It Pays to Take Care of Your Family! Good Cat Dad Gets Rewarded with Kisses

Hey, it’s Father’s Day (as far as this feline dad is concerned)!

With more than 40k views, this is one of the most watched videos on Reddit’s popular sub-community r/aww! The feline couple appears to have a blissful family with four healthy kittens to be proud of, even if the “house” you see in the background does make things a little creepy (see below).

Based on the 2018 survey of Statista, there were 370 million pet cats in the world. Next to dogs, cats are people’s most favorite companion animals.

According to National Geographic, study of ancient cat genes shows that these furry creatures domesticated themselves. This means it’s cats who made the decision to become pets in human households rather than to stay and survive in the wild.

But even when cats have been living with humans for thousands of years, their DNA has hardly changed and remains largely similar to wildcats except for their size and appearance.

Furthermore, according to Nat Geo, the ancestry of domestic cats could be traced back to 4400 BC, when their species spread into Europe from southwest Asia. In the Middle East, they served as rodent patrols for farming communities in the region of the Fertile Crescent. Yes, it was the mice and rats that led cats to human communities, where both people and these animals grew fond of each other with the passing of time.

There’s also a second lineage that came from Egypt, and these were the African cats. It was around 1500 BC when these cats were introduced to the Mediterranean and the Old World. These cats were more sociable and tame, the probable reason why it had been easier for people to like them.

Tabby cats — or cats with wild stripes and markings just like tigers and cheetahs — started to appear in the Middle Ages. Their genes date back to the Ottoman Empire, with tabby cats later spreading in Africa and Europe.

But, apart from the appearance of tabby cats, there’s no major change in the DNA of domestic cats. They remain almost the same as their ancestors, who had captured the hearts of humankind with their unique, mysterious nature.

Watch this video of a loving cat family cuddling in their little bed!