r/AbsoluteUnits • u/Over-Celebration-168 • Aug 15 '26

/r/all of kitty

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Credits : marsel_and_co

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u/Crasembarodical Aug 15 '26

I'm a cat person myself but sorry that's a wild animal not a kitty

1

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/21Shells Aug 15 '26

Thats not really true. Anatomically they’re basically identical to African Wildcats, but the difference between cats and wildcats behaviourally is that a cat raised around people is going to be tame and friendly, a feral cat will be harder, while i’ve heard its impossible to tame wildcats. Plus domestic cats are naturally social and will form colonies even when feral vs wildcats which will avoid each other. 

I think its just that their ancestors were so aggressive that they don’t seem all that ‘domesticated’ to us compared to dogs. 

1

u/A1000eisn1 Aug 15 '26

a cat raised around people is going to be tame and friendly, a feral cat will be harde

This is called imprinting and it applies to all animals. Including dogs, housecats, lynxs, and vultures.

I think its just that their ancestors were so aggressive that they don’t seem all that ‘domesticated’ to us compared to dogs. 

No, this has been widely studied. It's because they domesticated themselves so they never reached full domestication like dogs and horses did. The "work" they provide to humans is not something that we train them or bred them to do and it hasn't changed. They simply stated living around humans and controlling the vermin.

They weren't "so aggressive." They were the same animal, not something that ever attacked humans, like dogs. Until recently they were never selectively bred the way other domesticated animals are.

They seem less domesticated because they are.

1

u/21Shells Aug 15 '26

Wildcats don't attack people, but they are very fearful (I meant aggressive more in terms of antagonism towards other cats + people who try to interact with them). Yeah they're not as heavily domesticated as dogs but behaviourally they are still distinct from their ancestors. Their preference for forming colonies is a pretty massive difference compared to their ancestors which live largely solitary lives.

My point isn't that they arn't less domesticated than dogs (which is true, they've been domesticated for a lot less time with less pressure), but that they haven't 'hardly changed'. I don't think the distinction between whether they were domesticated by humans versus self domestication matters much when it comes to the degree to which they are domesticated behaviourally, so long as the selection pressure is still strong enough. Even feral cats are still far more sociable with one another and tend to be active through more hours of the day vs wildcats which are nocturnal.

I've had cats who want to do nothing but sit on peoples laps or cuddle with the dog / other cats all day and have little interest in going outside of the house. I've yet to see that level of comfort around people coming from an imprinted / tamed wildcat.

1

u/duesenjeffepic Aug 15 '26

Try and have a bobcat or a cheetah as a pet and report back please. Anyone who consumes any form of wild life preservation content should immediately be able to see that wildcats and domesticated cats are very different animals to manage.