It is thought that the oldest "true" cat was Proailurus. It lived in what is now Europe and Asia, around 25 million years ago. It was a small predator, slightly larger than a modern domestic cat.

Proailurus is thought to be to be a likely ancestor to Pseudaelurus, prehistoric cat that lived 20-8 million years ago. Pseudaelurus is the ancestor of today's cats, as well as the famous sabre-tooth cats.