Cats were originally invited into our homes to get rid of rats and only
recently since the invention of litter trays have "indoor cats" become a
thing.
During the black plague, a mean ol' religious pope thought that cats
were the issues of why the plague was being so spread and ordered the
extermination of cats. As we know now, it was infact fleas that were a
big part of the plague problem, and that cats kill rats so that pope was
not very helpful.
Cats have a much grander sense of smell than humans, they can smell 14
times better. Scent is therefore an important part of how they
interperate the world, so when you meet a cat it is customary to quietly
crouch, slowly stick out your hand, and let the cat smell it. This I
guess is the social equivilent of a hand shake.
Cats are high alert creatures so to show you that they love and trust
you they will do what is known as the "slow blink" - If they slowly
blink towards you then they are showing that they think you are safe
enough to let their guard down. It's a cat's way of saying I love you.
You can respond in kind.
