Cats would become official heirlooms, passed down between house and family.
this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2025
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The handful of pet Galapagos tortoises are something like that.
You know how there's all those fuckin people who swear they were Napoleon or Cleopatra in a previous life? Something like that.
"I'll have you know that Mr Mittens was a favorite bed cat of Charlemagne!"
"Quite. What is the Frankish for 'Mr Mittens' anyway?"
Cats would not evolve very quickly. Because of their ancestors filling the ecological niche, taking resources, new generations wouldn't have room to compete. So we would have less varieties of cats.
Also, domestication would move much slower.
They are domesticated? I've seen African wild cats go up to people, purr, and then get angry when food is around just like the ferals in the neighborhood.
Cats self domesticated. Which suggests their natural behavior isn't far removed from what we'd expect from domestic animals.
Dogs were selectively domesticated from some pleistocene species of wolf, from which the modem Gray Wolf also descended. Probably due to initially also exhibiting some of those traits naturally.
That's what the cats want you to think. They are just happy they are treated like gods. If we stopped they just go back to their genocidal ways. Keeping them at home is a win for every living thing.
I don't know what the current standing is, but it was suggested that the domesticated wolves had genetic tendencies to form relationships with humans, i.e. trust them more than the rest of the species. That trait of obedience was the first step, rewarded by food and shelter, and spread by breeding the ones who would continue that characteristic of being trainable.
Our dogs come from broken wolves.
More likely than not, these animals were already selecting for those traits before humans got directly involved. Following nomadic humans around is a great way to find an easy meal, especially considering humans and wolves were competing for the same resources, animals that caused problems for those humans would likely have been killed or driven away at the very least.
Kind of interesting how savaging scraps led to trust and then unlock the selective breeding skill for the species.
If they still bred the same way, the world suffer mass extinction.
I hear they're pretty good at driving local birds extinct right now. Think about what would happen if they got this much time to hone their craft!
Cats would be studied and experimented to create all sort of grift like snail juice creams and the entire culture of Chinese animal "medicine" we have today.
Maybe what we have now is actually better for the cats.
Remember, Mittens used to run the Holy Roman Empire, so a little bow and groveling go a long way…also he puked on the rug.
News: "Audrey Hepburn's cat sold for $1000000 at auction"
Is the lifespan of cats in this scenario 1,000 years or 9 x 1,000 years because of their nine lives?
Sadly even indoor cats barely live to 20.
Yes, indeed. RIP Grumpy Cat and all the others.
Cats would put you down when it was time for you to go home from old age
OP was asking for things that would be different.
Their hearts would have to beat a lot slower, as pretty much every species gets 1-2 billion heartbeats per lifespan.
how long then would mice be supposed to live? (squeaky noise, here)
Cat worship would go up. Also their behavior might be worse from being spoiled all the time.
There may be a possibility of increasing their danger levels since they will have way more hunter experience.
I’d still prefer dogs.