Cats

A cat is one of the most popular pets in the world. People really love cats. Cats became domestic animals several thousands years ago. It happened in Egypt. Now we know that for the ancient Egyptians cats were sacred animals. A cat living in a family was like a personal god for its members. If a fire broke out in a house, the cat was the first to be rescued. If a cat died through somebody’s fault, that person could be severely punished. Why did they worship cats? I think they did it, because cats are so unusual animals. Their eyes shine in the dark, they walk noiselessly and are very graceful. But most of all the ancient Egyptians, I think, loved cats for their ability to kill mice and rats. As there were no safe storehouses for food supplies, mice often destroyed supplies and a family could simply die of hunger. It is rather curious that the Europeans got acquainted with this animal much later, in the middle ages. But our European predecessors were rather cruel to cats. Cats (especially black ones) were thought to be helpmates of witches and got burnt in large quantities. Russian people got to know cats only at the end of the 16th century. Since then cats have become very popular here. Cats are really amazing animals. I read somewhere that the God created the cat so that a man could pat a tiger. I completely agree with that. But cats, unlike dogs, do not serve people. Cats are sure that people serve them. I have a feeling that cats think that our job is to care for them. That is true. Cats do only what they want. They can lie on your laps and purr or lie somewhere on the floor and even not to look in your direction. I still hate it when a cat being called by its owner may not even turn its head. Cats are very wilful animals. But despite living by themselves there are many stories telling how cats saved their masters. For example cats warned their owners about fires in their houses. I especially love amazing stories where cats, protecting children, fought with dogs and snakes! People have always thought that there is some mystery about these animals. Different experiments and researches showed that cats have very positive influences on a man's organism. It is a proven fact that when people stroke a cat, their blood pressure becomes normal. And a lot of people believe that cat can cure. There is a new direction in medicine, called «cat therapy». The idea of this method is simple: you take a cat and start to stroke and play with it. The results of cat therapy are quite impressive. Some people with heart and mental diseases really got better. And there is another fact that proves extraordinary abilities of cats. Cats can see different kinds of ghosts and this is really mystic. There are lots of cat breeds. Personally I like Siberian, Russian Blue and Kurile cats. But most of all I like cats that do not belong to any breed. I think that in case of cats breeds are absolutely unimportant. I do not understand how people can leave without cats. To me a house or a flat without a cat lacks for comfort.