Man’s association with dogs and horses goes back into the mists of time, due to their roles as working animals and status symbols. Cats followed later and have been among us for thousands of years, although the alliance was sometimes inconsistent. Their independence of spirit and ability to see at night elevated them to godly status, but also subjected them to rituals of appalling cruelty.
From the days of Ancient Egypt, African wild cats became gradually domesticated as they were lured from the desert to human habitations, where reliable sources of protein were on hand: rodents foraging in grain stores.
Ever since, the cat has been usefully employed as a pest controller and welcomed into the home as a lithe, scrupulously clean and interesting companion. ‘The smallest feline is a masterpiece,’ declared Leonardo da Vinci.
Writers, painters and poets down the millennia have been drawn to feline company, for no other animal combines so successfully its intelligence, inscrutability and insouciance, wrapped in an elegant package of what Colette observed as: ‘the biggest eye, the softest fur, the most supremely delicate nostrils, a mobile ear, an unrivalled paw and a curved claw borrowed from the rose tree’.
The broadcaster Beverley Nichols, a keen gardener, observed: ‘A garden without cats… can scarcely deserve to be called a garden at all… much of the magic of the heather beds would vanish if, as we bent over them, there was no chance that we might hear a faint rustle among the blossoms, and find ourselves staring into a pair of sleepy green eyes.’
Gertrude Jekyll would have agreed – her home and garden at Munstead Wood were all the more delightful to her as she shared them with various beloved tabby cats, all regularly photographed, drawn and written about.
The truth is, once a cat knows it’s safe and loved, its unique personality (they’re all different) unfolds and blossoms. ‘It will make itself the companion of your hours of work, of loneliness, or of sadness,’ said Théophile Gautier, creator of the ballet Giselle.
‘It will lie the whole evening on your knee, purring and happy in your society, and leaving the company of creatures of its own society to be with you.’
Meet Britain's best hotel animals: The quack pack, the doggy doorman and the moggy maître d'
Emma Hughes gets to know the dogs, cats and ducks bringing animal magic to some of Britain’s best hotels.
-
How to make Eton mess strawberry blondiesOur kitchen garden cook Melanie Johnson shares a mouthwatering recipe bringing together two of the greatest foodstuffs on the planet: strawberries and meringue.
-
The deaths of Romeo and Juliet: Country Life Quiz of the Day, June 12, 2025A Rolling Stone and a familiar-sounding place find their way into Wednesday's Quiz of the Day.
-
What do 32 pigeons, 38 dogs, four horses and one cat have in common? They've all been awarded a Dicken medal, and now you can have one tooPunch and Judy, two brave boxer dogs, saved the lives of British officers in Palastine. Now Judy's PDSA Dickin Medal will go under the hammer at Noonans on June 11.
-
Forget catnip, it's all about catmintNepeta, the highly aromatic and pretty perennial beloved of so many country gardens, may be your feline’s favourite fix, but we should be wary of its root, warns Deborah Nicholls-Lee
-
‘It's a bit like a pub, but without the requirement of being drunk’: Why we’re all hot for a countryside saunaThe sauna is the latest wellness trend — especially one immersed in Nature. Lotte Brundle dips into why the pastime has been heating up.
-
'When you are blind, your physical world is only as far as your arms can reach, but with my guide dog, my world is limitless'Tubby little bundles of joy, guide-dog puppies may be irresistibly sweet, but they’ve been expertly engineered to perform life-changing duties, discovers Katy Birchall.
-
Arthur Parkinson: Ruffled feathers and a bad attitude — my guide on how to deal with broody hensA chicken's desire to sit on and hatch a clutch of eggs can be the most effortless way to rear your own birds, but for those who are after eggs and not chicks it can be a real issue.
-
'We don’t expect to catch monsters in British seas': The return of the bluefin tunaIt’s no longer necessary to venture to tropical waters in order to catch a monster tuna, says Jonathan Young, as he attempts to land a big-game fish in Falmouth Bay.
-
From 'Gerroff my land' to 'Get on my land': Farmers are keen to set the record straight with Open Farm Sunday 2025The event — which sees farmers throw open their gates to visitors — returns for its 19th year on Sunday, June 8 with hundreds of farms across Britain will be taking part.
-
Goodwoof: 'The remarkable thing is how few incidents of biting there are, from dogs and owners'Now in its 4th year, Goodwoof could be the canine Glastonbury. Charles Gordon-Lennox, the Duke of Richmond, reveals some of the secrets of its success.
