Page 16 - Palm City Spotlight - June '22

Page 16, Palm City Spotlight

tip of tHe taiL

The Domestication Of The Cat Cats are increasing in popularity as companion animals Established in 1981, Palm City Animal Medical

worldwide. This may be due to the independent feline tendencies Center is dedicated to providing the best possible care
as compared with dogs aligning more with the modern lifestyle. for your pets. With focuses on compassionate care in
No matter if you are a dog person or a cat person, pets bring surgery, physical therapy and rehabilitation, preventative
us companionship and many positive health benefits. For those medicine, extensive diagnostics, and emergency service,
of us that have a feline friend, it is fun to look back and know Palm City Animal Medical Center combines exceptional
that they are still very similar to those wild cats that decided medical care with a caring philosophy for pets and their
to befriend us humans and enrich our lives thousands of years owners. For more information, call (772) 283-0920, visit
ago. Just make sure to bring your feline companion in for yearly www.palmcityanimalmedicalcenter.com or find us on
veterinary checkups to ensure they stay healthy! After all, we Facebook at www.facebook.com/PalmCityAnimalClinic.
need them with us for many years to come.
True to feline form, it is thought that cats domesticated
themselves! Those of us who have pet cats know that cats do kids corNer
what cats want to do! In fact we often joke that cats are very
good at training us humans to serve them.
Cats began their unique relationship with humans around
10,000 to 12,000 years ago in the “Fertile Cresent” which is the Helping Smart But Scattered crumbs on his chair and the family dog has licked his plate
modern day region of West Asia. This was the area where some clean. This boy has executive functioning difficulties.
of the earliest human developments were located. As people Kids Executive functions help modulate our attention, effort,
abandoned their nomadic ways and settled down to farm, grain and emotion so that we can plan, organize, and respond
was stored and rats and mice became a problem. Middle Eastern By Jim Forgan, Ph.D., independently, consistently, and predictably. Having well
wildcats (Felix silvestrus lybica) took advantage of the food Licensed School developed executive functions helps children regulate their
source and started hanging around humans. These cats evolved Psychologist behavior in social settings and their output on academic
over thousands of years into the modern day cat Felis catus. Executive functioning is tasks. These are smart kids who get the big picture but lack
Studies of DNA from more than 200 cats spanning 9,000 an umbrella term for many follow-through on many important details. Your child might
years show that there were two main lineages that contributed different activities of the need you to act as his or her executive assistant.
to the domestic feline we know today. These are the wild cats of brain that orchestrate goal- To help your child provide scaffolding of skills which
West Asia and the African cats that dominated Egypt. History directed action. Executive provide temporary supports as your child’s executive
tells us that cats spread from Asia into Europe as early as 4400 functions include your functioning skills evolve. Do enough to support but not
B.C. Egyptian cats then spread into the Mediterranean and child’s ability to: focus, enable your child. Second, help create systems of support
most of the rest of the world around 1500 B.C. As cats chose to decide what is important, such as checklists, technology reminders, following a
hang around human settlements, they likely became attractive set goals, use prior consistent schedule, and organizing materials. Third,
to humans as pets due to increased sociability and tameness. knowledge, initiate action, manage time, self-monitor sustain your child’s strengths as our strengths often
Humans began taking them on ships and other transports for performance, use self-restraint, and remain flexible. become our careers and passions in life. Learn more in my
rodent control. Thus they traveled around the world! Imagine you have an 8-year-old son and he is a hot book The Disorganized, Impulsive Child: Solutions for
Surprisingly, wild and domestic cats show no major mess. When he arrives home from school he leaves his Parenting Kids with Executive Functioning Difficulties.
differences in their genetic makeup. One of the few traits shoes in the middle of the kitchen and his book bag in Executive functioning difficulties often co-occur with
that changed is the tabby coat marking. It was only in the the middle of the foyer. At some point he makes himself ADHD and learning disabilities. We can test your child’s
late 18th century that the markings became common enough a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The bread bag is left executive functioning and provide specific solutions to
to be associated with domestic cats and, in the 19th century, open, the lid is off the peanut butter jar, a sticky knife help at home and in school. Dr. Forgan is a licensed school
cat fanciers began to select cats with certain traits to create slathered with peanut butter and drips of jelly are on the psychologist and certified dyslexia testing specialist and
specific breeds. counter. When you find him gaming, there’s a sea of can help you at (561) 625-4125 or JimForgan.com.