HELLCATS THE DEMONISATION OF THE DOMESTIC FELINE

All species have had a hand – or claw or hoof, as the case may be – in shaping history. Each has its own storied past, and all of them are incontrovertibly connected. This fact is at its most certain when it comes to cats and humans, because the historical connection between us is as intimate as any. We stood at your side at the very dawn of civilisation. Raised by your hands to the thrones of the gods, we witnessed from on high your greatest glories. We marched with you through the passage of time and migrated to exotic lands. And we stand at your side still to this very day.

We cats have been allies to humankind for a very long time, and while you have reserved the sobriquet “man’s best friend” for the dog, archæological evidence offers hints that felines have been your companions for as long if not longer than canines; or to put it this way, the partnership between cats and humans is older than currency, older than man’s use of metals, and older even than written language. It dates to the very foundation of civilisation itself, and we might reasonably argue that without our assistance, your civilisation might not have gotten very far. Human pride is such that you assume this is bluster on my part. But consider the view of your great ancestors in the matter, being so thankful for our presence that they believed us to be representatives of deities. In the glory days, humans and cats together marched from the humblest of beginnings to heights undreamt.

But those who think our lives are nothing but comfort will find that we have endured calumnies beyond what any species has known. The hands which raised us high would later cast us back down to the pit of our greatest despair.