Cats

Cats are among the animals whose lives change as human control disappears. Those left confined in houses die of thirst, while Cats already outside adjust to the new conditions through hunting and scavenging. Their brief spread beyond the city is checked by stronger wild cats, and a later rise in Dogs pushes them toward parks and the city’s outskirts.

Survival After Human Control Ends

The narrative contrasts the vulnerability of house-confined Cats with the resourcefulness of those outdoors. After roughly five thousand years under human domination, outdoor Cats make use of whatever food they can find: they hunt mice, stalk birds, watch mole tunnels and gopher burrows, and search streets and alleys for garbage the Rats have not taken. Hunting becomes a means of survival rather than amusement.

This adaptation allows Cats to spread beyond the city and into the habitats of Quail and Rabbits. But their expansion meets a limit. In the woods, the larger wild cats overpower and kill the city Cats they encounter, ending those confrontations quickly.

Competition with Dogs

Later, Ish observes a changed urban balance. In much of the city he sees no Cats, while small, active Dogs have established themselves in some areas, especially near the waterfront. The Dogs scavenge food from stores and feed on Rats; they have also apparently driven away or killed Cats. The sequence reverses the earlier advantage of outdoor Cats over those trapped indoors: surviving beyond human shelter is not enough when another adaptable animal claims the same territory and food sources.

Retreat to the City’s Edges

Cats remain in parks and at the edges of the city where bushes grow. Ish sees them mostly among the branches, where they appear wary of Dogs while still able to prey on birds. Their reduced visibility marks a retreat rather than a complete disappearance: they persist in cover, occupying a narrower space within an environment increasingly shaped by other animals.

Ecological Significance

The Cats’ changing fortunes show post-disaster survival as a shifting contest among species, not a simple release from human influence. Cats can exploit abandoned streets and food stores, but their success depends on where they begin, what prey remains, and which competitors arrive. Their movement from houses to streets, then outward and back toward wooded margins, gives the changing animal order a concrete, local history.