CAT

The cat (Felis catus), also known as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from other felines, is a small predatory carnivorous species of crepuscular mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and its ability to hunt vermin, snakes and scorpions. It has been associated with humans for at least 9,500 years.



A skilled predator, the cat is known to hunt over 1,000 species for food. It can be trained to obey simple commands. Individual cats have also been known to learn on their own to manipulate simple mechanisms, such as doorknobs. Cats use a variety of vocalizations and types of body language for communication, including meowing, purring, hissing, growling, squeaking, chirping, clicking, and grunting. Cats may be the most popular pet in the world, with over 600 million in homes all over the world. They are also bred and shown as registered pedigree pets. This hobby is known as the "cat fancy".

Until recently the cat was commonly believed to have been domesticated in ancient Egypt, where it was a cult animal. However a 2007 study found that the lines of descent of all house cats probably run through as few as five self-domesticating African Wildcats (Felis silvestris lybica) circa 8000 BC, in the Near East - Wikipedia.

Until the early 2000s, the cats in the United Arab Emirates have had no threats to it's existance whatsoever. However, the arrival of migrants from the mainstream Asia Pacific Archipelago as housemaids and salesgirls in to the United Arab Emirates was the beginning of the end of the entire cat species in the country. The cats used to vanish into thin air overnight finding their way into the stomach of the said migrants, whose salaries at that time ranged from AED.350 to 800 a month at the most. Naturally they had to eat something, and why not their staple food, the cats.

Things have now changed, and as everyone knows, a majority of the said migrants now command a basic salary of Dhs.2500 or more per month. No doubt, vis-à-vis their life style, their eating habits too have changed. They now eat chicken; much the relief of the cats in the United Arab Emirates.

Reveling and frolicking through the piles of garbage littered all over a congested Satwa neighbourhood (Satwa in Dubai is the new capital of the said Asia Pacific Archipelago - a fertile ground for stray cats to survive), the cats have come of age. One can find them in all colours and shapes; much to the chagrin of the Dubai Municipality, who launched a stray cat elimination drive some weeks ago.

Alternatively, the authorities should launch a cost cutting measure asking the employers to reduce the salaries of the migrants from the Asia Pacific Archipelago, and the cats would, once again, disappear into thin air, overnight, without much effort from the civic authorities in the country.

In the United Arab Emirates, we should either have cats or the migrants from the Asia Pacific Archipelago, who too use a variety of vocalizations and types of body language for communication, including meowing, purring, hissing, growling, squeaking, chirping, clicking, and grunting. How you madaaam, pine ?

But what of the Egyptians, as until recently the cat was commonly believed to have been domesticated in ancient Egypt, where it was a cult animal ?