So in New Mexico (and other parts of the southwest) there's an animal called a ring tailed cat. its actually a relative of the racoon and they are just so cute. look them up if you don't believe me. The best part is they are pretty easy to domesticate. when the miners moved west and settled in camps the ringtailed cat would migrate into there camps hunting mice and eating scraps. the minors would take care of them. This is exactly the scenario how cats originally got domesticated so its fun to fantasize a world where these are just as common.