Cats

I

Know

an exploration of the companionship we share with our feline friends.

by nolan davis kiely

Cats I Know is a poster series exploring the relationship between human and feline. 

Domesticated cats have long been part of human life. First documentation of domesticated cats was in Egypt where they established a mutually beneficial relationship with grain farmers protecting their crops from rodents.

The feline soon fostered new relationships with humans as they entered a new line of work as mousers on ships. Cats traveled with humans around the globe, quickly introducing the world to the domesticated feline.

The cat has played many a role in history. The cat figured prominently in the religions of Egypt, the Norse countries, and various parts of Asia. The Egyptians had a cat-headed goddess named Bast (or Bastet). Thousands of cat mummies have been discovered in Egypt, and there were even mouse mummies, presumably to provide food & entertainment for the cats.

Unfortunately, cats have been more cruelly mistreated than perhaps any other animal. In history, cat burnings for no other reason than entertainment, hangings, beatings and massacres were common.

Still today there is distain towards cats, although much less than in the days mentioned above. I personally have never met a cat anything like the ones people tell me about when they explain to me why they don’t like cats, or the horror story of why they would never adopt one. I am not advocating for people who don’t like cats to adopt, but rather, let be.

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