Most of the wild animals that were tamed by man were a source of food for him or an assistant in hunting, in a word, all of them brought him some benefit. And what does a domestic cat give a person, what benefits does it bring?
This is an independent, very clean animal, which does not require special care of itself, gives great pleasure to its owner when communicating. Surely, this is the main reason why he was not only tamed, but also left to live at home. And the domestic cat, in turn, became attached to the person who became useful to her, and as a result, this centuries-old union was created.
Let's try to return to history and find out who was the progenitor of a domestic cat. It turns out that her ancestors should not be sought in the European steppes or forests, but in northern Africa. In all likelihood, this is a Nubian wild cat that has the same skeleton structure and brain volume. Researchers also settled on a velvet variety of a representative of the feline family, which lives in the Karakum and southern Iran. However, recently all these disputes have stopped: scientists have come to a common agreement - both of these breeds are subspecies of the same species of these animals.
The Egyptians considered a cat a sacred animal. Her murder was punished very severely, even to the point of execution. And if she was dying, then mourning began in the family of her masters. The authorities forbade the export of these cute animals from Egypt.
In China, a domestic cat, as a very useful livestock, was very expensive. Buying it turned into a whole ritual. A specially invited expert determined by the structure of the body whether she would catch mice well, measured the size of the head and ears, and the thickness of the tail. Based on the size, he made appropriate conclusions about the rumor, about hunting skills, about laziness or hard work. Much attention was paid to the loyalty of this pet. If he went to foreign territory, they did not return her back. In China, this animal is a symbol of longevity, depicting it on greeting cards.
In Japan, a domestic cat turned out to be from China. He was brought by a certain monk who was carrying very valuable Buddhist manuscripts. And to prevent this mouse from gnawing at this valuable cargo, a clawed and mustachioed guard was assigned to them in China. Maybe that’s why the “first position” of cats in the land of the rising sun was the protection of monastery libraries. It was believed that if the emperor gives someone this small animal, then he expresses a sign of his special location.
For centuries, this pet was bred, crossed to create new breeds that differ in color, size, and physique. And as a result of all these transformations and the overwork of breeders, a great many breeds were born. Here is some of them:
The Himalayan, a hybrid of the Persian and Siamese, takes its name from the same breed of rabbit with a very similar color - the muzzle, legs and tail are much lighter than the rest of the body.
Balinese is a semi-long-haired variety of Siamese. This cat is very flexible and elegant, she has a long muscular body with blue, chocolate, purple or red hair. Representatives of this breed are mobile and cheerful, although they are much smarter than their Siamese sisters.
Other representatives of the cat family are Egyptian Mau, the descendants of those same Egyptian sacred animals. They cannot stand loneliness, they are very sociable. These human pets are all the time next to their master, doing the same thing as him.
There are other breeds, such as Havana, Sphinxes, etc., however, the largest domestic cat of all existing is the savannah, which has 15 kg of weight and 60 cm - the height of the withers. Active, curious, they are bred in very small numbers - there are only about ten thousand of them.