Pets are a part of many people’s families. In fact, the ASPCA reported that about 37-47% of families in the U.S. own dogs, and 30-37% of families in the U.S. own cats. Although domesticated dogs started out as being wolf-like beings that helped humans hunt and gather, they have since adapted to be smaller, have shorter muzzles, smaller teeth, and generally less of an instinct to hunt in order to survive.
My cat, Smokey, may not be that domesticated, but it sure doesn’t look that way!
Cats, on the other hand, are animals that we have not been able to change.
About a year ago, the LA Times reported a study that showed that after about 10,000 years of cats living with us humans, we have only managed to semi-domesticate them.
Unlike dogs, who have changed so much under the influence of humans, cats retain many of the traits they started out with: the instinct to hunt, similar sensory systems, and digestive systems have remained relatively the same throughout the domestication years.
The only thing that humans have been able to change about their kitties is their fur (there is a difference in color and pattern) and a set of genes that scientists think relate back to tameness. Other than that, cats are only approximately 13 genes away from their ancestors, making them not very domesticated at all.
This study might not surprise the average cat owner at all. As someone who has had to clean dead mice off of the porch many times after my cat spent a few hours outside, it’s easy to tell that they have kept a lot of their traits from their ancestors. However, this study was useful for more than just showing us how close our cats are to their wild cousins- this study will actually help humans in the future.
New genes were also discovered during this study (which was conducted by the National Academy of Science and compared cats to other animals and analyzed the genome of domestic cats themselves). By knowing the similarities between domestic cats and wild cats’ genes, scientists will be able to better understand and better treat over 250 diseases that cats and humans have in common.
Cats have their own version of everything from HIV/AIDS to diabetes, and studying the newfound genomes of the domesticated cat could help scientists link these diseases back to humans. Using comparative genetics humans can link cat and human genes to one another.
However cool this may sound, these studies can take a long time and sometimes not even be successful. However, there is a chance that these studies may lead to a greater understanding of diseases, and maybe one day a a treatment or even a cure.
So, maybe cats haven’t really changed their ways of living since their domestication, but they could still change our lives.
Thanks for doing a blog post on cats, the world could never have too much information and analysis on such a wonderful animal. I had trouble understanding whether you had a thesis question or you were doing an informative blog on something that was interesting and not widely known. I think something that could have really helped your blog was to properly define domestication that you were referring too and how dogs have reached this definition and cats are lacking at it. The first thing that came to my mind was that I trained my cat to do her business in a litter box, eat and drink from a bowl and look at me when I say her name to take endless photos of her, be more specific on aspects that cats lack. I would also compare this further exploration back to dogs since you often do that in your introduction paragraphs. You say that cats have only evolved 13 genes, what are they and do we know their effect? What are the diseases that humans and cats share?
Your blog focused on how despite how ‘little’ cats have been domesticated studying their genes could aid comparative genetics. A study could be done that could compare how cats effect the lives of their owners, this could tell researchers a lot about how animals effect a human both positively and negatively. By adding a study like this to your blog you would have an overview of a science health study and a mental health study. A possible study design could be to look at a long term observation of the mental health of a cat owner and see how the animal effected their health, feelings, and lifestyle. A study similar to the one I proposed was done more generalized with any domesticated animal and found that their is usually positive effect on the owners health because they gained a companion. http://center4research.org/healthy-living-prevention/pets-and-health-the-impact-of-companion-animals/ It would be interesting to see if the proposed study would have a different effect on an individual because of their lack of domestication that you addressed in your blog.
Yes, dogs and cats are definitely two completely different forms of domestication. Both can be very loyal pets but cats tend to march to the beat of their own drum. All your information is important to the general idea but I think you just need to tighten up the writing! The only thought I had was – cats will generally kill mice and bring it to their owner as a gift. Although these are the same cats that will have an ‘attitude’. Does this mean they are domesticated.. or no?
The topic you chose made you’re blog one that I would have read regardless of whether I had to write a comment. I don’t have a pet back home because my brother and I sadly have allergies, but I still really like cats and dogs. The disease treatment application to this is very interesting and seems promising for future science. I am still wondering, though, how cats have been so much more difficult to fully domesticate than dogs. I think it might be a difference between canines and felines. Recently in Russia, there was a long-term experiment done on the domestication of foxes. Now, those foxes have been sold world-wide and some are even owned in the United States. I strongly suggest you write you’re next blog on this. I am mad I didn’t think of it earlier because I am finished with my blogs now. That would be a great blog to read and you could possibly investigate the question of how animals of the canine family have been so much quicker and easier to tame than cats of the feline species. Here is a source for the experiment.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:RUGE.0000033312.92773.C1
I have two cats and a dog, I can definitely see the difference of how the two different species responds to me. I wonder as you were saying about the genetics and how dogs have better hearing and sight that they would respond and listen more to the owners than the cats. Also, the saying the dog is man’s best friend seems to somewhat play a role. You cannot really imagine seeing cats are man’s best friend. In your post, you seemed to lack some data and maybe a case study, something to add volume or make it more interesting. It just kind of seemed like an overview. One thing that I wonder is whether there is a difference between male and female cats and if so, what exactly? I have a female and a male cat, the female is more sassy and the male cat just seems to be chill and slightly dominant, but not as dominant as the female cat.