History of the Domestic Cat: From Middle Ages to Now

History of the domestic cat

From middle ages to now

As the Middle Ages began, cats began to be associated with witch craft and the devil. People related the way they caught rats and mice with the way the devil catches souls. Their nocturnal nature also fed this belief. It was thought that the devil took the form of a black cat and black cats became labelled as bringers of evil. With the coming of the Black Death in 1348 suspicion of cats only grew and rulers ordered the mass killing of cats as they were blamed for the disease. Ironically if the cats had not all been killed the Black Death may have not been anywhere near as bad as rats were the real perpetrators of the disease.

Not all was bad for cats in the middle ages: Muslims continued to hold cats in high regard as it was believed that Muhamad was a fan. In fact many believed that the typical m shape that sometimes can be seen on a tabby cats forehead stood for Muhamad.

During the plague people stopped having time for hunting cats between disposing of bodies and protecting themselves from disease. This allowed cats some time to replenish their numbers and they began to kill the rats that carried the disease. People realised that cat weren’t evil and they returned to their valued position as vermin exterminators.

Cats were brought to America around the 15^th/16^th century on explorer ships where they were used to control vermin. Breeds such as the hugely popular American shorthair is thought to have developed from a mix of the British sort hair form the ships and the wild cats that lived in America.

They again became popular pets in Britain during Queen Victoria’s reign and have remained one of the most popular household pets since. In the 1990’s the surpassed dogs as the most popular pet and now there are over half a billion domestic cats in the world.