Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

Pompen534 t1_j1pltro wrote

Reply to comment by Rear-gunner in Were cats really seen as demons in medieval times? by Rear-gunner

Do you really believe that your pet cat and a cat that lived in some village 600 or more years ago behave the same?

34

tchotchony t1_j1podnc wrote

If treated the same, yes. Cats haven't changed all that much. And they survive well enough on their own as strays that they quickly become a pest when not controlled.

8

Pompen534 t1_j1polmh wrote

True, but almost no pets back then were treated as we treat them now. I doubt most people could afford pets whose only purpose was to bring comfort.

12

tchotchony t1_j1pq97h wrote

A substantial amount of people were farmers/lived close to nature though. It's just... pet food wasn't a thing, in the best case you might toss some meat leftovers (though I suppose those would mostly go to the dogs and pigs). Cats roamed and are pretty capable of keeping themselves fed when they're healthy. I doubt it's as much a question of people keeping cats than cats staying around sources of easy food (vermin)/warmth/scritches behind their ears. You didn't need to be able to afford cats, they can take care of themselves.

Same as with your pet cat. If it's a freeroam, it'll hunt anyway regardless if you feed it or not. My previous cat was semi-freeroam (couldn't get out the connected backyards) and at one point he took the neighbours' rabbits home. Over a 3 meter/10 foot wall. Mind you, he was well-fed and lacked for nothing. My current is indoors only, she attacks anything on 4 legs on sight. Including the neighbour's German Shepherd. Hunting instinct is big in cats and never went out of them.

11

Rear-gunner OP t1_j1q3b15 wrote

When you look at the rat catchers of the modern era, they prefer dogs to cats for rat hunting.

−3

NewestAlt1234 t1_j1rkly2 wrote

Well yeah DUH, wtf! Obviously it's easier for a modern ratcatcher to use dogs, especially terriers

5

RobertMcCheese t1_j1qeick wrote

If you have rats, dogs are way better at controlling them. Your hulking barn tom will do ok with rats, but rats will mess up a regular cat but good.

Most of your rats were going to be in your fields, not inside your dwelling. Regardless, ratting is the whole point in breeding dogs like a Jack Russell, a dachshund and the like.

5