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Ever wondered why cats consented to live with humans? While they have not been domesticated for as long as dogs they have been sharing our households for thousands of years. The Egyptians were not the first to take them into their homes. They were just the first to decorate their homes, temples and tombs with depictions of them so ensuring their favourites endured for eternity. African wildcats moved into farming settlements to control pests in stored grain. When vermin were in short supply the cats relied on humans to supply their meals. The cats that survived combined good hunting ability with the ability to reward people with their company. As time went on these cats extended their feline family bonds to include humans and humans reciprocated taking the most tractable and attractive onto their hearths. However, cats retain all the features that make them good hunters. Their displays of emotion are muted. They are not going to shout out if they find something tasty to eat or a comfortable bed. They regard other cats as rivals for food and other resources. Cats are also not going to show fear or pain if a predator or a rival cat is around. This makes it very hard for you to tell when your cat is not well. It is thought that the purr evolved as a signal from kittens to their mothers to make her stay with them. They are saying “please settle down next to me” in the most inviting way they know.

Feliway is a copy of the pheromone that cats naturally rub around their environment to make them feel comfortable. It is odourless to us - but a potent calmer for cats. Every time a cat rubs the side of its face against objects in the home, it leaves behind a pheromone to mark its territory. This pheromone helps them feel at home and happy. Changes in and around your home can upset your cats and prevent them from following their normal routine of rubbing this pheromone around their area. They then feel less secure, and become stressed. Activities such as redecorating, moving the furniture, having guests or tradesmen in, going to the cattery and moving home remove these natural pheromones from around the cat and cause stress. Any change in your home organisation and schedule disturbs your cat, for example: a newborn baby, toddler or a new partner, a new work roster. Cats are very sensitive to routine and crave a stable environment. A stressed cat may hide, scratch furniture, urinate outside the litter box, spray the curtains or become aggressive to other cats in the household. Feliway helps maintain the scent that gives your cat a feeling of peace and calm, and reduces the stress that your cat is experiencing.

This is part 1 of the text of the talk given at our 2017 client night. Watch out for future installments. Cats’ senses are very different to ours because they evolved as hunters and retained these characteristics even after they came to live with us. Cats are descended from the African wild cat, which are ambush hunters of rodents, frogs, reptiles, and birds, but potential prey for larger animals. Our cats’ senses are unaltered from those of the wild cat. All that has changed in their brains is the ability to form social attachments to people Cats eyes are suited to hunting at night. The large cornea allows light to enter the eye and the reflective layer under the retina maximises light sensitivity. This high light sensitivity would be painful in broad daylight so their pupils contract to a slit and their eyelids close to protect the retina in the day. They have no need for colour vision at night and so see yellow and blue but not red and green. Size, pattern and shape of prey are more important to them. The most critical aspect of vision in cats is that it is best from 2-6 metres away. This makes it difficult for them to take treats from our hands. However like us they have binocular vision, which enables them to judge the distance to prey, and to climb and jump accurately. Their eyes are acutely sensitive to minute movements – like the twitch of a mouse’s whisker.