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→Rise of Cat Pets
One hypothesis why cats became invited to homes is that even in the wild cats act docile to humans and sometimes even act playful. This suggests that the natural nature of cats could have led them to being invited to people's homes as their presence in agricultural villages and towns became more established.
Cats were not widely discussed in ancient Greece, suggesting they may have not been a primary pet. One vase shows a cat fighting a dog, while another shows a music player with a cat. However, in ancient Rome, cats are mentioned by Plutarch and Pliny. Cats seem to have been kept in the house to help keep away mice and common pests. One text mentions using cats to catch moles in vegetable beds. A Roman tomb has even been found with a cat and its name, suggesting that it was loved by its owner. One Galic-Roman relief shows a little girl holding a kitten, suggesting that cats were kept as pets for children as well as adults. Some breeds, such as the British Shorthair, appear to have been bred by the Romans and then introduced to places such as Britain perhaps as early as the 1st century AD. In effect, the love for cats may have led to the different breeds, as some cats appear to be bred to develop their hair or decorative features.
==Recent Developments==
