Cat Tales review: A purrfect guide to cats and our complex relationship with them

Cat tales: a story
Jerry D. Moore, Thames and Hudson

Over the course of a weekend, I once watched one of my family’s cats, a Byronic individual named Solomon, maul my sister under the guise of play, vomit on my sheets, and polish a golden crest before the eyes of my bird-loving father. Yet we have forgiven Solomon, for there is nothing we can hold against him or his sister. Such is the cognitive dissonance of cat lovers.

Domestic cats (Felis catus) are among the most popular pets in the world. But it’s not entirely clear why people sought to domesticate them – if they could be said to have been domesticated. How did we come to love them in all their forms, especially when so many species throughout history have counted humans among their prey?

The roots of this question are ancient, as archaeologist Jerry D. Moore reveals in Cat tales: a story. But even more important than that “story” subtitle is another piece of cover text: “How We Learned to Live With Them.” It’s unclear whether this is from the perspective of a human or a disgruntled house cat; Regardless, the book is less a study of our feline friends than a portrait of the evolving relationships between our species.

The history of cat domestication goes that once humans built permanent colonies and stored grain, mice began to munch on our hard-earned provisions, attracting wild cats from Africa (Felis Lybica). A beneficial arrangement emerged, in which the humans kept their grain and the cats got a free lunch.

Yet, Moore says, the truth is more complex. Domestication generally involves breeding a species for a particular purpose, which has only emerged in the last 100 years for cats, when we began to desire a particular appearance or exotic qualities. Breeding is another common reason for domestication, although the old cat joke comes to mind.

Mutualism is a more useful lens through which to examine our relationship with cats, Moore says. Even so, cats tend to be skittish and aloof, and their mouse-like abilities are matched or improved upon by other animals – dogs like terriers, for example. In a true masterstroke of self-confidence, cats seem to have carved out a comfortable position for themselves in human homes – in other words, they have become self-domesticated.

Moore cleverly links the importance of big cats in ancient rock art to their centrality in public awareness campaigns by conservation groups. A 2018 study found that big cats were consistently ranked among the most charismatic animals.

Moore also introduces Cats as one of the greatest sailors in history, traveling with African and Arab navigators along trade routes to Asia and the Mediterranean. Their subsequent voyages aboard European colonial ships would wreak havoc on places like Australia and New Zealand, whose wildlife fell prey to wild cats.

At times, Moore’s writing moves forward wonderfully, but there are also circuitous sections that lessen the book’s impact. Take a first look at 20th century concepts of hominid tool use. It’s unclear why Moore included it until the end of the chapter, when he argues that describing ancient humans as extremely capable hunters has led us to downplay the power of ancient cats—as apex predators of our ancestors, they shaped the development of our bodies and brains.

The cat-human relationship was perhaps more diverse than our bond with any other animal, Moore says: “Cats have been agents of terror and subjects of worship, revered in religious ceremonies and cruelly slaughtered for entertainment.”

In my opinion, Cat Tales doesn’t contain much new information, but it is an excellent summary of archaeological information combined with beautiful photographs. Even though the cats remain a bit mysterious after this book, that’s probably why they like it.