Domesticated manual cat

Domestication of the cat While dogs were already domesticated by the end of the last Ice Age, some 12, years ago, cats were domesticated much later, probably not until agriculture developed and flourished in the "Fertile Crescent" of the Middle East.

Houses, barns and grain stores provided a new environmental niche that was rapidly exploited by mice and other small mammals, the favored prey of small wild felids.

From early times, a mutually beneficial relationship would have developed in which the cat got an abundant food supply, in return for controlling troublesome rodent pests.

It seems likely that these wild cats would have been tolerated, initially, or even encouraged with scraps of food. Like the wolf, the more docile of these wild cats would have been gradually absorbed into human society, and in this way, a founder population of semi-tame cats may have been established.

Over thousands of generations, many of the typical physical changes associated with domestication occurred in the cat. These include reduction in overall size, shortening of the jaw, reduction in brain size and cranial capacity, changes in carriage of the ears and tail, and changes in coat color and texture.

Unlike the dog, however, cats in human societies have remained largely independent, and had far less selective pressure for desirable traits than other domesticated species. So, the domestic cat has changed relatively little in appearance from its wild ancestors. Cats in ancient Egypt Taming of the cat is widely attributed to ancient Egypt, where it may have begun about 4, years ago.

The Egyptians were greatly interested in animals and would have recognized the value of cats as controllers of vermin such as rodents, snakes and other poisonous reptiles. Cats had great religious significance in this culture, and were often seen as representatives of deities or as objects of religious cults. So cats would have been well cared for in captivity, and many cats would have been kept as cult objects or as household pets.

Since they were a protected species, causing the death of a cat was punishable by death. The Egyptians restricted the spread of cats to other countries by making it illegal to export them. But domestic cats were eventually taken to other countries. Eventually, the cat travelled with human settlers to all areas that were colonized, crossing the Atlantic to North America in the 17th century in response to demands from settlers who were dealing with an invasion of rats. The cat's appearance in Australia was probably also related to its usefulness in exterminating vermin and its ability to adapt to life on board ship.

Modern breeds As the cat spread throughout the world, geographically separated populations may have developed certain features that differentiated them from other cats.

This would have been a result of inbreeding within the group and of occasional interbreeding with local wildcat races. In most cases, however, the modern breeds of cat have been produced by selective breeding, a relatively new phenomenon only popularized within the last years or so.

Silver Tabby and Silver Tabby Kitten images are trademarks. However, female cats, which are called queens, are induced ovulators. This means that they do not ovulate pass an egg unless they are bred. This greatly increases the chances of conception when bred, which is why stray queens often have many kittens per year. The queen can enter her first heat as young as 4 months of age, and she generally has 2 or 3 heat cycles during the breeding season typically February to October in the northern hemisphere.

During heat, the queen is receptive to males and shows characteristic mating behavior. She will roll, rub against objects, knead her back feet, and yowl repeatedly and loudly. This behavior can last 3 to 20 days and can repeat in 10 to 40 days if the queen is not bred. If the queen is bred, the cycle ends as her body prepares for pregnancy.

Gestation, or pregnancy, lasts about 2 months 60 to 63 days , with an average litter size of about 4 kittens. Queens can be bred by more than one male during a heat period, resulting in kittens from the same litter with different sires. Signs of pregnancy include a large abdomen, increased appetite, and swollen mammary glands that may release milk when squeezed.

Avoidance might arise because of aspects of the substrate texture, depth, scent, cleanliness , box size, shape, hood , or location that reduce appeal; unpleasant experiences at or near the box eg, insufficient cleaning, noises, pain due to medical problems ; or difficulty in gaining access to the box.

Although anxiety may not be an inciting factor for inappropriate elimination, cats may avoid the litter or box if fearful ie, personality or when there is conflict between cats in the home whether active or passive. Although substrate, litter box, and location preferences may arise secondary to avoidance, some cats may actually have a preference for a particular odor, texture, or location.

Treatment should focus on providing a litter, box, and site that is most appealing to the cat; reducing or preventing the use of the soiled location; and resolving the underlying factors contributing to the soiling.

Appeal might be improved by identifying and resolving potential deterrents eg, undesirable location, fear-evoking stimuli such as furnace noise, or limited access such as a shared washroom , adding additional boxes or additional sites, finding a more appealing location for the litter, improving access to the litter eg, larger box, ease of entry, ease of exit , and finding out which litter eg, sand, clumping, clay, soft towel, scented and box type eg, size, shape, height, covered, self-cleaning is preferred by offering the cat choices to decide.

Access to the soiled location might be prevented by blocking access to the area, or the appeal reduced by using odor counteractants in the soiled area, making the area unpleasant eg, double-sided sticky tape, upside-down [nubs-up] carpet runner , or changing the function of the area play, scratching, feeding, sleeping.

Aggression toward owners may be fear induced or related to play or predation. Cats that bite during petting may have a low tolerance for physical contact, and some cats bite to keep people from approaching or handling them when they are resting, sleeping, or eating which may be a learned, fear, or social issue. Aggression may be particularly intense if the cat is approached when it is aroused. When the arousal is due to a stimulus to which the cat cannot gain access eg, another cat outside, loud noise , the cat may redirect its aggression to any person who approaches.

Some cats display abnormal and out-of-context social responses, including aggression, when approached or handled. This may have a genetic component that is compounded by insufficient socialization, lack of adequate maternal care, inadequate early handling, and fear-evoking or traumatic early experiences. However, at the time of presentation, most aggression also has a learned component, because any unpleasant response on the part of the owner eg, fear, punishment will cause increased fear, whereas retreat of the owner negatively reinforces the behavior.

Aggression toward strangers most often has a fear component. Cats may display aggression toward other cats due to play, predatory behavior, redirected behavior, fear, and perhaps as a status-related behavior in which cats use aggression to retain control of sleeping areas, common areas, or possessions. Ultimately, the relationship that develops between any pair of cats will be affected by learning, because fearful responses by either cat can increase aggression, as will retreat of one of the cats negative reinforcement.

Aggression toward unfamiliar cats is most often a fear response but may have a territorial component. The first step is to ensure that further injuries are prevented. Avoidance physical, visual, and preferably olfactory separation of cats that are fighting is paramount, and early intervention is best. Although some cats will need to be separated at all times until they are calm enough to be reintroduced, if there are particular times or situations when conflicts arise, it might be necessary to separate the cats only at these times.

Only after the cats are calm which can take days to months can desensitization and counterconditioning with favored rewards begin ie, play with toys, treats. Desensitization and counterconditioning might first begin with odors by grooming each cat with a brush or towel used on the other, and by feeding each cat separately in a common area on opposite sides of a partition glass, screen, or solid door and then in a common area at sufficient distance that the cats can be calm and take food or play with toys.

Training one or both cats to wear a leash and harness can help to ensure safety and distance during reintroductions, while a bell on the aggressor can help the victim be aware of its whereabouts. Providing more three-dimensional space, including climbs and perches, and ensuring sufficient resources at sufficient distance to facilitate avoidance can further decrease conflict.

Reward training limited to a few selected verbal cues eg, come, sit, go to your room can further aid in managing the cats during introductions or in diffusing potentially aggressive situations.

Punishment should be avoided, because it increases fear and anxiety in cats. Drugs might also be indicated see Treatment of Fears, Phobias, Anxiety, and Aggression Treatment of Fears, Phobias, Anxiety, and Aggression When behavior of dogs is undesirable, there are three levels of consideration: 1 Behaviors within the normal range for the species, age, and breed. In these cases, the owners need guidance Abnormal repetitive behaviors in cats are derived from normal behaviors such as stalking, chasing, grooming, etc.

These may be exacerbated by stress or anxiety such as alterations in relationships with people or other cats, or may be inadvertently aggravated by the owners either reinforcing or punishing the behavior increasing conflict and anxiety. If these behaviors occur out of context or in a frequency or duration in excess of that needed to accomplish the task, a diagnosis of compulsive disorder should be considered.

Medical problems must be excluded, because they can be responsible for many of the same signs. Cats that suck, lick, chew, or even ingest non-nutritive substances—including natural materials such as wool or cotton, synthetic fabrics, plastic, rubber, paper, cardboard, and string—may have a compulsive disorder if the problem becomes sufficiently frequent or intense; however, disease processes, in particular those that might affect the GI tract, should first be excluded.

Oriental breeds develop pica, particularly sucking of woolen objects, more frequently than other cats. Hallucinatory and locomotory compulsive disorders are less common than in dogs; however, painful conditions and any disease process affecting the neurologic system first need to be excluded.

Cats often improve with modifications to the environment that provide more control and predictability and increased enrichment, combined with medications that augment the amount of brain serotonin such as fluoxetine and clomipramine. Hyperesthesia may not be a specific disorder but rather a sign of underlying medical or behavioral problems. Most commonly, the skin along the lumbosacral area may twitch or ripple. There may be excessive self-grooming, hissing or biting at the back or flank, and intensive tail wagging.

Some cats cry, dash away, and even defecate. These episodes arise when the cat is highly aroused and may be incited by physical contact or external stimuli.