Why do cats love if you can cuddle with them? Why do they spend so much time trying to clean themselves? And why do they bring home dead mice? According to Desmond Morris the answer to these questions lays how the modern house cat behavior is still largely governed by ancient instincts. The domestic cat is a contradiction. No other animal has ever developed such an intimate relation to man and at the same time demanded, and got the opportunity, to move as freely and independently.