They were introduced by the Romans to Great Britain by 300AD and European settlers were the ones who introduced them worldwide (Coleman et al, 1997). Land transport accounted for cats spreading throughout Europe and Asia, they were also transported over the oceans with ships (Vigne et al. 2004). Edward II commanded that every English trade ship have a cat on board (Blaisdell, 1993). Domestic cats were introduced into the New World around 1493, when Christopher Columbus started his second voyage. (Baldwin 1979). Additional feeding of cats was most likely rare until the start of the 20th century, this would have conflicted with the practical purpose of rodent control, for which cats were generally valued for (Grier, 2006).

Cats can be put into