So it’s a well known stereotype that, given their druthers, cats would happily subjugate humanity and rule with iron fists… er, paws. Now, I don’t disagree, but what exactly is it about feline behavior, and the human relationship with them, that made this arise in the first place? Is it the worship in Egypt? The nagging thought that they still might hate us for the whole witch craze thing (or was the Black Plague revenge enough)? The fact that they generally don’t jump all over us with slobbers like dogs? The fact that, unlike dogs, they were domesticated mostly as companions (and not for any “useful”) purpose?
Inquiring minds want to know! Or, barring that, opinions.
Cats aren’t seen as being fully domesticated, anyway: They put up with us as long as the food’s regular and there are soft, warm places to sleep. It’s seen as more of an equal partnership, instead of the more dependent relationship dogs have.
This probably goes back to the semi-feral barn cats that fed on the mice that ate grain way back in the beginnings of agriculture. When Egyptians worshipped cats, they knew whereof they bowed: Without cats, vermin would have carried away massive amounts of grain and given them all diseases, to boot.
Plus, of course, cats carry themselves in a rather dignified manner. They seem to always know precisely what they’re doing and don’t really care if it involves taking a sloppy shit in the middle of your bed. You’re the monkey, you deal with it.
(Yeah, I have a disgusting feline. She isn’t allowed inside unless it’s cold out, which means she’s been an inside cat pretty much all month and will continue to be an inside cat for the next few days at least. Gee, I love winter.)
Dogs come from pack animals - wolves. They are inherently social, in order to stay in good standing with the pack. The few who aren’t social by nature are driven away to carve out and protect their own territory and find a mate. That’s a very hard life, and they often come into heat during the wrong time of year and the pups die. It’s just not conducive to reproduction to be a lone wolf. When humans started breeding dogs, we most likely chose the most social of the social critters, because those were more desirable for what we wanted them for - hunting with us, herding our animals by learning commands and being protective of us (their “new pack”) against strangers. Add to that the newer theory that modern dogs are stunted mentally at a puppy-stage of development, and it’s no wonder they’re so dependent. They’re big babies, literally.
Cats - not so social. There’s the pride of lions, of course. And there are a few other cats known to hunt in groups (Eurasian and Canadian Lynx) and a few others where the male may occasionaly help the female hunt (snow leopard, tiger and some smaller cats) and male cheetahs live in small groups, although the females are solitary. But those little African wildcats it’s believed housecats evolved from? Solitary. Because we haven’t interferred with the genetics all that much (curly-eared abominations aside), and because they’ve domesticated us so well, we’ve found no need to stunt their development and the playful kitten stage, and so they grow up to be much like their ancestors: mostly solitary, seeking affection on their own terms, and more than capable of taking care of themselves. Until the vaccuum cleaner is turned on, of course!
The Black Plague thing was our fault (humans, not me and my husband). We blamed the cats, so we killed them, but it was really the fleas on the rats that were at fault. By killing the cats, we allowed the rats to overwhelm the cities.
Cats don’t listen to you when they don’t feel like it.
That’s what we percieve as arrogance and that’s what makes us feel less silly when we try to prevent them to scratch your couch to smithereens and discover you might as well yell to a teacup.
Which reminds me: Last night some people were walking their dog. I believe said dog must have had a lot of cat-capabilities.
“Kaya, come here”.
“KAYA, come here”
“KAYA, come HERE”
“KAYA COME HERE %##!%!”
As a dogtrainer by hobby, this sort of thing drives me nuts. Often, as an experiment, I’ll stand there and firmly say “%##!%!”
And the dog comes.
Yep, the dog has transferred the command “Come” to the command “%##!%!” This is why it’s very, very important to be consistent with your commands in training. Otherwise you end up with dogs who choose their own command words, and you have to figure out what they are. Ergo, the *dog *has trained you. Once the dog figures out that this makes him the dominant one, it’s all over for household peace.
I see much the same behavior with bratty children. Connection? [/hijack]
Having had cats, lots of cats, all my life and being a big fan of them, I have some opinions here, but I still will say a few things I think people won’t like:
Cats are graceful, reserved, dextrous with their paws, have mysterious, piercing eyes, and just LOOK like elegant, cultured creatures, so people assume they’re smart. Once you assume they’re smart, they seem aloof, especially compared to dogs.
Despite their appearance, I honestly think cats are phenomenally stupid animals. I too shared the “cats are smart, arrogant animals who consider them to be our masters, and are smarter than dogs” illusion for many years, until one day it dawned on me that a much simpler and more logical explanation for their behaviour is that they have rocks in their heads. They’re good at what cats do; beyond that there ain’t a whole lot going on upstairs. Eighty percent of the time they’re awake I think they’re pretty much just saying to themselves “Hummana hummana hummana hummana.” They don’t act like dogs for the simple reason that they don’t understand the things dogs understand, especially with regards to social interaction.
I find this is especially true with respect to training cats. The general consensus of cat lovers is that cats aren’t trainable because they’re arrogant and independent. It’s certainly true they are not social animals and don’t have the same instinct for heirarchy, but it’s also true that I think their memory has about a seven minute tape. My cats are UNQUESTIONABLY understanding of their place in the household; when I or Mrs. RickJay are angry at them they are filled with fear and awe. The one command they know very well is a hiss, which gets them running. But they have trouble remembering what they’re allowed or not allowed to do, because they’re dumbasses.
I love cats, but I do not share the illusion that they’re bright creatures, or aloof, or even mentally CAPABLE of aloofness. I think the reason most cats don’t answer to their name is that they’re too dumb to know you’re calling them.
My kitties are anything but arrogant. Even with the food bowl full, they will talk to me, follow me around, come into the shop and take up high positions to observe (unless scary tools are running). Any critter that crawls under a truck when I’m doing an oil change to say, “Rowoo?” isn’t arrogant.
Cats are arrogant until you screw with their reality, or nature does it for you. My fat boy became much more friendly after his bout with hepatitis (origin unknown still), which caused him to need surgery and a week at the Vet’s (also CAD 2500.00 in Vet bills).
He’s even more toned down now that he has neon blue claws because he was destroying the rug in the basement.
Take out their self esteem, and cats will bend to your will.
Don’t forget, they kill vermin. That is a “useful purpose” because it helps stop the spread of diseases.