{"id":600412,"date":"2024-05-13T10:00:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-13T14:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/?p=600412"},"modified":"2024-05-13T10:00:59","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T14:00:59","slug":"how-similar-housecats-are-to-their-wild-ancestors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/felines-weekly\/how-similar-housecats-are-to-their-wild-ancestors\/","title":{"rendered":"How Similar Housecats Are to Their Wild Ancestors: Olga\u2019s Wild Streak"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi, I\u2019m Christopher!\u00a0Read my introduction<\/a>\u00a0to learn more about me and my silly Russian Blue cat, Olga.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The African Wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica) is the ancestor of domestic cats. Although they aren\u2019t endangered, they\u2019ve suffered from interbreeding with housecats. They can catch the same diseases as pet felines, and the healthiest populations live in arid, mountainous regions away from human settlements.<\/p>\n

Olga doesn\u2019t need to hunt for her food and cannot sit up as straight as an African Wildcat. African Wildcats have longer front legs, and when they\u2019re in a sitting position, their poses resemble those depicted in drawings by ancient Egyptians. However, that\u2019s where their differences end; she\u2019s just as wild as Felis lybica, but she\u2019s trapped in a suburban home.<\/p>\n

\"Annie
Annie was right, Christopher. It’s a hard-knock life!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Feline and Canine Domestication<\/h2>\n

Cats seem wilder than dogs because humans haven\u2019t selectively bred them for specific traits for very long. The farmers in the Fertile Crescent didn\u2019t train their new friends to hunt rodents and had no need to manipulate their breeding pool.<\/p>\n

They provided shelter, and the cats were happy to prowl around and eat rats. On the other hand, dogs have been with us since the Mesolithic Age when we were hunter-gatherers. We domesticated them before other mammals and trained them to be hunters, guardians, and companions.<\/p>\n

\"This
This is called the Flehmen response<\/a>, ladies and gentlemen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Olga\u2019s Wild Ways<\/h2>\n

Like most felines, Olga doesn\u2019t want or need to perform a service that benefits humans. She\u2019s an African Wildcat with a gray coat who loves attacking inanimate objects. It took years before she became comfortable sitting in my lap, and she still has a low tolerance for excessive petting.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s not as agile or athletic as my last cat, but she\u2019s wilder.<\/p>\n

I read a story on an exotic cat forum that reminded me of Olga. An owner of an African Wildcat<\/a> mentioned that his cat wasn\u2019t much different than a Domestic Shorthair, but he had scars on his legs and arms from her playful attacks. He also said that the cat was more affectionate in the daytime, and she became more aggressive when the sun went down.<\/p>\n

After Olga has had her ninth or tenth nap of the day and enjoyed a healthy meal before dusk, she gets a boost of energy. It\u2019s strange because she acts more like a hunter when her belly is full. She runs laps around my house and attacks the back of my legs if I get in her way.<\/p>\n

\"Are
Are you finished with that chicken marsala? I’m starving.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An Owner\u2019s Duties<\/h2>\n

If I ignore her, she slams my bedroom door and howls if she has trouble opening it. She wants me to participate in her hunting games but only from a distance. Besides being her caretaker, Olga also thinks I\u2019m an estate manager or gamekeeper.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m in charge of keeping the property stocked with wildlife (toys)<\/a>, and if I fail in my duties, I don\u2019t get fired like a manager of an English estate; I become the prey. I admire Olga\u2019s wild nature and am glad she acts more like her ancestors than her cousins. Although I don\u2019t have a rodent problem, I can always count on my blue panther to keep my home insect-free<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi, I\u2019m Christopher!\u00a0Read my introduction\u00a0to learn more about me and my silly Russian Blue cat, Olga. The African Wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica) is the ancestor of domestic cats. Although they aren\u2019t endangered, they\u2019ve suffered from interbreeding with housecats. They can catch the same diseases as pet felines, and the healthiest populations live in arid, mountainous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3902,"featured_media":600413,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[448],"tags":[459,449],"yoast_head":"\nHow Similar Housecats Are to Their Wild Ancestors: Olga\u2019s Wild Streak - Catster<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Olga\u2019s just as wild as Felis lybica, but she\u2019s trapped in a suburban home. Christopher tells us about her wild streak...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/felines-weekly\/how-similar-housecats-are-to-their-wild-ancestors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Similar Housecats Are to Their Wild Ancestors: Olga\u2019s Wild Streak - Catster\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Olga\u2019s just as wild as Felis lybica, but she\u2019s trapped in a suburban home. Christopher tells us about her wild streak...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/felines-weekly\/how-similar-housecats-are-to-their-wild-ancestors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catster\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/catster\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-13T14:00:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-13T14:00:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/That-Mockingbird-would-go-great-with-a-nice-chianti._Christopher-and-Olga.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"810\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Christopher Bays\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@catster\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@catster\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Christopher Bays\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Similar Housecats Are to Their Wild Ancestors: Olga\u2019s Wild Streak - Catster","description":"Olga\u2019s just as wild as Felis lybica, but she\u2019s trapped in a suburban home. Christopher tells us about her wild streak...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/felines-weekly\/how-similar-housecats-are-to-their-wild-ancestors\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Similar Housecats Are to Their Wild Ancestors: Olga\u2019s Wild Streak - Catster","og_description":"Olga\u2019s just as wild as Felis lybica, but she\u2019s trapped in a suburban home. Christopher tells us about her wild streak...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/felines-weekly\/how-similar-housecats-are-to-their-wild-ancestors\/","og_site_name":"Catster","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/catster\/","article_published_time":"2024-05-13T14:00:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-05-13T14:00:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":810,"url":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/That-Mockingbird-would-go-great-with-a-nice-chianti._Christopher-and-Olga.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Christopher Bays","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@catster","twitter_site":"@catster","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Christopher Bays","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/felines-weekly\/how-similar-housecats-are-to-their-wild-ancestors\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/felines-weekly\/how-similar-housecats-are-to-their-wild-ancestors\/"},"author":{"name":"Christopher Bays","@id":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f9b483be4c9d475f285e52dee0c50e27"},"headline":"How Similar Housecats Are to Their Wild Ancestors: Olga\u2019s Wild Streak","datePublished":"2024-05-13T14:00:02+00:00","dateModified":"2024-05-13T14:00:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/felines-weekly\/how-similar-housecats-are-to-their-wild-ancestors\/"},"wordCount":603,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/felines-weekly\/how-similar-housecats-are-to-their-wild-ancestors\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/That-Mockingbird-would-go-great-with-a-nice-chianti._Christopher-and-Olga.jpeg","keywords":["catster-homepage-3-posts","discovery"],"articleSection":["Felines Weekly"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/felines-weekly\/how-similar-housecats-are-to-their-wild-ancestors\/","url":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/felines-weekly\/how-similar-housecats-are-to-their-wild-ancestors\/","name":"How Similar Housecats Are to Their Wild Ancestors: Olga\u2019s Wild Streak - Catster","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/felines-weekly\/how-similar-housecats-are-to-their-wild-ancestors\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/felines-weekly\/how-similar-housecats-are-to-their-wild-ancestors\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/That-Mockingbird-would-go-great-with-a-nice-chianti._Christopher-and-Olga.jpeg","datePublished":"2024-05-13T14:00:02+00:00","dateModified":"2024-05-13T14:00:59+00:00","description":"Olga\u2019s just as wild as Felis lybica, but she\u2019s trapped in a suburban home. Christopher tells us about her wild streak...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/felines-weekly\/how-similar-housecats-are-to-their-wild-ancestors\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.catster.com\/felines-weekly\/how-similar-housecats-are-to-their-wild-ancestors\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/felines-weekly\/how-similar-housecats-are-to-their-wild-ancestors\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/That-Mockingbird-would-go-great-with-a-nice-chianti._Christopher-and-Olga.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/That-Mockingbird-would-go-great-with-a-nice-chianti._Christopher-and-Olga.jpeg","width":1200,"height":810,"caption":"That Mockingbird would go great with a nice chianti."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/felines-weekly\/how-similar-housecats-are-to-their-wild-ancestors\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Similar Housecats Are to Their Wild Ancestors: Olga\u2019s Wild Streak"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/","name":"Catster","description":"Cat care guides and Shop by Veterinarians and Experts","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/#organization","name":"Catster","url":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Catster-picture.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Catster-picture.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Catster"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/catster\/","https:\/\/x.com\/catster","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/catstermag\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@CatsterOfficial","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Catster"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f9b483be4c9d475f285e52dee0c50e27","name":"Christopher Bays","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ec12009249a2b67c5290763f5f1731a4?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ec12009249a2b67c5290763f5f1731a4?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Christopher Bays"},"description":"Christopher Bays is a writer and editor with a soft spot for cats of all shapes and sizes. He enjoys researching and caring for Olga, an adopted Russian Blue mix who is always by his side while working. In his free time, Christopher enjoys gardening, writing short stories, listening to music, and hiking.","url":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/author\/christopher-bays\/"}]}},"modified_by":"Catster Editorial Team","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600412"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3902"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=600412"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":600426,"href":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600412\/revisions\/600426"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/600413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}