National Geographic: The Secret Life of Cats

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And they all lived

happily ever after.

G'night, sweetie.

In an ordinary house

on an ordinary street...

Kyle, are you in bed?

...there lived a cat.

There's my kitty.

You're so sweet.

He had everything

a kitty could want...

Feed the gerbils, honey?

Yeah, Mom.

...affection, food, shelter

and a family who thought

he was the sweetest kitty

in the whole wide world.

But this is

only half the story.

There is another side

to this contented kitty-

one his family

knows nothing about.

Like his ancestors,

he has the heart of a hunter.

Well fed and

showered with affection,

wildness still courses

through his veins.

He may look domesticated,

but look again.

This is a real life Jekyll

and Hyde.

It is the paradox of the cat.

There are more than

in the U.S. alone.

What goes on in

their secret world?

In the next hour you may

learn more about cats

than you ever wanted to know.

It's 8 p.m. Do you know

where your kitty is?

Magnificent,

elusive and deadly,

the cat family species boasts

including the diminutive,

wild cat.

Since prehistoric times,

these cats have wandered

Africa and Europe.

The presumed ancestor of

our domestic cat,

the wild cat might

look like a tabby,

but its canines and claws

are as lethal

as those of any tiger.

In its eyes,

there's a haunting familiarity

How did this ferocious

feline jump the wild track

and make its way

to our milk bowls

and our beds?

Felis catus

set out on the rocky road

to domestication more than

In ancient Egypt,

this hunter extraordinaire

kept rodents from the granaries

In return, he was worshipped

as a symbol of life.

But history would not always

treat our feline friend

so kindly.

Believed to be

the devil's companion,

more than a few were

burned at the stake-

for keeping wrong company.

Luckily, the cat would soon

fall into grace once again,

for his hunting skills proved

invaluable on the open seas.

Cats kept the rat in check.

Near the end of the road,

perhaps the most

steadfast alliance

was forged between the farmer

and his beloved barn cat.

Now, what you got there?

You are a good cat.

Ironically,

the cat's very wildness

was its ticket to

domestication.

There's extra milk for

you tonight.

Now to complete the journey.

...eleven, twelve, thirteen,

fourteen, fifteen...

ready or not here I come.

What lay ahead was one of

the most complex

relationships nature has

ever known-

the remarkable bond

between human and cat.

We were drawn to a creature

we could never fully tame.

Wow! Hey guys

look what I found.

We would overlook

their wildness

and welcome them

into our lives.

When the dust of the eons

finally settled,

we found ourselves inexorably

linked to the cat.

This extraordinary creature

had found a permanent place

in our hearts-and our homes.

Mama, Mama, Mama, Mom, Mama,

look what I found.

Can I keep him,

please, please?

At last, the cat managed to

dethrone the dog

as the most popular pet

in the Western world.

In the U.S. alone, house cats

have doubled in number

in just 20 years.

C'mon, chin up.

That a good boy.

Cat-mania is

sweeping the country.

These are piddle pants

for cats.

The Chaise lounges are a new

add- on to our products

that we're carrying.

The Litter Maid Electric Self-

Cleaning Litter Box.

We probably spend about

eight grand a year.

$10, $20, or $30,000 a year,

just on one cat. Yeah.

Throughout the world,

cat shows pay homage

to our feline companions

in a fury of grooming,

primping and keen competition.

Through the careful

coupling of cats,

humans have created nearly 50

breeds of domesticated felines

Though some might look

to the untrained eye like

mistakes of nature...

each coupling is carefully

planned to make a winner.

But a cat needn't be a winner

to be the object of affection.

Well, it's Rush's

third birthday.

We have birthday cakes for us,

so why shouldn't we have

a birthday cake for

our four-footed child?

The Ross family has taken

feline adoration to new heights

They're very much our family.

Well, hi, Neut.

Hey, Rush,

here's some food coming.

My husband spoils the cats.

Of course, I don't.

And so he always has the cats

eating with us at the table.

One more bite,

but don't let it spoil you.

You won't get the same thing

tomorrow night.

They like to have the food

that we're eating.

And they oftentimes will eat

very peculiar things,

things they would never eat

if you would

put it in their bowl.

As you can see,

our cats are very well fed.

But well-fed cats

still do hunt.

So we keep them inside.

And our cats are never bored.

Shirley May loves her cats.

But even she knows,

there can be

too much of a good thing.

When I was a child,

there was a family down

the street who had some cats.

And they didn't have

them altered.

And there were kittens

born all the time.

Well, of course,

I thought that was great,

because I loved kittens.

Super kitty

flying through the air!

There are more than

born in this country each day-

and more than twice

that many kittens.

Sheltered and well-fed,

cat numbers can soar

if reproduction goes unchecked

Cats are prolific.

One female can have as many

as 30 kittens a year.

In just seven years,

she and her offspring

could produce over

Suddenly, sometimes,

those kittens would disappear-

and nobody seemed to

be able to tell me

where the kittens went.

With such feline fertility,

unwanted cats are a sad

byproduct of our domestic bond

This scene may be

an echo from the past,

but the tragedy is still

being played out today.

Even now, hundreds of cats

are abandoned each day

in the U.S. alone.

What's to become of

a castaway?

He is suddenly faced

with the struggle

to survive in an alien world.

But the cat holds a wild card-

a gift from his ancestors.

He is one of the earth's

most adept hunters.

Good news for the cat...

but bad for the locals.

There's one more predator

on the prowl.

And when push comes to shove,

he's not a picky eater-

another key

to the cat's success.

In the face of adversity,

the cat often has the advantage

Armed with sharp claws,

he's not restricted to

terra firma.

The cat nearly always lands

on his feet.

This diminutive creature seems

to defy the odds.

With a flexible backbone

like a cheetah,

the cat can run up

to 30 miles per hour.

His agile body

is engineered for the chase.

But at times,

the best strategy

is to seek shelter...

and wait.

For the tables will soon turn

for felis catus.

Night belongs to the cat.

He is a creature designed

for the nocturnal hunt:

with night vision,

whiskers to help navigate,

a keen sense of smell,

and ears

tuned to signals that mere

humans could never perceive.

The faintest squeak-

even from a distance-

allows him to pinpoint

his prey...

and launch his assault.

Only the fortunate manage to

escape this master predator.

The cat is a marvel of

engineering.

His supple spine allows

acrobatics of which

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