Experts Say Living With Humans Has Had A Strange Impact On Cats

There are certainly a lot of cats in the United States, with nearly 60 million of them calling the Land of the Free their home. More than a quarter of U.S. households have a pet cat, and most of those owners have more than one. They’re a fixture in our lives, for sure, with so many of us slotting them right into family life. But perhaps fewer owners would welcome them so readily after learning the true extent of their drastic evolution.

All of these cats have had to come from somewhere, though. And it turns out that every single one has descended from a single ancestor species. It all started with the North African/Southwest Asian wildcat — if we’re being scientific, that’s Felis sylvestris lybica. As well as knowing where our fur babies originated from, scientists have also uncovered a peculiar change taking place. What’s more, it’s us humans that are bringing about the unexpected adaptation.

When we say cats have been with us for a long time, we mean a long time. People first started turning wild animals into furry sidekicks during the Neolithic era — or New Stone Age. While Southwest Asia played a big part in paving the way for pettable cats, it was the ancient Egyptians who really took things to the next level.

Surprisingly, cats had actually been our neighbors for millennia before we first tamed them. That’s right: wildcats lived among us even though we weren’t feeding them. And in the time they’ve stayed near us, their genetic make-up has hardly altered. All except for those adorable tabby coats, and the slow-burning internal shift that’s going on under the surface.

So why were cats drawn to humans? Were they seeking companionship? Not likely! They came because agriculture attracted rodents, and what do rodents mean to cats? Dinner! The age-old tale of cat and mouse has probably been going on for about 8,000 years, with the fur-balls eventually coming to Europe sometime around 4500 B.C. As for what turned the live-in pest control into one of the family, one thing seems certain — it took more than just a cage. 

University of Leuven professor Claudio Ottoni is an expert in cat domestication, and he told National Geographic how cats came to be tamed by human beings. He explained, “This is probably how the first encounter between humans and cats occurred. It’s not that humans took some cats and put them inside cages.” Oh no, our ancestors were far more cunning than that.

Once people had figured out how useful cats were for keeping rodent numbers down, humans actively encouraged them to stick around. Ottoni found evidence in DNA samples taken from ports that humans actually helped the spread of the animals. They did this by taking the creatures with them on ships to safeguard their onboard food stores.

Experts have actually identified a different possible historical domestication of cats, and this one seems a bit riskier than seafaring kitties. Studies show that in China’s distant past, people in some areas may have kept leopards as pets. Let’s hope they skipped the catnip. In any case, it clearly didn’t take, as there’s zero trace of leopards in modern cats — perhaps not a massive surprise!

Another feline expert, genetic specialist Eva-Maria Geigl, explained to National Geographic that despite thousands of years of domestication, cats really aren’t all that different. They still resemble wildcats pretty closely in many ways. How they do differ, though, is pretty mindblowing. One of the first major distinctions is that they aren’t strictly solitary like their wild counterparts; house cats will put up with other felines and with people, too. 

When it comes to dogs, Geigl noted one big difference. Canines were tamed earlier than cats because of the particular jobs people wanted them to perform. Naturally then, dogs were carefully chosen for specific traits that would suit their roles. But cats are different. Geigl explained, “I think that there was no need to subject cats to such a selection process since it wasn't necessary to change them. They were perfect as they were.” Perfect or not, the findings seem to suggest that they could be even less useful than was first thought.

One job that cats won’t be taking any time soon is that of a guard dog. And despite coming from a much wider family of creatures, house cats certainly don’t share every characteristic with their wilder relatives. One is the ability to roar. We’re sorry to say, but you’re probably not going to hear Mr. Tibbles let out much more than a meow any time soon. But there’s nothing wrong — domestic felines simply can’t produce the sound. The Carnegie Museum of National History’s John Wible told Live Science, “Any given cat species can either roar or purr, but not both.”

So not being able to roar does mean that cats can purr. Most people equate purring with happiness — but that’s not always the case. Unfortunately, purring isn’t always a good sign. No, sometimes an uncomfortable or frightened cat will purr. You should be able to work out what your pet is telling you, but just to be safe, maybe ditch that scary hand puppet toy! Aside from making themselves heard, how similar are our housecats to their big cat counterparts? 

You’ll need a compliant house cat and a mirror for this one. A key difference is that the big cats — tigers, lions, and so on — don’t have “cat’s eyes.” Instead, they have round pupils, just like we do. Take a look at your fur baby's eyes, and you should see distinctive black slits very unlike your own circular pupils. It’s thought that this might be down to size. In short, big cats aren’t as near to the ground, which means they don’t need to work so hard to bring things into focus.

Cats’ unusual eyes do more than just look the part, though, as their pupils can increase in size by a factor of up to 300. To put that into perspective, the pupils in our eyes can grow to just 15 times as big as their smallest size. But why? Well, cats often need to see in poor light. By making their pupils so much bigger, they let in a lot more light. And hey presto!

Is this because cats are nocturnal? Actually, no. Cats are what’s known as crepuscular. That means they’re out and about mainly at the times when there’s just a little light: dusk and dawn. Of course, your cat mightn’t hunt anything more than their bowl of food, but they still have genes that tell them to search for prey in the half-light.

Your cat might well sleep away the day if you aren’t around to entertain them. When you come back, though, they’ll be ready to play. If you want them to avoid that classic early-morning unwanted alarm, you can try tiring them out with some evening play to tucker them out. Unlike big cats, they’ll probably appreciate a comfy bed, too.

In the wild, cats largely live on their own. They don’t feel any need for company. But over the years, domesticated cats have come to build tight relationships with humans. Some more tolerant felines have even come to put up with dogs. And studies have revealed one worrying side-effect of this prolonged cozying up to their caregivers.

Vets tell us that cats can develop serious psychological issues if they’re left alone for a prolonged amount of time. They can even be physically sick in some cases. This isn’t always the case. Some cats might play for a while, but others won’t seek any form of interaction with their owners at all. Things start to get a little cloudy when other cats are involved, though. 

Cats can live without other felines. And actually, they usually find it better to be the only puss in the house. But they’re still capable of sociability and can build relationships with other cats if there’s one around. If you’re thinking of adding a cat to your brood, then it’s worth noting that it has a lot to do with when they’re introduced. If they grew up together, cats will often be fine friends. On the other hand, feral cats tend to live in groups.

As we know, not all wild cats are solitary. Lions famously tend to live in prides. These groupings can be as large as 40 creatures, usually featuring more females than males. This makes them the exception among the large cats, as all of the others hunt alone once they grow out of kittenhood. Forty housecats might be a little much, however.

Even if they do share a home, cats aren’t huge fans of sharing anything else — particularly when it comes to their kibble. To avoid any unwanted brawls at feeding time, experts have a handy trick for impatient kitties. If you have more than one cat, some say that it’s best to keep separate areas for each animal. This applies to toilet trips, too!

One of the most curious elements of cat behavior is the “zoomies.” Anyone who has a cat — particularly one that lives entirely indoors — knows they’ll sometimes go crazy, sprinting around after invisible foes. We wouldn’t want to witness a fully-fledged lion losing it! But they probably wouldn’t, given the reason.

Cat behavior expert Pam Johnson-Bennett told the Daily Paws website, “The zoomies typically look as if a switch has been flipped. Cats are ambush predators, and they conserve energy for multiple short bursts when hunting. For indoor cats who don’t get enough exercise, they may engage in the zoomies as a much-needed energy release.” And it’s behavioral changes like these that scientists think they’ve finally got sussed.

So domestic cats have a few differences from their wild relatives — but one, in particular, stands out as a direct consequence of evolution. Experts have checked out the size of the animals’ skulls and found that house cats have smaller ones than the wildcats they’re most closely related to. Yes, that means kitty has a smaller brain than their undomesticated relatives.

Luckily, the findings don’t seem to suggest that your pet isn’t as bright as a wildcat. What the experts do say, though, is that it’s all to do with domestication. How? Well, over time, humans have put value on cats being tame. These animals have gone from feral mouse-munchers to cuddly lap creatures. And this may well have affected their cerebral development.

Scientists believe that the change in cats’ brains may start when they’re just embryos. At that point, they’re developing a particular sort of cell found only in vertebrates — animals with backbones, such as humans or whales — known as neural crest cells. And these are crucial for what comes next.

That’s right, the nervous system. But what does that mean for our pets? Experts told Live Science that selecting cats based on their tameness has caused a drop in the growth of those all-important neural crest cells — the ones that play a key role in nervous system development. Without these essential cells, then, cats seem to be growing with lower levels of excitability and fear. They went on, “This downregulation may also cause correlated changes to morphology, stress response, and brain size.”

These experts had launched their project because previous research had compared house cats with the European wildcat. But those studies, which found that the wildcat had a much bigger brain, have since been called into question. That’s because the cats we keep as pets are no longer thought to descend from this particular animal.

More recent studies of cat genes have shown that the African wildcat is actually the creature most closely related to the domesticated cat. So it was a matter of assessing whether those old assumptions still held true if we used the African version as the benchmark. And the results were interesting, to say the least.

The difference between the brains doesn’t even need sophisticated measurements for it to show up. It’s that noticeable. In fact, the house cat can have a skull that’s just three-quarters the size of both the European and African wildcats. So, the previous research is still sound.

And the team didn’t stop there. They also took a look at some species that are hybrids between the wildcats and the domestic versions. The results were conclusive, too. The hybrids have skulls of a size that’s halfway between the tame and wild strains of the cat. Sorry kitties, it’s proven — we’ve shortchanged you on the smarts!

This seems to be firm proof that being tamed has led to cats’ brains shrinking. What makes this result even more interesting is that it’s reflected in other domesticated animals. The team explained, “Changes to cranial volume have been well documented across [domesticated] species, including sheep, rabbits, dogs, and many more.” And, yep, we’re to blame! 

So this study’s helped to progress our understanding of the changes in development that happen when wild beasts are tamed. But it also indicates a particular risk posed to those creatures that still live in the wild. They’re “threatened by hybridization with the domestic animals,” according to the team. Not what you want when it means a smaller brain!

Researchers don’t really know much about what goes on between those pointy ears. And the reason why so perfectly embodies the very essence of cats! Namely, they aren’t exactly willing to help researchers! One writer even described them as “the world’s most uncooperative research subject.”

But what is known is that cats have a brain size that may very well surprise you. It’s only 2 inches in length. Now that’s tiny! Tufts University veterinarian Serene Lai told the Great Pet Care website, “I’ve always marveled at how easy it is to overestimate the size of an animal’s brain.” And that small blob of gray matter only weighs in at just over an ounce. By comparison, even a newborn baby has a 12-ounce brain.

Cat brains aren’t much like human ones, either. While humans have a much bigger prefrontal cortex — which deals with complex actions, organizing, and short-term memory — cats have a bigger cerebellum. This part of the brain is more valuable in cat behaviors such as pouncing, balancing, tracking, and looking down from treetops.

With such a differently structured brain, it isn’t surprising that a cat doesn’t find the same things interesting as you, or even a dog. Lai explained, “Think about the cat toys that never fail to capture a cat’s attention. This mimics their natural drive to attack prey and feeds their curiosity and fascination with hunting birds and bugs.”

The animal with brainpower most similar to a cat is actually a brown bear. Yes, bears have much bigger brains (except perhaps for that famed possessor of a “little brain,” Winnie the Pooh), but cats have as many cells in the cerebral cortexes. These are the areas where information’s handled.

Humans can have a hundred times as many cells in their cortexes. Vet David Weinstein told Great Pet Care, “The human brain’s more complex and contains significantly more neurons — specialized cells designed to transmit information to other cells and muscles throughout the body.” So, no danger of cats outsmarting you, right?