. Others had postulated that Malaysian fishermen, in the 17th century, had brought cats with them to Australia.

Other cats were deliberately introduced into certain parts of Australia in order to control other species of animal such as rats and in one case this applied to an island. There are misconceptions and misleading articles about how cats devastated bird populations on certain islands in Australia. You will find that on occasions these articles misdescribe what has happened. Sometimes domestic and feral cats are scapegoats in Australia. In one case rats not cats killed the birds after the cats were killed by humans. Typical human stupidity.

Yes, the feral cat is an invasive species in Australia but that is the fault of humans. As it is the fault of humans it is beholden upon humans to do the right thing (e.g humane processes) in order to control feral cat populations on that continent. This, regrettably, is not happening as there have been several proposals to eradicate feral cats all of which have been very cruel, impractical, unhelpful, and doomed to failure but they do indicate a distaste for the feral cat on that continent by the authorities.

Five Female Wildcats Are the Ancestors of All Today's Domestic and Feral Cats

It seems extraordinary but based upon DNA research five female North African wildcats (felis silvestris lybica) are the ancestors of the entire world's approximate 500,000,000 house cats.  To reiterate; the research tells us is that all of today's domestic cats come from just these 5 female North African wildcats.  

The researchers concluded that five females of this species of wildcat made the transition from being wild to being semi-domesticated within settlements where they were safe from predators and where they had a ready supply of rodents as prey which infested the settlers' homes and granaries.

As all the feral cats in the world today come from domestic cats then we have to say that all of the domestic, stray and feral cats on the planet today are descended from five female cats of the species felis silvestris lybica.

The research was carried out by Carlos Driscoll of the US National Cancer Institute and colleagues including David MacDonald of Oxford University. They spent more than 6 years analysing the DNA of wildcats,  purebred cats and house cats.

They discovered that the DNA of all house cats (including of course purebred cats) fall within the DNA cluster of the Near Eastern wild cat.  This made this subspecies of wildcat the ancestor of the domestic cat.

Source: NY Times June 29th 2007. The photo is of my tabby cat in whom you can see the North African wildcat ancestor!

Domineering Men Do Not like Cats

Dominating men do not like cats because the cat is free and will never consent to become a slave.  He will do nothing to your order, as the other animals do.  The words are those of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

James Boswell. He wrote a famous biography of Samuel Johnson

He was making a clever observation about James Boswell.  James Boswell was the servant of Samuel Johnson.  Samuel Johnson, as you probably know, loved cats and he looked after a series of cats the most famous of which was “Hodge".

Hodge

James Boswell admits that he suffered from Jonson's intimacy with his cat Hodge because he was an ailurophobe -  he had a fear of cats and therefore became uneasy if a cat was in the same room as himself.

Samuel Johnson would personally go out to buy food for his cat Hodge (as reported by James Boswell).  He would do this because he did not want his servant (companion and Samuel's biographer) to feel imposed upon and end up disliking his cat.

So what about the idea that domineering men do not like cats?  Well, I think the observation has to be correct.  In the past I have talked about the alpha male human and his preference for dogs as a leader of a pack of dogs. As the domestic cat is an independent creature and has no hardwired innate necessity to be part of a pack he/she will normally reject any attempt to be dominated by a human caretaker.

If a human caretaker tries to dominate his domestic cat he will simply alienate him/her.  It will end up in tears and a failure.  So let's agree that Mr Russeau is correct.

Cat's Cradle - why "cat" is in it!

Cat's Cradle is a game played by two people with string.  In the UK in the mid-1800s it was played by children. It was called cat's, catch or scratch cradle.

Figures are created through the way the string shapes up in the hands of the players.  I have never played the game.  I don't see the shapes of figures in the pictures that I've seen but perhaps I'm not using my imagination enough!

It seems peculiar that the word "cat" is in the title to this game. The word "cat" may be a corruption of the word "cratch" from the phrase"cratch cradle", which is also called "manger cradle", in which the infant Saviour was laid.  If this is correct is a clear case of a word being corrupted during use but I see no connection between the word "cat" and this game based on this corruption neither do I see a connection with manger cradle except in the general shape formed.

Some of the figures formed by the string may resemble a cat! Not sure. Do you know more than me?

Cratch is the French creche (a rack or manger).

If you search for cat's cradle on the Internet you come up with various uses of this phrase. There is a book entitled Cat's Cradle, a shelter for cats and a boarding catteries cats for example.

Early Humans Defended Themselves against Sabre-toothed Tigers With Spears

About 300,000 years ago sabre-toothed tigers were roaming around North Central Germany near Hanover. We know this because the remains of a sabre-toothed tiger were preserved in rock strata 300,000 years ago. I think it is worth stating at the outset that the sabre-toothed tiger is not actually a tiger as we know today. It was a different species of wild cat. It is probably more sensible to describe the cat as a “sabre-toothed cat".

The estimates are that this large wild cat weighed nearly 440 pounds. It had razor-sharp claws and canine teeth that were more than 4 inches in length. Clearly, this was a formidable predator for early humans.

Humans would have defended themselves using a 6 foot to 7 and 1/2 foot long spear. The spears were used as hunting weapons. It has been speculated that the early humans of this era hunted hores and in the area in question they camped along a 300 foot stretch of a shallow lake.

Source: a report by the Lower Saxony Heritage Authority.

Karl Lagerfeld's Siamese Cat

Karl Lagerfeld has that robotic looking face and style. Apparently he is a man of deeply entrenched habits. Perfectly understandable. He is the designer for Chanel. He is very rich. He has a rich man's habits. He was asked to look after a Siamese kitten for the model Baptiste Giabiconi - his 'muse'. What is a muse? A person close to you who inspires your creative process. I think that is right.

Mr Lagerfeld liked the Siamese kitten too much to give her back. She was too cute, he says. His muse accepted his wishes. The cat is called 'Choupette'. You can see a picture on Twitter here.

Naturally, Choupette has everything a cat desires and more. She has two maids to look after her and who write a diary about her every move. It is already 600 pages long and will be made into a book (possibly).

Choupette likes to use an iPad along the lines of what we see on YouTube. She eats with her human companion on the table. Mr Lagerfeld makes sure she eats cat food and not his food. I sense that he is a very good cat caretaker. He's a cat person! Great. This has to be good for cats.

Choupette likes to use an iPad

Of all the cat breeds the Siamese is the breed most attractive to celebrities and the rich. There is a long history of this. Why? Well they were called the 'Royal Cat of Siam' as they originally came from the royal palaces of the King of Siam (now Thailand) - history. That may be a factor. They are still a glamorous looking cat and still in the top three of the most popular cat breeds. However, the Siamese is no longer considered exotic. That accolade belongs to wildcat hybrids today (2012).

Associated:

• Film Stars and Siamese Cats
• Amy Winehouse and her cats (not Siamese as far as I am aware).

Sailor's Jargon "Cat's Paws"

Our long association with the domestic cat has resulted in a lot of sayings and superstitions based on the cat. This may, in part, be due to people's perception of the cat as slightly mysterious and aloof. One saying is "cat's paws". Sailors used this phrase to mean flaws or ripples on the surface of water.  When the surface of the water was disturbed for a long time it was referred to a "cat's skin".

I am not sure where the "cat's paws" term came from except for the obvious: a cat will paw at water and disturb it causing it to ripple.

Apparently there is an old Hungarian proverb, "as a cat does not die in water, its paws disturb the surface" which is mean to be the origin of "cat's paws". Also this Hungarian phrase is meant to have led to sailors throwing cats in to a dead calm sea as a charm to change the weather.

On the subject of weather, an old phrase from some parts of England is a "cat's nose", which was a reference to a north-westerly wind. There are other associations between cat and weather for some strange reason.

For example, in Germany if it rained when women were putting the washing out to dry it was a sure sign that a cat had been ill-treated.

There are many other sayings that incorporate the cat. You can read about some at cat history.