Havn't read the other posts.
But, animals taste yummy with BBQ sauce when there is a God.
Animals taste even more yummy with BBQ sauce when there is no God because you get to drink more while you're eatin' 'em.
Seriously though, all of us are on a journey. In 10000 years we may find that our cats have evolved enough to carry on simple conversations with us (with words). Hell, one of our cats already has distinct vocalizations for different desires. "Owe" while standing in the living room means he wants to go outside. "A-ra-uh" while standing in the same spot means "Please run some water in the tub. I would like a drink". This is then accompanied by him walking down the hall, leading one of us to the bathroom. "Rat-rat" (it almost sounds like a bark) is a sure sign of acknoledgement of an action. "Prrruuuut" is a begging sound. Usually done while standing at the cabinet door where the cat treats are kept. "Brrrruuuu-brrrrruuu (a chirping sound) is "Where are you?". These are all very, very distinct sounds and sound nothing like the meow you would expect from a cat - although he does meow as well.
How many millenia until this creaure would be sentient like us?
Some days I could almost be a vegan.
What will we evolve into in 10,000, 20,000, or 50,000 years? Will there be powers of our minds that are only now in the earliest stages of development? Do all the ghost, magic, and spiritual stories we hear about have some basis in what we will become instead of what we arenow? Will we achieve some ultimate state of being where our physical form is no longer needed and we can convert ourselves to sentient energy of some sort? Is the natural progression of life to evolve from animal, to sentient animal (us), then to sentient animal with advanced mental powers (not us quite yet), to non-physical sentient with advanced mental powers?
Hmmm...