The first evidence of the cat being seen outside Africa is in artwork showing cats in domestic settings from 1700 BC in Israel. From there they made their way to Crete and Greece. Between 1200 and 800 BC, cats also accompanied Phoenician sea traders as ship mousers around the Mediterranean and by 500 BC cats were well established in Europe.

The first cat shows were in Britain but thereafter shows started in France in the late nineteenth century. The European breeds exhibit a broad spectrum of characteristics: compare the European Shorthair and the large, longhair Norwegian Forest Cat!