Actually, there is a reference to the cat having been domesticated over 8,000 ya at the beginning of the article, complete with reference (pointing to the findings in Cyprus). And I'm afraid you can't by any stretch of the imagination call cats "still wild in form and essentially in behavior as well". That has more to do with a common misconception than reality. If you're talking about the ability to survive and thrive in the wild, it is shared by at least dogs and horses (excluding of course the urban habitat for horses). If you're talking about the diversity and number of breeds, while there are fewer breeds than dogs, the number of cat breeds today (including extinct breeds and those still in development) numbers between 200 and 300.
(,
Sat 16 Sep 2006, 11:21,
archived)