A further difference from dogs is that cats were probably self-domesticated. That is, they moved in because they found human habitations a useful ecological niche and we accepted them as useful around grainaries, rather than, as with dogs, deliberately capturing a few and breeding them for certain traits. Not that cat traits haven't been bred for, but the basic behavior already fit in, so we've monkeyed with them less.
ETA what I forgot to mention, which was that last night Young Cat aka the Couch Potato (who's almost as round as one) went all Might Bug-Hunter on the large roach that sneaked in the front door. The instincts are in there, somewhere.
(no subject)
Wed, Jul. 10th, 2013 08:24 pm (UTC)ETA what I forgot to mention, which was that last night Young Cat aka the Couch Potato (who's almost as round as one) went all Might Bug-Hunter on the large roach that sneaked in the front door. The instincts are in there, somewhere.
---L.