Cats as an animal are very proud, moody and self-centred. They want love and affection from their owners, when they want it and on their terms. Its like their way or highway! One might even question themselves that why are they even petting their cats? Or who is really the master/owner in the relationship? Yes, a cat can definitely make you think that.
However, you cannot really blame him. There are researches and studies that show cats shares 95.6% of DNA with the tiger family. A cat belongs to the Felidae group. A tiger even belongs to the same, irrespective of the fact that he even belongs to the Pantherian family. The Pantherian family even includes the lion, the jaguar and the leopard – the other three biggest wild cats found in world.
Now, if an domestic pet has such royal family connections, how do you not expect it to be the way it is! Oh yes, your cute, furry, tickling-mingling cat is related to tigers.
Cats not only share DNA with the tigers, but also a lot of behavioural traits with them. You might have observed some of them yourself. Like a cat is an amazing hunter, just like a tiger. They don’t all of a sudden get these hunting skills. They seem to practice that right after their birth as kittens. It’s like their net practice for their future Olympics. We often oversee them as play tricks. But that is just their training sessions for further them to become “purrrfect”. Cats are excellent at hunting down their prey. They have sharp and quick senses. They can slow down and quicken at the same time. They can see very well at night, which helps them hunt at night even smoothly. This is a quality too received from their cousins (tigers).
Have your cat ever troubled you with the scratching, scrubbing and digging around the house. Well, if yes then don’t get angry at them. It is pretty much natural. And even them rolling and licking you at times. Similar to tigers, they even like digging and scratching to mark their territory. This even helps them to make them feel home. And they roll and lick to leave their scent on humans to identify them as friends. So these behaviour though strange and weird are some traits they receive from their DNA cousins.
Tigers, as we know are a carnivorous species. They only feed on meat. They cannot intake anything other than that. So are the cats. They even hunt and eat their meat. You will never find a cat eating salad or cereal. Not just the eating, sleeping and hunting abilities, but also the structural similarities seen between a tiger and cat are outstanding. Their face, their sitting positions, their teeth resemble to an extent. Many cats have retractable claws. Ignoring the exception of cheetahs that have semi-retractable claws. Cats even have five toes in front feet and four on their hind feet. Their feet even has soft pads on their toes and foot which helps them to make less noise while they jump and run, and even acts as winning pointer while hunting.
Apart from the similarities, a cat and a tiger even show certain dissimilarities. Like the size, the speed, the ferociousness, and not to forget the wilderness.
A cat though related to a tiger is not really one. A tiger cannot live with humans. It is sheerly impossible. But we can’t blame them either. How can one expect them to live with their food! Unlike tigers, cats enjoy our company and even adjust to our surroundings very well. They do not just adjust; instead even make it their home. It’s like God has designed them in a way that they can keep up with their wild side along with their pet side.
Although, the researches showing the relation between a cat and tiger are more, there is an even study that denies this fact. Some scientist says that tigers belong to the Pantherian family- the Panther family. So it belongs to the group of lions, leopards, cheetahs and not cats. But if you look all these animals is nothing but big, wild cats. So never mind. Anyways there are very few proofs and facts to really justify the theory. However, the previous theory – cats and tigers being ancestors, has valid researches.
These are certain reasonable answers to those questions which every cat owner might have faced atleast once during their petting phase. Like why is cat so sophisticated and yet has an aura that can mesmerize you. You feel a kind of pride while walking with your cats. They are so comfortable in their skin that they don’t need to woo or impress any other being. Sometimes these behaviours are interpreted as rudeness and ego of the animal, but now that we know, let’s just term it as ‘eliteness’ they gain by birth.
So let just shed away the typical mental blocks we have about cats, and appreciate the way it bring the wild and mild fusion into our homes being part of the family.