Cats! This morning I awoke to find three cats sleeping on me. One was across my feet, one between my legs, and our 18-year-old Tom next to my chest and face. Cindy, on the other hand, was sleeping cat-free. Usually, the old Tom sleeps on her, but not last night. I couldn’t help but think, “Why me?”

Cats are said to be the only animal to domesticate itself. The first domestic cats were native to the “fertile crescent”. When people stopped hunting and gathering, about 12,000 years ago and settled down to grow crops, they had to harvest and store the crops. The stored crops were like nirvana for rats, mice, and other rodents. All those rats, mice, and other rodents were food for cats! The cats moved in and the people allowed them to stay.

The cats spread through the Middle and Near East and were treated as god-like creatures by the Egyptians. There is a “pet cemetery” in Berenice, Egypt that holds 600 mummified cats. Across Egypt over 300,000 mummified cats have been found. The penalty for killing a cat was death!

The Romans took the cats to Europe where in the Middle Ages the opposite attitude toward them developed. Europeans viewed cats as evil companions to witches. They were killed on sight. Sadly, that left more and more rats, which carried the fleas that carried the bubonic plague. Killing cats led to the death of millions of people!

While domestic cats have been around for 12,000 years, and depending upon the source, we now have up to 70 different breeds, they really didn’t become popular indoor house pets until about 80 to 100 years ago. Neutering, high protein cat foods, de-clawing, and cat litter made them “indoor friendly”. Even with food and a home indoors, they are still killers! House cats are believed to kill up to 600 million songbirds each year just here in the U.S.

While we think of cats as independent, standoffish creatures, they are actually very social. When cats sleep together, they sleep on each other in what is called “pillowing”. Being in contact with others gives a cat a sense of protection, safety, and security.

Though living in groups, cats tend to prefer one individual to others. For our 17-year-old female cat, I am her “person”. She follows me everywhere and wants to be in my lap the minute I sit down. Presently she is sleeping across my arm which makes typing difficult. Her name is Scotch and we talk about my lap being the “Scotch spot”. If our youngest cat gets in the “Scotch spot” a short-lived fight may ensue. If the old Tom is there, Scotch will settle in and sleep on both of us. She knows better than to fight with him.

Cats can be frustrating and yes, we have to clean the cat box every day, but for the most part, they are affectionate and fun to have around. If I sit in the lounger to watch T.V., I soon have two or three on me, and even though they basically sleep all day, they still want to “pillow” on me all night!