Over 50 centuries ago, the proud cultures of Mesopotamia (Presently Iraq) and Egyptian in the Middle East began farming on a large scale, growing crops not only for immediate consumption, but for storage as surplus. For this storage system, they are the first to adopt the cat as a pet and a helper to keep down rodent populations that threatened to destroy grain crops being kept in large storehouse. Today’s domestic cat is thought to have evolved from the African and European wildcats, small felines living in semi-arid and temperate climates.
Cat worship
The cat has a very big impact to some cultures. The Thais, Burmese, Japanese and the Vikings. But all of those civilizations come in pale with the Egyptians, however, who defied or hurt a cat and anyone caught injuring a cat was severely punished, and when a cat passed away, the family mourned for days, shaving the eyebrows as a gesture of sorrow and sense of loss for their cat.
Cat fear
The mistrust over witchcraft and devil worship, the role of the cat in pagan religions and a philosophical reliance in superstition caused church officials to condemn the poor cat, resulting in burnings, sacrifices and horrible mass killings of cats in Europe during the middle ages.
There was a price to pay, though. During the 4th century, a plague swept the whole Europe and parts of Asia, caused by a contagion carried by the fleas infesting the rats. This horrible disease killed millions. Faced with such catastrophe, officials of the church and commoners swiftly sang a different attitude towards the cat-the only effective vermin around to hunt the rat and help control the disease in the process. By the 17th century, the domestic cat was once again welcomed all over the world. Until now, we consider the cat as our pet and to some, a beloved family member passively.