Fascinating -- Dogs came first, but cats not long after. Molecular Evidence for Cat Domestication
A recent study suggests that cats were domesticated at the same time as that of wheat and barley in the Fertile Crescent region, that is about 10,000 years ago. Time will tell--the only archaeological data supporting that is at Shillourokambos in Cyprus. This exciting news is definitely not as far-fetched as it might be, given the role of the cat as the hunter of grain-eating rodents. It's one of those arguments about who may have been more domesticated in this relationship--the cat or the human?