Inveterate Hunters

Theban tomb frescoes from the Twelfth Dynasty (c. 1980-1801 BC) indicate that cats may have assisted Egyptians during fishing and fowling expeditions.

Whether or not these cats were domesticated is unclear, but they show that the family cat is an inveterate hunter.

Domestication was probably a symbiotic process; humans encouraged the cat to stay by providing meals and shelter, while in turn the cat purged the household of vermin.

Over the years, cats have found work in all kinds of places, from offices to museums. Many of these cats have killed a prodigious quota of pests.

For example, Towser (1963-1987), a Scottish distillery cat, was credited with catching a record-breaking 28,899 mice.

There is even a convent in Cyprus - St. Nicholas of the Cats - named in honor of the cats that protected it, and the local population, from an infestation of venomous snakes.

 These cats were introduced to Cyprus from Egypt about AD 328, and they easily adapted to island life.

Cats have worked equally well indoors by protecting sacred scrolls in temples throughout Asia, rare books in libraries across Europe, and food stored in homes and farms the world over.

More recently in the United states, librarians have formed The Library Cat society, in order to preserve the work of Library cats that prevent rodents from damaging book bindings