03/23/2026
🐱💖 Happy Cuddly Kitten Day from Rone Funeral Service! The gentle purr and soft presence of a kitten have a unique way of bringing a sense of calm and comfort to any home. On Cuddle Kitten Day, we celebrate the quiet companionship and the simple, healing joy that these small friends offer to our lives. At Rone Funeral Service, we understand that the bonds we form with our pets are deeply meaningful, often providing a steady source of unconditional love through every season of life.
Taking a moment to appreciate the warmth and affection of a furry friend can be a wonderful way to find peace and a smile today. It is our mission at Rone Funeral Service to support our community in honoring all the special relationships that make our houses feel like homes. We hope your day is filled with quiet moments, soft snuggles, and the kind of lighthearted happiness that only a kitten can bring to the heart.
“One of the early clues that pointed toward the domestication of cats happened in 1983. An archaeological dig on the island of Cyprus turned up something amazing – the jawbone of a cat dating back 8,000 years. Now, animal fossils were nothing rare, and cats had certainly been around for centuries, judging by the fossils the world had already collected. What was so special about this find, historians and archaeologists concluded, was that a cat — a species famous for not exactly liking water or swimming — was found on the island. The people who lived there back then would likely have reached there by boat, and it was highly unlikely that they would have randomly brought along a cat. The cat must have been something of a pet, and a wanted travel companion, various academics say.
Then, in 2004, another archaeological finding on Cyprus showed domestication of cats went back to before this time. A cat fossil, dating back to at least 9,500 years before the dig, was found buried with a human. Other studies have estimated the date of domestication to as far back as at least 12,000 years ago, in the Near East, which was the seat of many ancient civilizations.
Dogs were probably domesticated first, as they exhibited more obvious usable traits. Cats were less useful in people’s eyes, at least until they began settling down in one place. The more crops they’d grow, the more grain stores they kept, and the bigger their rodent problem. Enter the rodent catchers — cats.
As cats were introduced to more humans, their behavior gradually adapted, becoming less feral and more docile. Cats became very popular across these ancient societies. Egyptians famously loved their felines and dressed them in jewels, fed them royal treats, and even mummified them. Ancient Romans made them a symbol of liberty. The Far East saw them as protectors against pesky rodents and treated them as treasures.
Something changed during the Middle Ages. Cats came to be seen as ‘evil’ and were associated with witchcraft. Many felines were killed because of this superstition. This fear continued until around the 1600s when the image of cats began to change again. Today, cats sit on top of the pet catalog, with almost 91 countries (according to Instagram posts) preferring felines over their canine counterparts. Can’t say we blame them!”