1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,960 Speaker 1: All right. If you love cats, hate them, or feel 2 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:06,640 Speaker 1: indifferent to them, you've probably asked yourself, what is up 3 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:10,080 Speaker 1: with these guys? You can adore both dogs and cats, 4 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:13,280 Speaker 1: but when it comes to their relationships with humans, they're 5 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:17,480 Speaker 1: really distinct. Here's the thing. Their genetics and their history 6 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 1: with us are very different. There's a reason dogs can't 7 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:24,720 Speaker 1: get enough of us and cats grace us with their presence. 8 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:29,680 Speaker 1: I'm Patty Steele Puppy eyes versus per machines. That's next 9 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:37,560 Speaker 1: on the backstory. The backstory is back. I'm going to 10 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:41,160 Speaker 1: qualify everything you're about to hear by saying I absolutely 11 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:45,280 Speaker 1: love animals. I have two big goofy dogs, Luna and Abby, 12 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 1: and two cats, Rose and Ozzy, my four fuzzballs. They 13 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:53,320 Speaker 1: are definitely a responsibility. But I think they'd probably say 14 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:56,440 Speaker 1: the same thing about me. I had cats years ago, 15 00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: but more recently just dogs. That was until they met 16 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 1: these two little rescue kittens about a year ago and 17 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:06,280 Speaker 1: could not resist allowing them to adopt me. And that 18 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 1: led to all sorts of questions about how and why 19 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:13,960 Speaker 1: our interactions with cats and dogs are so very different. 20 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:17,680 Speaker 1: Dogs are incredibly needy when it comes to love and attention. 21 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:22,080 Speaker 1: They give you the famous puppy eyes and you just melt. Cats, 22 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:24,959 Speaker 1: on the other hand, enjoy our attention but sort of 23 00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:27,039 Speaker 1: feel like if you don't pay attention to me, it 24 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:30,399 Speaker 1: is your loss. There's a line I recently heard about 25 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: the two. A dog's best friend is a human. A 26 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:37,200 Speaker 1: cat's best friend is a cat. But why Well, it 27 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:41,679 Speaker 1: all boils down to two things, genetics and history. Dogs 28 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:45,840 Speaker 1: ancestors were pack animals, living and hunting together with a 29 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: really strong pack hierarchy, unlike cats who hunt alone. About 30 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:55,280 Speaker 1: forty thousand years ago, when US humans primarily survived by hunting, 31 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 1: eventually a type of wolf developed that was friendlier and 32 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:02,480 Speaker 1: willing to have out with humans in their camps. That way, 33 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 1: they could scavenge food. Pretty soon, humans began to appreciate 34 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 1: the wolve's ability to protect us as well as hunt 35 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:12,760 Speaker 1: with us. It all boiled down to survival of the 36 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: friendliest in those days, and those were the wolves. Humans 37 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 1: began to selectively breed as partners. Today, researchers say dogs 38 00:02:20,919 --> 00:02:24,360 Speaker 1: are becoming even friendlier as we breed them for emotional 39 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: bonds more than as work partners. Okay, let's take a 40 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:30,960 Speaker 1: look at cat evolution. If you have a puss in 41 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:33,639 Speaker 1: the house, you know that they love to be affectionate 42 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:36,960 Speaker 1: and be cuddled until they don't, and it's their call, 43 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: and if you love them, their independence is a part 44 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:43,240 Speaker 1: of the joy. What you may also have noticed is 45 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:47,120 Speaker 1: that kitty cats don't have a corresponding feature like puppy eyes. 46 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:50,680 Speaker 1: They look at you and just maybe they'll half close 47 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:54,400 Speaker 1: their eyes, which we all interpret as love. Yes, they purr, 48 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 1: but that's actually more for themselves than for us. It's 49 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: triggered by a lot of things, happiness of course, but 50 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:04,120 Speaker 1: also the desire to soothe themselves. But they don't have 51 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: the facial muscles that dogs have to actually connect with 52 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 1: us on that level. So why don't we get those 53 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:14,800 Speaker 1: kitten eyes? Again, It's history, you see. Cats have only 54 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:18,000 Speaker 1: been domesticated for at most ten to twelve thousand years. 55 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 1: That's a quarter of the time the dogs have palled 56 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:24,360 Speaker 1: around with us and gained those facial muscles that even 57 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:29,280 Speaker 1: wolves don't have. Cat's domestication began when the first agricultural 58 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 1: societies began to develop. You see, when humans were mostly hunters, 59 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:38,480 Speaker 1: dogs were perfect companions, but cats only became useful when 60 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:42,200 Speaker 1: we started to grow things and more importantly, store the 61 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:46,280 Speaker 1: things we grew. Storing things like grain attracted a whole 62 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: lot of mice, snakes, and rats. So when wild cats 63 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 1: saw big container filled with their favorite prey, they were delighted, 64 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:56,560 Speaker 1: and humans were thrilled at the built in pest control. 65 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:01,680 Speaker 1: So cats became necessary first, and eventually a number of humans, 66 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:05,920 Speaker 1: particularly in certain Middle Eastern societies and in China, became 67 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 1: fascinated with them. Just about twenty years ago, archaeologists digging 68 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 1: in Cyprus at a ten thousand year old burial site 69 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:16,800 Speaker 1: found the remains of a cat that had been deliberately 70 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: buried with a human. That made it clear for the 71 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: first time that these ancient cats were not only domesticated, 72 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:27,600 Speaker 1: but very much appreciated. Later on, in Egypt, cats were 73 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:31,880 Speaker 1: treated like gods. Researchers found a cat's cemetery that holds 74 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:35,520 Speaker 1: three hundred thousand cat mummies. On top of that, if 75 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 1: you were convicted of killing a cat in ancient Egypt, 76 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:40,840 Speaker 1: you could be put to death, even if the death 77 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:46,280 Speaker 1: was accidental. Cats protected the Egyptian home from mice, rats, snakes, 78 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:49,919 Speaker 1: and even scorpions. In fact, when a family cat died, 79 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:54,560 Speaker 1: the family members the humans would frequently shave their eyebrows, 80 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:58,359 Speaker 1: as they did for human family members. The morning period 81 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 1: was over when the eyebrows go grew back in now 82 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 1: there was a time in Europe during the Middle Ages 83 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:06,960 Speaker 1: the cats were actually killed because they were considered to 84 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:10,840 Speaker 1: be in league with the devil or witches. Amazingly, scientists 85 00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 1: now think the mass killing of cats ironically helped to 86 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:17,359 Speaker 1: spread the Black plague in the thirteen hundreds, which was 87 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:21,520 Speaker 1: carried by rats. It killed up to sixty percent of 88 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:25,680 Speaker 1: the population of Europe. But that prejudiced against cats only 89 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:29,719 Speaker 1: really lasted until the sixteen hundreds or so. They weren't 90 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:32,960 Speaker 1: all considered evil. In fact, the Chief Mouser is the 91 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:35,760 Speaker 1: official resident cat at the home of the Prime Minister 92 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:38,720 Speaker 1: of the United Kingdom, a role that has lasted four 93 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:42,360 Speaker 1: hundreds of years. The current Chief mouser is Larry, who's 94 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:44,880 Speaker 1: been on the job since twenty eleven through at least 95 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:48,599 Speaker 1: five prime ministers. Now the role of cats more recently 96 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:51,640 Speaker 1: has been much more about the purrs and the interesting 97 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:54,800 Speaker 1: way they have of showing affection to us. In the US, 98 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:58,719 Speaker 1: cats are the most popular household pet, with ninety million 99 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:02,159 Speaker 1: of them in around thirty four percent of homes. Cats 100 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:05,719 Speaker 1: are beloved by celebrities like Taylor Swift, Ricky Gervais, and 101 00:06:05,839 --> 00:06:09,440 Speaker 1: John Lennon and have been muses to feline worshippers like 102 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 1: Ernest Hemingway, Mark Twain, Albert Einstein, Nicola Tesla, and Abe Lincoln, 103 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:18,760 Speaker 1: whose wife Mary Todd, when asked what her husband's hobby was, 104 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:22,920 Speaker 1: said his only hobby is kats. I hope you like 105 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:26,400 Speaker 1: the Backstory with Patty Steele. Please leave a review. I'd 106 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:29,279 Speaker 1: love it if you would subscribe or follow for free 107 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:32,760 Speaker 1: to get new episodes delivered automatically, and feel free to 108 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 1: dm me if you have a story you'd like me 109 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:38,200 Speaker 1: to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty Steele and on Instagram 110 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:46,359 Speaker 1: Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The Backstory is a 111 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:50,600 Speaker 1: production of iHeartMedia, Premier Networks, the Elvis Durant Group, and 112 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:54,559 Speaker 1: Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our writer 113 00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:58,440 Speaker 1: Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. 114 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:01,000 Speaker 1: Feel free to reach out to me with comments and 115 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:05,040 Speaker 1: even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and 116 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:08,080 Speaker 1: on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the 117 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:11,880 Speaker 1: Backstory with Patty Steele. The pieces of history you didn't 118 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:13,040 Speaker 1: know you needed to know.