feline

China's first pet cats arrived in the country sometime around the year 600 AD, and it seems they arrived via the famous Silk Road trade route that connected Europe and western Asia with China and all parts in between. Amazingly, this was determined through the study of ancient feline DNA, which revealed the truth about the domestic cat’s long road to the farthest reaches of Asia. This finding is significant, because it proves that domesticated felines suitable for human companionship reached Asia at a relatively late stage, in comparison to domesticated cattle, sheep, goats and horses, which first appeared in China’s archaeological record between 3,000 and 1,200 BC. "Cats were initially regarded as prized, exotic pets," study co-author Shu-Jin Luo