About 10,000 years ago
The cat chose us
biologyhistory
Every house cat descends from the African wildcat, Felis lybica, of North Africa and the Near East. When farmers began storing grain, mice moved in, and wildcats followed the mice. A cat buried beside a person on Cyprus about 9,500 years ago is among the oldest evidence of cats living with people. Unlike dogs, cats were never bred for jobs; they mostly tamed themselves.
Cats changed less than dogs: a house cat and a wildcat still share almost the same body. That is why cats can go feral so easily.
Sources: Driscoll et al., The Near Eastern origin of cat domestication, Science (2007); Vigne et al., Early taming of the cat in Cyprus, Science (2004)
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