Historical Cat Facts

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  Proailurus

  Miacis, the primitive ancestor of cats, was a small, tree-living creature of the late Eocene period, some 45 to 50 million years ago.

• Phoenician cargo ships are thought to have brought the first domesticated cats to Europe in about 900 BC.
• The first true cats came into existence about 12 million years ago and were the Proailurus.
• Experts traditionally thought that the Egyptians were the first to domesticate the cat, some 3,600 years ago.  But recent genetic and archaeological discoveries show that cat domestication began in the Fertile Crescent, perhaps around 10,000 years ago, when agriculture was getting under way. (per Scientific American, 6/10/2009).
• Ancient Egyptian family members shaved their eyebrows in mourning when the family cat died.
• In Siam, the cat was so revered that one rode in a chariot at the head of a parade celebrating the new king.
• The Pilgrims were the first to introduce cats to North America.
• The first breeding pair of Siamese cats arrived in England in 1884.
• The first formal cat show was held in England in 1871; in America, in 1895.
• The life expectancy of cats has nearly doubled since 1930 – from 8 to 16 years.
• Cats have been domesticated for half as long as dogs have been.

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