Cats are Cats

In Namibia I had my first close up view of an African wildcat; a species of small wild cat that looks very similar to the domestic tabby that might be in your or your neighbors' window.  I called him Tom-Tom.  Each night when the sun went down Tom-Tom would climb down from the small rocky hill that was just behind our camp and make an appearance before going off to do what wild cats do in the night.  He did not attend to the words, here kitty kitty.  And in fact scrambled when he knew he was spotted.

Domesticated Cat????

Since being owned by a cat..., I mean since owning a cat I have come to realize they are not your typical domesticated pet.  In fact, I firmly believe a house cat has traveled only a short distance down the road of domestication not far from his Namibian cousin Tom-Tom.  House cats are miles, maybe even evolutionary life times, away from true domestication; living - in their minds anyway - like their African cousins.

I have heard it said that you can put a starving dog outside and they will stand at your door and beg to be let in to eat.  Contrarily, you can put a well fed cat outside and if the situation presents itself they will hunt, kill and maybe even eat anything on an opportunistic whim.  I witnessed this myself this weekend. My cat recently began to sit on the railing of the upper deck to stalk the birds that were coming to the bird feeder.  I made her stop sitting up there in fear of the birds' lives. Sunday she was on the floor below the feeder with her head stuck through the bottom of the railing.


Wild Cat????

I heard commotion and before I could react she caught a bird in mid-air with her paws and put it in her mouth then rushed to the door to take it inside.  Luckily, she dropped it on command - or perhaps it was because of my flailing and screaming that she dropped the bird.  Regardless, the bird flew away.  My cat was not hungry.  It was simply her wild, undomesticated side that came out.  She did exactly what Tom-Tom would have done.  I have seen this behavior in Africa's wild cats time and time again.  In Botswana a leopard reacted instinctually when a sand grouse flew over his head; leaping out of the hole he was in to catch the bird.  I've seen lions laying lazily about in the shade - as full of food as a bear at in a trout farm - go into full stalk and kill mode when an impala wandered too close.

I'm not sure how I feel about having such a feral animal in my house.  Okay, she isn't totally feral.  She does cuddle - when she's cold not when I want her to - and she uses a litter box.  But when push comes to shove, she is really no different than Tom-Tom!