Cats became domesticated 8,000 years agowhen people settled in the Fertile Crescent, the arch-shaped region that includes the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and land around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Along with the grains which the farmers grew came rodents. A symbiotic relationship was formed between cat and man; cats protected precious grain stores by keeping rodent populations down. In return, cats gained protection from larger predators such as wolves