Cats: Caressing the Tiger
- Year:
- 1991
- 54 min
- 66 Views
They're independent;
they're affectionate;
they're loyal; they're beautiful;
they're sagacious; they're mysterious;
they're ineffable; they're inscrutable.
Cats are magic.
They really are magic.
Probably the most mysterious
creatures in the world.
They're also very vicious;
they're very cruel things.
That's another thing
I like about them
their ability to be
one thing and then another.
The domestic cat harbors
a sort of split personality.
Within even the most demure pussycat
lurks a creature of the wild.
Even after thousands of years,
the behavior of domestic cats.
Now, scientists and laymen alike
attempt to understand them to
demystify this elusive feline.
For them, the domestic cat is
every bit as intriguing to study
as the lion or the tiger.
To share one's life with a cat is to
invite a bit of wildness indoors.
Perhaps the writer was correct
when he philosophized:
"God made the cat that man might have
the pleasure of caressing the tiger."
Today, the Western world enjoys
an unparalleled love affair
between man and beast.
Cat coming through.
The cat now surpasses the dog
as the number one pet,
and annually we spend more on cat food
than on baby food.
to thousands of fellow enthusiasts.
compete longhairs, shorthairs,
and some that seem to have no hair.
There are nearly 58 million pet cats
While many are common alley
cats of little monetary value,
for as much as $3,000.
And, although many people
dislike and distrust cats,
and indulge them.
Keeping cats and their owners happy
It's extremely durable
It's synthetic fur.
Look at the beads in the middle there.
You see the beads?
Oh, yeah.
Okay, listen.
You hear that little scratchy sound?
Drives the cats crazy. They love it.
This is one of our kitty condos.
We have a birthing area
or a litter area.
Kitty pan comes down on the bottom.
It's made of solid0-wood construction
stain-resistant carpeting...
The cat, as you can see
has a tubular body;
everything is in line.
It's got the long body
the long tail,
the long head to go with
the rest of the body.
Long bones.
The people keep it in wonderful
condition, because he's very muscular.
He's not skinny at all; he's just
slim and hard like an athlete.
Like a specter floating from the
mists of prehistory
into the shadows of modern times,
two species of wildcats still prowl
parts of Africa and Europe.
Presumed to be the ancestors
of today's house cat,
they even look like tabbies.
But wildcats are fierce and formidable
animals, in no way tame.
In ancient times many became tame
when farmers fed and sheltered them
The farmers were Egyptian.
The time more than 3,000 years ago.
The cat became adored
and revered in Egypt.
Never since has the cat's honored role
been matched anywhere in the world.
One goddess in the form of a cat
symbolized pleasure,
fertility, and maternity.
Cats were also associated with the
deity believed to start the sun
on its daily course
and one who symbolized life itself.
The Brooklyn Museum maintains one of
the world's finest Egyptian collections
Its curator is archeologist
Richard Fazzini.
He divides his time between
ancient ruins and ancient artifacts.
Prized in any such collection
is a cat mummy,
embalmed as were the
ancient pharaohs themselves.
This pussycat has been
this way since,
well, he's hard to date,
but let's say
at least 2,300 to 2,500 years.
Now why, you might ask, did the
Egyptians mummify animals?
Well, because certain gods could
appear in the form of certain animals.
And so it could be a pious gesture
or part of some cult ritual
to present a mummified cat to place
it in a temple
or to place it in one of
But the heyday of the cat was to pass.
Once sacred, the cat would come
to be hated and scorned.
The same eyes perceived as the throne
of the gods
became feared as the seat of the Devil
Believed by many to be the
companions of witches,
thousands of cats were tortured.
burned, and hanged, as recently as
colonial times in America.
Veterinarian Michael Fox
is Vice President of the
Humane Society of the United States.
He writes extensively on cat behavior
and human cat relationships.
It is intriguing that cats have been
revered in history and persecuted.
There was one pope
who had all cats killed.
This love-hate relationship, I think,
reflects an aspect of the
dualistic psyche of human beings.
We love things conditionally.
We love them if we can control them
and they will bend to our will.
Or we love them
because they are mysterious,
that they're an aspect of
nature's wildness,
which the cat embodies.
The domestic cat is but one
of 38 species of cats,
most of them astonishingly alike.
Take away their spots or stripes
their short or long fur,
disregard the differences in size
from four pounds to more than 600
and a cat is a cat is a cat.
Few pet owners are aware that most of
the behaviors of their house cat
have a parallel somewhere in the wild.
The cat is an enchanting combination
of beauty and utility.
Its sinuous movements delight the eye.
Cats get some of their suppleness
which are so constructed
that they can shift
the front legs freely
in almost any direction.
They have almost no collar bone
and an exceptionally limber spine.
Ever fluid and graceful cats are
marvels of strength and balance.
All cats advertise their territory.
Spraying deposits a pungent scent.
Scratch marks are visual signals
and may also carry a scent
from glands in the paws.
Glands on the face and tail deposit
scents at home just as in the wild.
Sometimes more than one signal is left.
deadly between animals
with such sharp teeth and claws,
so most disputes are settled by body
postures and intimidating bluffs.
Friendly greetings are generally more
fleeting and subtle
a nose touch or body rubbing.
Exactly how and why cats purr
remains a mystery.
We do know that both purring
and kneading with the paws
first appear in infancy to stimulate
the mother's milk to flow.
Being hunter, cats must conserve
energy whenever possible.
They snooze about
two-thirds of the time,
but always remain alert to sounds;
hence, the term catnap.
In all cats ovulation
the release of an egg,
does not occur until
mating triggers it.
After gestation of two to four months
depending on the species,
they give birth to one to eight young.
Kittens and cubs are helpless at birth
At first they can neither see nor hear
their life guided primarily
by touch and smell.
Amazingly, each has a preference
for one particular nipple,
which it locates by smell.
In the wild this efficient behavior
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