When people think of house cats, a couple of words come to mind: "cute," "cuddly," and "proud," to name a few. However, one word that doesn't usually come up is "obedient." Isn't that a bit strange given the fact humans have kept cats as pets for over 9,000 years?

Without any reliable historical records to go on, we can only guess at how humans and cats were originally brought together. Most historians believe that cats were one of the last animals to be tamed and kept as pets in early human settlements in the Middle East. They were tamed after other, more useful animals like cows, dogs, pigs, and sheep. After all, it's not like a house cat can pull a plow, produce delicious milk, or protect a settlement from bandits.

There are some other things that cats are very good at, like killing mice and other vermin. According to some researchers, this might be how cats and humans originally became friends. When early humans began farming for food, their grain stores were a big target for hungry mice. Wild cats weren't going to let their prey escape, so they followed the mice right into human villages. As time went on, cats got used to living near humans. Eventually, the wild cat of 9,000 years ago became the house cat of today.

This explanation of how cats became domesticated is fascinating because it explains why house cats are still so independent. Unlike dogs, cats seem like they could ditch their human masters and return to the wild at any moment. Their natural abilities haven't disappeared: their excellent night vision and hearing, their sense of smell, and their agility are all still there.

House cats are also still able to hunt for their own food. Some owners may even occasionally wake up to see little gifts from their cat, like dead birds, rats, or squirrels. This sort of thing doesn't seem to bother us too much, since there are now more than 600 million cats living in homes around the world.

一提到家貓，大家應該會想到「可愛」、「討喜」、「高傲」等字眼。不過，鮮少有人以「百依百順」來形容家貓。這不是有點奇怪嗎？因為人類養貓作為寵物已歷時超過九千年了呀!

在沒有任何可靠史實能幫助我們深究的情況下，我們僅能猜測當初人類和貓建立關係的方式。多數歷史學家認為，人類早期居住中東地區時，被馴服做為寵物的動物之一就是貓。牛、狗、豬與羊等有用的動物相繼受到馴服後，人類才開始馴養家貓。畢竟，家貓無法犁田、產乳或看家。

不過貓也有拿手功夫，例如捕殺老鼠和其他有害動物。根據某些研究學者推論，這或許是貓與人類開始互助的由來。人類早期開始以農耕維生時，糧倉經常被飢腸轆轆的老鼠攻佔。而野貓絕不會讓獵物逃脫，故尾隨老鼠進入人類村莊。時間久了，貓也習慣棲息在人煙附近。最後，九千年前的野貓，逐漸演變為我們現今認知中的家貓。

了解貓轉變為寵物的過程猶如發現新大陸，因為這說明了家貓仍然保有獨立性格的原因。與犬隻不同的是，貓似乎有辦法隨時拋下主人而重返野外。牠們絕佳的夜視能力、聽力、嗅覺與敏捷身手等本能天性仍尚未退化。

家貓還保有自行獵食的能力。某些「幸運」的飼主可能偶爾一早起來，發現自家寵物貓帶來的小禮物，例如已斷氣的鳥兒、老鼠或松鼠。不過這類情況似乎沒有對我們造成太大困擾，因為目前全球已有超過6 億隻貓生活在人類家中。