cats Archives • Encyclopaedia Felidae

Meredith Hemphill

mehshadoweye

Cat tails can be long or short, straight or bent or curled, and anywhere from nearly furless to luxuriously fluffy. A few cats have no tails at all! Cats use their tails to help them balance and to feel what’s going on behind them [3], but cats communicate with their tails, too. Because cats and dogs send very different signals with their tails, this part of cat body language is a common source of miscommunication between cats and both human and canine family members. So, here’s a guide to what your cat’s tail is telling you.

Tail Up or Down?

Your cat can hold their tail anywhere from straight up in the air to tucked all the way underneath their body, and the position they have their tail in gives you a lot of information about how they’re feeling [2-4]. A tail held straight up means that your cat feels confident and safe in their space [2-4]. A cat is more visible to potential predators or enemies with their tail held high, so they only do that if they are 100% certain that there is no danger here [3].

An even more relaxed cat holds their tail up with the tip curved, like a question mark [4, 3]. Cats will often pose their tails this way when they greet a trusted friend, including you [3, 4]! If a cat’s tail is up in your presence, there is a good chance that they’re interested in interacting with you [2].

If a cat is walking around with their tail held out to the back, roughly level with their spine, this is a fairly neutral message [3]. This is a cat who feels pretty comfortable, but they’re being a bit cautious, just in case [3]. When a cat is crouched down with the tail straight out back, that means they’re getting ready to pounce [4].

If a cat is keeping their tail down low, then they are scared or maybe in pain [3, 4]. When cats tuck their tails all the way underneath their bodies, they are terrified [2-4]. That’s their way of trying to get as small as possible to avoid being seen by something they expect to hurt them. If you see your cat’s tail going low, that’s a sign to you to find out what the problem is [3].

Bottlebrush Tail

Infographic of ways cats communicate with their tails — Image by Kailey Whitman

A different way that cats communicate fear with their tails is by fluffing out their fur [2-4]. Every hair stands up on end, giving the tail a “bottlebrush” appearance [2-4]. This is meant to make the cat appear larger and more menacing to whatever has scared it [3]. It’s a startle response [3, 4], so it comes from a different flavor of fear than tucking the tail. A cat with its tail puffed out is primed to react aggressively, a reflex that helps cats survive in the wild [2], so make sure you give them their space to calm down [3].

How worried you need to be about a bottlebrush tail really depends on your cat. Joon is the perfect specimen of a scaredy-cat, and the slightest unexpected noise makes her fluff up. So if I see her running through the house with her hair on end, I don’t think much of it. But Wednesday has no fear. The first time I took her to the vet, she tried to start a fight with a German Shepherd. On the rare occasions that she gets startled, I go looking for the danger, because maybe I need to be worried about it, too.

Tail Movements

This is probably how the way that cats communicate with their tails causes people–and other pets–the most confusion. Cats may move their tails in similar ways to dogs, but the message is not the same. Let’s start with the tap: just a little, up-and-down motion of the very tip of the tail when your cat appears otherwise relaxed [4]. This means your cat is slightly irritated about something or perhaps lost in thought [4]. A side-to-side flick or swish of the tail indicates some kind of excitation [1-4]. What kind depends on the context. It could be frustration, annoyance, even pain, but it can also be playful, such as when your cat is focused on a bird outside the window [1-4]. Whatever the case, that is probably a cat that is too excited for you to bother right now [1, 2].

While dogs generally wag their tails when they are in a good mood, the exact opposite is true for cats, which can lead to some disastrous miscommunications. When a cat thrashes or wags their tail from side to side, they are telling you that they are most upset, and you need to back off before they have to become aggressive [1-4]. Dogs (and people who expect cats to act like dogs) tend to take it as an invitation to approach instead [2, 3]. If you have dogs or very dog-minded friends, you may have to keep an eye on them around your cat so you can intervene before a tense moment becomes bloodshed [3]. Don’t be afraid to educate your houseguests about feline body language, too, especially if you witness someone misinterpreting your cat’s signals. It will help not only them but any cats they meet in the future.

References

Bailey, A. and Cosgrove, N. (2023, November 23). Cat tail language: The meaning of your feline’s different tail wags. Catster. https://www.catster.com/cat-behavior/cat-tail-language-movements-meanings/
Coates, J. (2021, November 21). What’s my cat’s tail telling me? The Spruce Pets. https://www.thesprucepets.com/cat-tail-body-language-554048
Galaxy, J. [Jackson Galaxy]. (2023, September 9). Quivering, wagging, puffed up: What is your cat’s tail trying to tell you? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLi3Z_Mlshk&ab_channel=JacksonGalaxy
Jordan, C. (2021, November 1). Why do cats wag their tails? Here’s what your feline is trying to tell you. Daily Paws. https://www.dailypaws.com/cats-kittens/behavior/common-cat-behaviors/why-do-cats-wag-their-tails

Science

What to Do If You Are Scratched by a Cat

September 10, 2023September 24, 2023 mehshadoweye

Meredith Hemphill

mehshadoweye

Encyclopaedia Felidae now has a Patreon! Go to www.patreon.com/EncyclopaediaFelidae if you want to help support this content!

Cat scratch fever isn’t just a song by Ted Nugent. Being scratched by a cat is just one of the hazards of having one, but seemingly minor nicks can lead to nasty infections. It’s important to take good care of any cat-induced injuries.

Not only are cats’ claws sharp, but they can carry bacteria [1-5]. So, step one after getting scratched by a cat is to clean the wound [1-5]. Flush the wound with running water [2, 3] and then wash it with mild soap [1-5]. If it’s a serious enough scratch that it’s still bleeding after that, apply pressure with a clean cloth or bandage to stop the bleeding [2, 3]. Then apply a topical antibiotic (like Neosporin) and cover with a sterile bandage [2, 3].

For most cat scratches, that’s all the attention the injury needs. If it doesn’t break the skin, all you have to do is clean any bacteria off, and you’re done. But sometimes, a scratch can get infected and even make you quite sick, so keep an eye on the wound and be vigilant for any symptoms of the infections below [1-5].

Cat Scratch Fever

Cat scratch fever, also called cat scratch disease or CSD, is an infection caused by the bacterium Bartonella henselae [1-3, 5]. Cats become infected with B. henselae from fleas or by fighting with other infected cats [1-5]. Up to 30% of cats carry this bacterium in their blood [1]! But cats rarely become sick from it [1, 3, 5]. When an infected cat scratches or bites a human and breaks the skin, or licks a human’s open wound, then the B. henselae bacteria get into that person’s bloodstream, and that’s what causes CSD [1-5].

Symptoms typically start between 3 days and 2 weeks after the cat scratch or bite [1, 3, 5]. The injury may become red, swollen, warm, and painful; develop lesions; and exhibit pus [1, 3-5]. Later, lymph nodes near the injury may swell and get sore [1, 3-5]. Other symptoms that may develop include fever, headache, loss of appetite, fatigue, and joint pain, somewhat like the flu [1, 3-5].

Usually, CSD is not serious and will resolve on its own or with antibiotics [1-5]. However, in rare cases it can cause serious problems with the brain, eyes, heart, or other organs and require intensive treatment [1-5]. Children from ages 5-14 and people with weak immune systems are most likely to have these complications [1, 4, 5]. If you notice any signs or symptoms of CSD after being scratched by a cat, see a medical professional right away, just to be safe [1-5].

Other Infections You Can Get from Being Scratched by a Cat

Other pathogens can be present on a cats claws and be introduced under your skin by a scratch. One example is Staphylococcus aureus, a common bacterium on the skin of humans and other animals that can cause several types of infections when introduced inside the body [2]. Another culprit is Campylobacter [2]. Campylobacter is typically spread through cat feces, but cats bury their poop with their paws, so the bacteria can be on their claws, too [2]. A Campylobacter infection can cause fever, stomach cramps, nausea, and diarrhea [2]. Pasturella bacteria are spread by cat bites and scratches, too [2]. The bacteria attack the joints and tendons, causing pain and swelling, and symptoms can appear within a few hours [2].

Quick Tips to Prevent Scratches

Cat chewing a stick — Anything can be a toy, and toys will be destroyed – Image by Birgit from Pixabay

If you have cats, you’re probably going to get scratched sooner or later. There are a few things you can do to make it less likely, however. First of all, DO NOT play with your cat using your hands [3]! Only use toys, preferably ones that keep your hands far away from the action. If you use your hand like a toy, your cat will treat it like a toy. And you’ve seen how they treat their toys.

Keeping your cats nails trimmed can help prevent scratches as well, especially accidental ones [3]. Many cats don’t care for this, but they can usually be accustomed to it over time. You can have a groomer do it for you, but keep in mind that your cat will associate the groomer with the claw trimming. They may learn to resist their grooming appointments like they do their vet visits. There are advantages to doing it yourself at home and giving them their favorite treat when you’re done.

Sources

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases. (2023, June 13). Cat scratch disease (Bartonella henselae infection). https://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/diseases/cat-scratch.html
Cleveland Clinic. (2020, October 9). What you should do for a cat bite or scratch. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/cat-bites-scratches/
Krebsbach, S. (2022, November 23). What to do if you are scratched by a cat. Preventive Vet. https://www.preventivevet.com/cats/what-to-do-if-you-are-scratched-by-a-cat
Johns Hopkins Medicine. (n.d.). Cat scratch disease. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/cat-scratch-disease
Pei, D. N. and Soto, P. (n.d.). Cat bites and scratches: Sometimes more than just a cut. National Capital Poison Center. https://www.poison.org/articles/cat-bites

Published September 10th, 2023

Science

Gene therapy may hold promise for cat birth control

July 9, 2023July 4, 2023 mehshadoweye

Meredith Hemphill

mehshadoweye

Encyclopaedia Felidae now has a Patreon! Go to www.patreon.com/EncyclopaediaFelidae if you want to help support this content!

Tabby cat carry her kitten — Image by Rajesh Balouria from Pixabay

Last month, an article was published in Nature Communications by a team of scientists from the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, the Horae Gene Therapy Center, and Massachusetts General Hospital [7-9]. They tested a gene therapy injection as an alternative to spaying and neutering for cat birth control, and the results are exciting.

Why do we need cat birth control?

80% of the estimated 600 million domestic cats in the world are strays or feral [4, 9]. Cat overpopulation leads to more disease and greater loss of birds and other small animals from predation [2-6]. Animal shelters become overrun with homeless kittens and cats, and many are ultimately killed. Cats reproduce very quickly, so it doesn’t take long for a few to become a serious overpopulation issue. The only method of sterilization currently available is spay/neuter surgery. It is effective and permanent, but there are drawbacks.

Surgical sterilization has to be performed by a veterinarian at a surgical clinic [2]. It’s an invasive procedure for females, and both sexes are supposed to have a recovery period, including medication [2]. It’s also expensive [2, 6]. Those resources are in short supply, even more so in developing countries [1, 2, 6]. Thus, there has been interest in non-surgical cat contraception for years. Previous attempts have included vaccines targeting the pituitary gland, toxins targeting reproductive cells, and RNA-silencing drugs to shut down the genetic mechanism of conception [1, 3, 5]. All were either ineffective or unsafe [3, 5].

The Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs (ACC&D) was founded in 2000 with the goal of finding a one-time, permanent, non-surgical contraceptive that would help to curb the overpopulation of homeless cats and dogs [1, 5]. ACC&D wasn’t involved in this study, but ACC&D President Joyce Briggs said, “This research is a huge leap—we’re really excited about it” [1, 5]. She also noted that the lead author, Dr. Lindsey Vansandt, is someone they have worked with before on a contraceptive vaccine called GonaCon [1].

The organization that provided the primary funding for the Vansandt research team has a similar goal. The Michelson Found Animals Foundation was founded in 2009 by inventor Gary Michelson [1, 2, 5]. Its goal is also a single-use, permanent, non-surgical dog and cat birth control, although specifically as a marketable product [1, 2]. Toward this end, the Michelson Found Animals Foundation created the Michelson Prize, $50 million (USD) in research funding plus $25 million if successful [1, 2, 5, 7]. So far, they have given out 41 grants [1, 5].

David Grimm, a journalist for Science, explained that it can be very difficult to get funding for this kind of research; most of the money goes toward studying the human body. So the Michelson Prize grants have been a huge boost to searching for a better companion animal contraceptive. [2]

The Experiment

Dr. David Pepin didn’t have his eyes on the Michelson Prize at first, however. Pepin was looking for ways to help women with ovarian cancer preserve their fertility [6-8]. He was studying anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), sometimes called Müllerian inhibiting hormone (MIS), which made by the ovarian follicles of female mammals [1, 2, 4-8]. An ovarian follicle is a layer of cells around an egg that nourish the egg as it grows and matures.

Pepin was trying to learn more about what AMH does, so he injected an extra copy of the AMH gene into female mice [2, 4, 5]. This technique, sometimes called gene therapy, does not change the native DNA. It adds new, free-floating pieces of DNA into the cells, complete with all the information the cells need to read the “instructions” on the new piece of DNA. Gene therapy has been used to treat genetic diseases in humans, hence the name, but in this case Pepin was using the same procedure for research purposes to see how the mice would respond to high levels of AMH. He was surprised when the mice’s ovaries shrank, stopped producing eggs, and became infertile [1, 2, 4-6].

“We thought, well, this is a very interesting tool, but what can we use it for?” Pepin said [4]. He decided to submit an application for a Michelson Prize grant, and Bill Swanson, Director of Animal Research at the Cincinnati Zoo, happened to review it [1, 2, 4, 5]. Swanson had actually been working on an opposite project, trying to increase breeding in captive big cats [2, 5]. However, the Cincinnati Zoo maintains a research colony of domestic cats, and Swanson thought Pepin’s proposal was a great idea, so a partnership was struck [2, 4, 5].

Diagram of cat birth control experiment — Experimental design – From Vansandt et al. 2023

The study was small, with three groups of only three she-cats each [3-5, 7, 9]. The nine cats were all named after former first ladies: Michelle, Betty, Abigail, Nancy, Dolly, Barbara, Rosalyn, Jacque and Mary [4]. The domestic cat gene for AMH was constructed into a piece of DNA that the cats’ cells could read, and then that piece of DNA, named fcMISv2, was taken up by the harmless AAV9 virus [9]. Viruses are used in gene therapy because they naturally have the ability to insert genetic material into cells. Three cats served as a control group and were injected in the thigh muscle with AAV9 viruses that were empty, no DNA to inject [3, 7, 9]. Three cats were injected with a lower dose of viruses carrying the gene, and the other three received a higher dose [3, 7-9].

The experimental cats’ muscle cells successfully incorporated the fcMISv2 DNA and began to make AMH [9]. According to Pepin, “A single injection of the gene therapy vector causes the cat’s muscles to produce AMH, which is normally only produced in the ovaries, and raises the overall level of AMH about 100 times higher than normal” [7, 8]. Although their AMH levels increased, only progesterone decreased in response [5, 9]. Their other hormone levels remained the same, their hormone cycles were unaffected, and they showed no signs of adverse side effects [2, 3, 5, 7-9].

During two mating trials, two different toms were each introduced to the nine she-cats for four months at a time [3, 5, 7, 9]. All of the cats in the control group mated, became pregnant, and gave birth to kittens [3, 5, 7-9]. Only two of the cats who received gene therapy even allowed the toms to mate, and none of them ever became pregnant or had kittens [3, 5-9]. At the end of the two-year study, they were maintaining steady, elevated AMH levels, and the scientists are cautiously optimistic that this method may be a permanent contraceptive [5, 7-9].

What happens next?

It remains unclear exactly how AMH functions as kitty birth control [1, 2, 5, 9]. The researchers believe that the elevated levels of AMH prevent she-cats’ follicles from developing and thereby prevent ovulation [2-5, 9]. However, more research is needed to understand exactly how AMH works, and to answer lingering questions.

For instance, is this sterilization truly permanent [1, 2, 6]? The scientists who authored the study believe it is, but they only tested those cats for two years, so no one can say for sure yet that it doesn’t eventually wear off. Are there any negative side effects that they didn’t catch in such a small study [6]? Could AMH work for dogs, too [1, 2, 5, 6]? That is an important goal of this kind of research, not to mention a requirement to win the Michelson Prize [1, 5]. There are also concerns about cost, as that is often what prevents people from spaying and neutering cats now [1, 2]. If a new AMH shot will cost as much or more than surgically sterilizing cats, the convenience of the one-dose injection won’t really matter [1, 2].

Pepin, Swanson, and the Michelson Foundation are already in talks with the Food and Drug Administration about a larger trial and the possibility of bringing an AMH drug to market [2, 5, 6], so keep your ear to the ground. In the meantime, GonaCon, the cat birth control vaccine that study author Lindsey Vansandt worked on with ACC&D, has shown promise as well and may actually be closer to becoming available [1]. Either way, this area of study appears to be accelerating, and there may be more exciting news to come in the next few years.

Two kittens peeking through hole in wooden wall — Effective feline contraception means fewer homeless kittens – Image by Sommer from Pixabay

As for the cats from the study, they were all put up for adoption after the research concluded [4]. This is something the Cincinnati Zoo does with their research participants–Bill Swanson already has three cats he adopted from previous studies [4]. I couldn’t find out if all nine have been adopted yet, so if you live in the Cincinnati area and are looking for a new feline friend, email [email protected]. The cats’ new owners are asked to bring them back to the zoo for a yearly check-up to monitor their hormone levels and make sure there haven’t been any side effects [4].

References

Clifton, Merritt. (2023, June 8). No, the wait for a single-shot chemosterilant for cats has not ended. Animals 24-7. https://www.animals24-7.org/2023/06/08/no-the-wait-for-a-single-shot-chemosterilant-for-cats-has-not-ended/
Crespi, S. (Producer). (2023, June 8). Contraception for cats, and taking solvents out of chemistry [Audio podcast episode]. In Science Podcast. American Association for the Advancement of Science. https://www.science.org/content/podcast/contraception-cats-and-taking-solvents-out-chemistry
de Jesús, E. G. (2023, June 6). A gene therapy shot might keep cats from getting pregnant without being spayed. ScienceNews. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/gene-therapy-shot-cats-spay-pregnant
Golembiewski, K. (2023, June 6). Nonsurgical cat contraception could help curb overpopulation, study says. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/06/world/cat-contraceptives-scn/index.html
Grimm, D. (2023, June 6). Hello kitty, goodbye kittens? Gene therapy spays cats without surgery. Science. doi: 10.1126/science.adj0979
Katsnelson, A. (2023, June 6). Gene therapy may offer birth control for cats. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/06/science/cats-birth-control.html
Ridings, M. (2023, June 6). Birth control for cats? Harvard Gazette. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/06/birth-control-for-cats-is-effective-but-ahead-of-its-time/
Today’s Veterinary Business. (2023, June 19). Gene therapy shows promise in feline contraception. https://todaysveterinarybusiness.com/gene-therapy-0623/
Vansandt, L. M., Meinsohn, M., Godin, P., Nagykery, N., et al. (2023). Durable contraception in the female domestic cat using viral-vectored delivery of a feline anti-Müllerian hormone transgene. Nature Communications, 14, 3140. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-38721-0

Published July 9th, 2023

Culture

Mini Blog: Reporting from the Chicago Field Museum

February 18, 2023May 11, 2023 mehshadoweye

Meredith Hemphill

mehshadoweye

Encyclopaedia Felidae now has a Patreon! Go to www.patreon.com/EncyclopaediaFelidae if you want to help support this content!

I recently visited one of my Bucket List museums (yes, that is the kind of nerd that I am). I wanted to share a few of my pictures from the Chicago Field Museum featuring feline artifacts in their collections.

For more information about cat mummies in ancient Egypt, see my article on the goddess Bastet. The lions of Tsavo are on my shortlist for future articles. If you don’t know, it is a gruesome and fascinating tale.

Ancient Egyptian cat mummy
A pair of cats sculpted from jade in China
The final resting place of the lions of Tsavo
My somber selfie with the Tsavo lions
The skulls of the Tsavo lions

Culture

The Goddess Bastet and the Ancient Egyptian Cat Cult

November 28, 2022May 11, 2023 mehshadoweye

Meredith Hemphill

mehshadoweye

Encyclopaedia Felidae now has a Patreon! Go to www.patreon.com/EncyclopaediaFelidae if you want to help support this content!

Bronze Bastet figurine — Late Period bronze figurine of Bastet in the Louvre Museum – photo by Rama on Wikimedia Commons

Cats and humans have a long and complicated relationship that dates back thousands of years. Their earliest interactions are a bit murky, but many historians believe that cats were first domesticated in ancient Egypt, where they became an important part of the culture. The relationship between ancient Egyptians and their cats is exemplified by the cat-headed goddess Bastet and her cult of feline worship.

The Rise of Bastet

Bastet, also known as Bast or Basht, was the daughter of the sun god Ra and the goddess of fertility, childbirth, protection (especially of women and children), and the home [1-5]. In early depictions, Bastet has the head of a lioness, but as her popularity rose during the New Kingdom, she came to be associated with domestic cats instead [2, 3]. These depictions of the goddess typically show her with a sistrum, a percussion instrument, in her right hand [1, 2, 4, 5]. The goddess is also represented as a seated cat [1-5].

Feline Domestication

Egyptians first encountered cats in the form of Felis chaus, the jungle cat, and Felis lybica, the African wildcat [1]. Both species look a bit like the modern housecat, but it was F. lybica that became the ancestor of the domestic cat, Felis catus [1]. F. lybica is smaller, less aggressive, and lived closer to that civilization than F. chaus [1]. The African wildcat’s striped yellowish or orangish fur was passed down to domestic cats [1].

Bronze Egyptian cat statue (663-525 B.C.E.) in the Worchester Art Museum – photo by Daderot on Wikimedia Commons

Cats were not so much domesticated by humans; they domesticated themselves. There were two major threats in the daily lives of ancient Egyptians: venomous snakes and rodents eating their crops [1]. Large concentrations of people attract lots of rodents eager to take advantage of their food stores and garbage. Snakes are attracted by rodents as well as the nice, warm human dwellings. But the wildcats came into town to hunt the rodents and the snakes, and ancient Egyptians were pleased with the results [1]. Villagers went out of their way to encourage the pest patrol to stay, and the wildcats were happy to stay where prey was plentiful and predators were few [1]. A partnership of sorts developed, and as the wildcats became used to humans, they became less wild [1]. Eventually, they became pets, and then, little goddesses in the flesh [1].

Worship of Bastet

Bastet’s center of worship and grandest temple was at Bubastis [1-4]. A major reason for Bastet’s meteoric rise in popularity was that Bubastis became the capital in the first millennium [1]. The Greek historian Herodotus described the temple as a square edifice of stone built on an island with channels to either side and a grove of trees planted in its central courtyard [4]. The temple provided a variety of social services for Bubastis, such as medical care, food, and counseling [4]. Worshippers traveled from all over the country came to the temple at Bubastis which was, unsurprisingly, filled with thousands of pampered cats [1]. The devoted gave offerings to the goddess such as figurines in the shape of cats or Bastet herself, jars of perfume, and mummified cats [1, 2, 4].

Cat mummy in sarcophagus (305 B.C.E.) at the Brooklyn Museum – photo from Wikipedia Loves Art Project

Cat Mummies

Oh yes, mummified cats. Pet cats could be brought to the temple for mummification and burial, presumably so these beloved family members could join their human companions in the afterlife [1]. However, cats were also mummified specifically to offer to Bastet [1, 4]. The ancient Egyptians did this with other animals as well, including ibises and dogs. Archeologists discovered one cat cemetery in Bubastis, dating to about 900 B.C.E., which contained close to 300,000 mummies [1]!

Egyptologists believe that the priests of Bastet maintained catteries at her temples to mass-produce cat mummies [1]. They would sell the mummies to pilgrims looking to make an offering at the temple [1]. Analysis of these mummies often reveals head or neck trauma, indicating a violent death and untimely death [1]. Diodorus Siculus, another Greek historian, reported that anyone in ancient Egypt who was found to have killed a cat would immediately be put to death via mob justice [1]. If this is true, I can only assume that these mummy factories were not common knowledge, and archeology discovered a very, very long-buried scandal.

The Festival of Bastet at Bubastis

Egyptian bronze cat with kittens — Late Ptolemaic Period Cat with Kittens (664-30 B.C.E.) – photo from Brooklyn Museum on Wikimedia Commons

Every year, a big festival was thrown in honor of Bastet at Bubastis [1, 3, 4]. Much of what we know about this event comes from Herodotus as well [1, 3, 4]. There could be 700,000 worshippers in attendance [1, 3, 4]. The festival resembled Carnivale or Mardi Gras in its wild revelry [4]. It began with attendees traveling to Bubastis by river, singing and dancing and playing music all the way [3, 4]. Upon reaching Bubastis, the festival would turn into a citywide party [1, 3, 4]. Unhindered celebration with music and wine was believed to please Bastet and perhaps represented her nature as a fertility deity [3, 4].

“But when they have reached Bubastis, they make a festival with great sacrifices, and more wine is drunk at this feast than in the whole year besides.”
Herodotus, Histories, Book 11.60

Works Cited

Adams, A. L. (2021). For the love of Bastet: A history of cats in ancient Egypt. Veterinary Heritage, 44(1), 27-33.
Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2022, September 16). Bastet. In Encyclopaedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bastet
Lange-Athinodorou, E. (n.d.). The goddess Bastet and the cult of feline deities in the Nile delta. American Research Center in Egypt. https://www.arce.org/resource/goddess-bastet-and-cult-feline-deities-nile-delta
Mark, J. J. (2016, July 24). Bastet. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/Bastet/
Scott, N. E. (1958). The cat of Bastet. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, 17(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.2307/3258805

Published 28 November 2022

Culture

Kaibyo: More Japanese Cat Folklore

October 9, 2022May 11, 2023 mehshadoweye

Meredith Hemphill

mehshadoweye

Encyclopaedia Felidae now has a Patreon! Go to www.patreon.com/EncyclopaediaFelidae if you want to help support this content!

Black and white cat on a rock — Photo by Eva Bronzini on Pexels

Last year, I wrote about bakeneko and nekomata, two yokai, or supernatural entities, from Japanese folklore. Since then, I have learned about even more Japanese cats creatures, and I am delighted to share them with you. This article is mostly derived from a book called Kaibyo: The Supernatural Cats of Japan by Zack Davisson. I highly recommend it if you would like to learn more.

What is a “kaibyo,” you may be wondering? It means “strange cats,” and the term that encompasses all feline yokai [1]. Kaibyo mostly consist of different bakeneko and nekomata, however one of the strange cats on our list today is neither [1, 4].

Kasha (火車)

The word kasha means “fire cart” [1-3]. You’re probably thinking that was a typo, but it was not. Kasha are a type of oni (demon) that originated with depictions on Kamakura Era hell scrolls of oni carrying sinners in flaming carts [1, 2]. The hell scrolls, jigoku-zoshi, were an art form that depicted the horrors of the Buddhist hell in order to scare the illiterate masses into following the way of the Buddha [1, 2]. These early kasha were not cat-like [1]. Edo Period artist Toriyama Sekien drew the first known feline kasha in 1776 [1].

Toriyama Sekien’s kasha – Wikimedia Commons

The cat-like kasha that became the dominant lore is a bakeneko, or “changing cat” [1, 3]. Some said a housecat becomes a kasha because it gained power through old age [1]. Others believed that cats left alone with a dead body transform into kasha [1]. Whenever someone died, cats would be driven from the house to keep this from happening [1].

Why were people so afraid their cat might become a kasha? Because kasha are fiery, corpse-stealing necromancers [1-3]. Kasha descend from trees and rooftops during funerals to steal the body away–sometimes to drag the sinner to hell, sometimes to eat, and sometimes to play with [1, 3]. Kasha are able to raise the dead, apparently not in a happy way, or to manipulate lifeless bodies like puppets [1, 3]. In their true form, kasha are at least as large as a person, walk on their hind legs, and have an aura of fire or lightning [3].

Bakeneko Yujo (化猫遊女)

As the name suggests, this kaibyo is a type of bakeneko. Like all bakeneko, bakeneko yujo are known for their shapeshifting abilities. “Yujo” refers to sex workers, so the name speaks for itself [1]. Bakeneko yujo were said to be beautiful sex workers who were actually shapeshifting cats in disguise, perhaps luring men to their chambers to meet a grisly end [1, 4].

The bakeneko yujo arose as an urban legend during the highly creative Edo Period [1]. The tales were spread and popularized by kiboshi (“yellow books”), very short, cheap, and lurid novels like the European penny dreadfuls [1]. In the typical tale, a customer arranges the services of a sex worker, only to wake up in the middle of the night to see her casting a feline shadow and realize what she is [1]. The reader doesn’t usually find out the man’s fate [1]. Some stories are more grostesque, such as one where the customer witnesses the bakeneko yujo in a feline form chewing a human arm [1].

Bakeneko Yujo by Torii Kiyonaga,1775 – Wikimedia Commons

Though the urban legend started out creepy and sometimes grisly, bakeneko yujo became an object of desire [1]. Men would specifically go in search of sex workers who might be kaibyo in disguise [1]. The sex workers quickly realized they could take advantage of this and would play into the legend with such little tricks as keeping pet cats and asking their customers for gifts of seafood [1]. Today, human felinity still evokes a sense of beauty and sex appeal in Japan [1, 4].

Neko Musume (猫娘)

A neko musume is a kaibyo all her own, neither bakeneko nor nekomata [1, 4]. Neko musume means “cat daughter” or, figuratively, “cat girl” [1, 4]. Neko musume are cat/human hybrids, possessing distinctly feline physical and behavioral traits [1, 4]. The legend originated with the misemono of the mid-1700s [1]. These carnivals included freak show-like displays of oddities, both objects and people [1]. Yokai were a popular subject [1].

One such misemono performer was known as the neko musume, and she was very popular [1]. No pictures of her exist, but she was described as looking exactly like a hybrid of human and cat, as she claimed [1]. Whether this was due to a medical condition or clever cosmetics, no one knows [1].

Neko musume began to appear in literature in 1800 [1]. The increasingly popular stories often involve the frustrated efforts of parents to handle a daughter who looks and acts kind of like a cat [1, 4]. The feline features vary, but a habit of hunting and eating small rodents is usually a prominent feature [1]. In one story, a mother at the end of her rope finally decides to take advantage of her odd daughter’s talents and makes the neko musume the village’s professional ratcatcher [1]. A whole genre of human/animal hybrid stories was spawned from the popularity of these strange tales [1, 4].

Cat girls, as well as other hybrids, remain popular in Japanese media today [1, 4]. There is famously a cat girl in the manga and anime Gegege no Kitaro named, creatively, Neko-Musume [4].

Works Cited

Davisson, Z. (2021). Kaibyo: The supernatural cats of Japan (2nd ed.). Mercuria Press: Portland, OR.
Grossen, S. (n.d.). Kasha. Bakemono no e scroll. https://bakemono.lib.byu.edu/yokai/kasha/
Meyer, M. (n.d.). Kasha. Yokai.com. https://yokai.com/kasha/
Montald, I. (2020, May 11). Youkai manual: Bakeneko & nekomata. Wonderland Japan WAttention. https://wattention.com/youkai-manual-bakeneko-nekomata/

Published October 9, 2022

Breed Profiles

Bombay: Parlor Panthers

April 17, 2022May 11, 2023 mehshadoweye

Meredith Hemphill

mehshadoweye

Encyclopaedia Felidae now has a Patreon! Go to www.patreon.com/EncyclopaediaFelidae if you want to help support this content!

Bombay cat on black background — Photo by rejoman on freeimages

There is something a little bit wild and untamed about cats. For some time, cat fanciers have been inspired by that wildness to breed cats that look like their undomesticated kin. The Bombay is one such breed, intended to look like a tiny black panther. Despite the family resemblance, these friendly felines are much more at home in a cozy bed than an exotic jungle.

A Long Way from India

The cat fancier who conceived of breeding mini-panthers was a woman named Nikki Horner who lived in Louisville, Kentucky, USA [1-5, 7, 8]. She began breeding sable Burmese and black American Shorthair cats together in the 1950s [1-3, 5, 7]. Horner named her new breed the Bombay after the city in India, now known as Mumbai, as a nod to the country’s black leopards [4-7].

Another line of Bombay cats was started in the United Kingdom that crossed Burmese and British Shorthairs [1, 6]. Although they are still considered Bombays, they look a bit different from the ones that come from the American breeding program [1, 6].

The Patent Leather Kid with the New Penny Eyes

Bombay kitten by stone wall — Photo by costi on freeimages

The only color Bombays come in is black, and they are black all over–whiskers, paw pads, and nose leather, too [2, 6, 7]. Their coat is short, dense, and has a shine like patent leather [1-8]. Their eyes vary from gold to deep copper [1-8]. The Bombay is a muscular, medium-sized cat with a round head and short muzzle [1-8]. Their ears are rounded at the tips [1, 6, 7].

The Bombay personality is that of a total attention sponge [2-8]. They are real extroverts who get along well with all sorts, including children and other pets [2-5, 7, 8]. Because Bombays are so social, they can get stressed and lonely when left alone for long hours [4, 7, 8]. Fortunately, they are happy to play with another cat or a different animal friend.

The Bombay is a smart, playful kitty who likes to learn tricks, play games, and solve puzzles [3, 4]. They often enjoy playing fetch and going for walks on a leash [2-4, 7]. This is not a highly active breed that will keep you up all night, but they certainly appreciate some quality playtime [2-4]. They are in fact quite the lap cat and love a good cuddle [2, 4, 5, 8].

Pampering Parlor Panthers

Bombays are a pretty easy breed to care for. Their short, low-shed coats require very minimal grooming, just the occasional brushing to get rid of loose hair [3, 4, 7]. They are more prone to obesity than most cats, so it’s important to keep their food intake measured and monitor their weight carefully [3, 4, 7]. They also have a genetic propensity toward gingivitis and dental disease, so brushing their teeth and providing dental treats are good ideas [7].

The Bombay is slightly flat-faced, which makes them prone to excessive tear production and sinus and breathing problems [3, 4, 7]. They also have somewhat higher rates of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the most common form of heart disease in cats [3, 4]. On the whole, however, Bombays have a rather low incidence of health problems and are considered quite hardy for purebred cats.

The Bombay is a rare breed that can be hard to find. They may still end up in shelters or need to be rehomed, though, so check with your local shelter or with Bombay and Burmese breeders to see if a cat is in need of adoption before trying to buy one.

Fun Facts

Bombays tend to reach puberty early yet don’t finish growing until they are almost two years old [3].
Bombay kittens can be born with tabby stripes that disappear as they grow up [1].

Works Cited

Alderton, D. (1992). Cats: The visual guide to more than 250 types of cats from around the world. Dorling Kindersley: London.
Bombay. (n.d.). VCA Animal Hospitals https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/cat-breeds/bombay
Bombay. (n.d.). VetStreet. http://www.vetstreet.com/cats/bombay#overview
Brown, J. (2021, October 12). Bombay: Cat breed profile. The Spruce Pets. https://www.thesprucepets.com/bombay-cat-full-profile-history-and-care-5202250
Cat Fanciers Association. (n.d.). About the Bombay. https://cfa.org/bombay/
Edwards, A. (2006). The ultimate encyclopedia of cat, cat breeds, and cat care. Hermes House: London.
Taylor, C. & Guthrie, C. (2021, October 12). Bombay. DailyPaws. https://www.dailypaws.com/cats-kittens/cat-breeds/bombay
The International Cat Association. (2018, August 13). Bombay breed. https://tica.org/breeds/browse-all-breeds?view=article&id=827:bombay-breed&catid=79

Published April 17, 2022

Updated June 27, 2022

Cat Care

How Does a Microchip Keep Your Cat Safe?

July 25, 2021May 12, 2023 mehshadoweye

Meredith Hemphill

mehshadoweye

Encyclopaedia Felidae now has a Patreon! Go to www.patreon.com/EncyclopaediaFelidae if you want to help support this content!

Microchip beside rice grain — A microchip is about the size of a grain of rice – Image from HowStuffWorks

There’s a good chance you have heard a story about a pet that was reunited with their owner thanks to their microchip. Everyone loves a heartwarming tale of a family made whole again. But the stories don’t tell you everything about microchipping. Whether your pet is already microchipped or you are trying to make that decision, you probably have questions. It isn’t as straightforward as a collar and tags. Fortunately, it isn’t rocket science, either, so get ready to demystify the microchip.

What Is a Microchip?

Pet microchips are teeny tiny electronic devices implanted just beneath the skin of an animal. Although we may think of them as something for cats and dogs, microchips can also be placed in other animals such as laboratory rodents, cattle, and horses (1). The devices are only about the size of a grain of rice. They don’t contain a battery or other power source (1, 2). Rather, they are RFID chips that contain a unique identification number (2). When a scanner is passed over the chip, the chip is briefly activated and sends back the ID number (1-3). Because there is no battery and no moving parts, the microchip never corrodes, loses power, or wears out (1, 2). It should last a pet’s entire life.

What a Microchip Is Not

There are a few common misconceptions about what microchips are/can do. First, a microchip is not a tracking device (1-3). It does not contain GPS technology or anything else that can keep tabs on your pet’s location (1-3, 6). Second, your pet’s microchip is not an external data storage device (1, 2). The only information the chip can store is its ID number (1-3). It does not track your personal information or your pet’s medical information (1, 2). When someone scans the chip, all they see is that number. If the microchip is registered in a database, they will be able to request your contact information. More on that later.

How Is a Microchip Placed?

A cat gets their microchip placed in the loose skin between their shoulder blades (2, 3). The chip is injected with a syringe a bit larger than the ones used for vaccinations (1). No anesthetic is required, and the procedure can be performed at a routine veterinary appointment (1-3). To your cat, it feels much like any other shot (1, 3). However, if your cat happens to be undergoing a surgical procedure anyway, i.e. sterilization, then the microchipping can be done at the same time (1).

If you adopt a cat from a shelter or purchase one from a breeder, there is a possibility they may already have a microchip (1, 3, 5). Although it won’t hurt a cat to be microchipped twice, there’s no need (1). Any animal shelter should already have checked for a microchip, so just ask. If you adopted a cat a while ago and don’t remember, you can call the shelter to check or have your vet scan your cat for one. They will typically do that free of charge (4, 5).

Why Are Microchips Important?

The way a microchip works is that the identification numbers are stored in databases maintained by the manufacturers and other organizations. Pet owners input their contact information–and more, if they choose–to the database in connection with their pet’s unique chip number. Then, if the pet becomes lost, and someone finds them and take them to a shelter, vet clinic, or animal control center, staff can scan for the microchip. Staff then look up the ID number and retrieve the owner’s contact information from the database. If that information is up-to-date, kitty and family can be reunited!

Before microchips, collars and tags were around for a long time, so why the high-tech upgrade? Actually, it is best practice to use both (1, 2). A collar and tags quickly show people that an outdoor or lost cat has an owner (1). A rabies tag should be included to assure all who meet your cat that it is safe to be around and in compliance with the law, if applicable (1). Plus, a tag with your contact info can greatly expedite your lost cat’s return to you–or prevent your outdoor cat from going to the shelter in the first place (1). However, cats should always wear a breakaway collar, which can obviously come off. Tags can become worn and unreadable, and cat thieves can just take the whole thing off and throw it away. But a microchip is a permanent means of identification (1, 2).

Lord et al found that lost cats without microchips were returned to their owners only 1.8% of the time (1, 6). For cats with microchips, however, the rate of successful reunions was twenty times higher (1, 4, 6)! When cats with microchips couldn’t be reconnected with their owners, it was usually because the information in the database was missing or out-of-date (1). So do not skip the section below!

How to Use Your Cat’s Microchip

Registration and Updating

A microchip is little more than a hunk of metal until you register it. Before you begin, you will need to have your cat’s microchip number and the chip’s manufacturer on hand. If you don’t have that information anywhere, ask the clinic that implanted the chip. If your pet came pre-chipped, find a veterinarian, animal control, shelter, or pet store that can scan the chip and tell you. Then you will need to go online to register the chip with a database. The obvious choice would be the database maintained by the microchip’s manufacturer. There is usually an initial cost and sometimes a periodic fee associated with these databases, however. If the cost is prohibitive, there are a handful of reputable free databases you can use instead, such as Found Animals.

If you are in the United States, it is important that you use a database which is linked to the American Animal Hospital Association’s Universal Pet Microchip Lookup Tool (4). There are international registries associated with the Universal Pet Microchip Lookup Tool as well. Go here for the full list of registries that participate. A lot of places use the AAHA’s tool to check a microchip number in many databases at once (4).

Once you are on your chosen database’s website, you will need to register a new microchip using your cat’s microchip number and probably another identifier, such as an email address or phone number. Then it’s time to input your contact information. Some services give the option to include more, such as a photo of your pet, their medical information, a description, etc. The service I use for Joon’s microchip can generate a digital Lost Pet poster if you report your pet to them as lost and send out an email alert to other members of the database in your area. If all you want to do is put in your contact info, most services will also let you opt out of the other bells and whistles.

You will need to return to the website and log back in to update your information any time it changes, like if you move or get a new phone number (4, 5). You may also be able to do this over the phone with the registry, but your veterinarian cannot do it for you.

Microchip Extras

If your cat is microchipped, you have the option to incorporate various microchip-compatible devices into your cat’s life. There are feeders which sync with your cat’s microchip and only allow that particular cat to put their head in (6). These can be good for monitoring food intake or multipet homes where making sure no one gets into each others’ food is a priority (6). There are also cat doors that only open for the cat with the synced microchip, keeping out any unwanted guests (6). I don’t know how those work in multicat households, but I’m sure someone has thought of that. So microchips come in handy even if your kitty never gets lost even for a minute.

Works Cited

American Veterinary Medical Association. (n.d.). Microchipping of animals FAQ. AVMA. https://www.avma.org/microchipping-animals-faq
Get the facts on microchipping: Separate microchipping facts from fiction. (n.d.). HomeAgain. https://www.homeagain.com/microchipping-facts.html
Burgos, S. (2020, August 24). Everything you need to know about microchipping your cat. Daily Paws. https://www.dailypaws.com/cats-kittens/cat-safety-tips/microchip-cat
Kelley, T. L. (2021, July 8). Updated your pet’s microchip contact info lately? It’s easy. Daily Paws. https://www.dailypaws.com/dogs-puppies/dog-safety-tips/pet-microchip-lookup
Nicholas, J. (2021, July 8). Is you pet’s microchip registered? Up-to-date? Here’s how to do both. Preventive Vet. https://www.preventivevet.com/dogs/how-to-update-your-pets-microchip
Top 3 reasons why microchipping cats matters. (n.d.). Sure Petcare. https://www.surepetcare.com/en-us/advice-news/top-3-reasons-why-microchipping-cats-matters

Published July 25, 2021

Behavior

Why do cats purr?

February 7, 2021May 12, 2023 mehshadoweye

Meredith Hemphill

mehshadoweye

Encyclopaedia Felidae now has a Patreon! Go to www.patreon.com/EncyclopaediaFelidae if you want to help support this content!

Brown tabby cat in lap — Image by Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay

What could bring more joy than a purring kitty curled up in your lap? And there are so many different kinds of purrs. Some cats purr like a lawn mower engine, and some are so quiet you could barely hear them with your ear on their chest. Purring is a uniquely feline behavior. We associate it with happy kitties, but cats actually purr under a lot of different circumstances. This rather odd sound must serve a purpose besides being adorable. So why do cats purr?

Anatomy of the Purr

First things first: what even is purring? As someone who used to try it for myself as a child, I promise it doesn’t come naturally if you aren’t a cat. There was a lot of debate about how cats purred for a long time. One prominent theory was that the purring sound came from a change in the cat’s blood flow [1, 4, 6]. Now, biologists are generally agreed that cats purr using the muscles of their larynx and diaphragm [1, 3-5, 7]. By vibrating their larynx, which in turn vibrates their hyoid bone [5], a cat causes the air in their throat to vibrate as well, creating the sound we know as purring [1, 6].

Most vocalizations can only be made when exhaling. It just makes sense. You need air in your lungs to push through your larynx to talk, sing, laugh, etc. The same is true of other animals. However, cats can purr on the exhale and the inhale, which is what enables them to purr constantly [1-5, 7]. This is due to the continual vibration of the larynx as they breathe in and out through it [1].

Cats Purr to Communicate

Cats first start to purr by the time they are a week old [1, 2, 4]. The purring of her newborns may signal to a queen their location and wellbeing [1, 2, 4]. It is thought that each kitten has a unique purr their mother can recognize so that she can tell which of her babies is communicating with her [2].

Queens will also purr for their kittens [5, 6]. One reason may be to provide a tactile cue to help blind and deaf newborn kittens locate the milk supply [6]. Even though very young kittens can’t hear the purring yet, they can feel the vibrations because they are, ideally, never far away. Alternatively, the mother’s purring may disguise the soft mews of the kittens from the ears of predators [5]. Whatever the evolutionary reason, purring cements the bond between queen and kittens [5].

Some adult cats purr when feeding, possibly a throwback to that kittenhood behavior [1]. Cats may also purr to inform their person that they want their food, now please [1]! The purr of solicitation sounds different from the snuggly purr [1]. What’s the difference? It’s hard to say for sure. Our lack of knowledge about how cats communicate with each other makes it harder to understand the nuances of how they communicate with us.

One thing that’s certain is cats in the wild purr when they groom each other [1]. Grooming is an important part of a cat’s daily life and a positive social interaction between cats who have a bond. Perhaps this comes closest to the contended purring of a cat that is lying in a warm lap or being petted.

Mother cat and kittens in barn — Queens and their kittens purr to communicate – Image by Franz W. from Pixabay

Healing Vibrations

Cats don’t just purr for happy reasons. They sometimes purr when they’re stressed, scared, injured, or dying [1, 3-5, 7, 8]. Cats have sometimes been seen lying alongside another, injured cat, both purring [7]. This is called “purr therapy” because the purring is believed to be a way of comforting the injured cat [7]. In stressful situations, purring can serve as a method of self-soothing [7]. However, it may be an even more powerful tool than that.

Cats purr at a frequency of 20-150 Hertz [1, 3]. These low-frequency vibrations have demonstrated healing benefits [1, 3, 4, 7, 8]. 25 and 50 Hz frequencies promote bone growth and fracture healing [8]. 100 Hz has therapeutic use for pain, wound healing, swelling, and difficulty breathing [8]. It may seem far-fetched, but bones do respond to pressure by hardening [1, 7]. And there is a good evolutionary reason why cats might vibrate their way to good health.

Cats are ambush predators. This means they spend a lot of their time resting and waiting in-between hunts. Purring could have evolved as a low-energy way to stimulate their muscles and bones while stationary [3, 7]. Then their bones wouldn’t weaken or become brittle over time from lack of use [7]. Interestingly, researchers have proposed just such a fix for astronauts. Muscle atrophy and bone density loss are a big problem on long space missions where the lack of gravity prevents normal exercise. Vibrating foot plates have been suggested to stimulate astronauts’ bones and prevent them from losing density [7]. It seems the cats had that figured out a long time ago.

Do All Cats Purr?

Probably not, but it kind of depends upon how you define purring, apparently. Once upon a time in the early 1800s, biologists believed that cats could either roar or purr, but it was impossible to do both [7]. This is how cats came to be divided into the “big cats,” or subfamily Pantherinae, and the “small cats,” subfamily Felinae [6, 7]. Although most big cats are larger than most small cats, those names are actually a misnomer, since the smallest of the “big cats,” the clouded leopard, is smaller than the biggest of the small cats, the puma [7]. The basis of the division on roaring vs. purring is also probably inaccurate.

Two sleepy bobcats — Housecats aren’t the only ones that purr! – Image by Amber Stevens from Pixabay

The Pantherinae cats have a rope of tough, flexible cartilage where the Felinae have only the hyoid bone [5, 6]. This gives the larynx greater flexibility so that roaring is possible, although lions are the only ones to make regular use of this ability [5, 6]. Does this mean they can’t purr, though? These days, biologists tend to believe than most cats can purr, or at least something like it [3, 7]. Some call it a purr-like vocalization or a hum rather than a true purr [3, 4, 6].

Even granting that most cats can actually purr, some of the Pantherinae are usually believed to be exceptions: lions, leopards, jaguars, tigers, snow leopards, and clouded leopards [7]. But that may yet prove untrue. The anthropologist and animal behaviorist Elizabeth Marshall Thomas suggests that big cats may reserve purring for their cubs and that is why people think they don’t purr at all [6]. We simply aren’t around when they do.

Works Cited

Dowling, S. (2018, July 25). The complicated truth about a cat’s purr. BBC Future. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180724-the-complicated-truth-about-a-cats-purr
Edwards, A. (2006). The ultimate encyclopedia of cat, cat breeds, and cat care. Hermes House: London.
Lyons, L. A. (2006, April 3). Why do cats purr? Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-cats-purr/
Science Reference Section. (2019, November 19). Why and how do cats purr? Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/everyday-mysteries/item/why-and-how-do-cats-purr/
Stewart, D. (1995, April 1). Do lions purr? And why are there no green mammals? The National Wildlife Federation. https://www.nwf.org/Magazines/National-Wildlife/1995/Questions-and-Answers-About-Wildlife
Thomas, E. M. (1994). The tribe of tiger: Cats and their culture. Simon & Schuster: New York.
Venton, D. (2015, May 8). Why do cats purr? It’s not just because they’re happy. Wired. https://www.wired.com/2015/05/why-do-cats-purr/
von Muggenthaler, E. (2001). The felid purr: A healing mechanism? The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 110(5), 2666. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.4777098

Published February 7, 2021

Updated June 20, 2022

Culture

Why do we say “It’s raining cats and dogs”?

August 16, 2020May 12, 2023 mehshadoweye

Meredith Hemphill

mehshadoweye

Encyclopaedia Felidae now has a Patreon! Go to www.patreon.com/EncyclopaediaFelidae if you want to help support this content!

Rain of fish — Pluie de poissons (Rain of Fish) by Olaus Magnus, 1555 – Public Domain from Wikipedia

It’s a dark and stormy weekend, so I felt inspired to investigate the origins of a strange English-language idiom: It’s raining cats and dogs. Cats feature in quite a few English idioms, and all of the ones that spring to mind are really rather strange. This is probably a topic I’ll come back to because I find it fascinating. For anyone who isn’t familiar with the phrase, to say it’s raining cats and dogs means it is absolutely pouring down rain.

But what does this have to do with our pets? Certainly nothing obvious. There have been real life reports of fish, frogs, and other small animals falling from the sky during storms. Seriously, Google it. It’s fascinating. But as far as I know, no one has ever seen cats and/or dogs raining from the heavens. So why would we say it’s raining cats and dogs instead of fish and frogs?

The first known instance of “raining cats and dogs” was in 1738 in Jonathan Swift’s A Complete Collection of Polite and Ingenious Conversation, where he wrote “I know Sir John will go, though he was sure it would rain cats and dogs” (1, 2, 3). However, it may have been in common use before that, and there are literary instances of the phrase in other forms at least as early as the 17th century (1, 2, 3).

As is often the case with language, trying to track down the origin of this phrase has proved tricky. The older and more widely-disseminated an idiom becomes, the murkier its background tends to get. Language naturally changes over time, and the original turn of phrase is often lost. There are several theories that “raining cats and dogs” is what’s known as a corruption of a foreign phrase. That is to say, a phrase in one language is repeated verbatim by native speakers of another, and it evolves into something else.

Waterfall — Image by Sven Lachmann from Pixabay

One of these theories claims that our modern idiom began with the Greek phrase kata doksa, which means “contrary to expectation” (1). It is sometimes used to describe heavy rain, along with other unexpected things (1). This phrase does bear an audiological resemblance to “cats and dogs,” and the use to describe rain in its native language is promising. However, this requires kata doksa to have made its way into English usage. If this happened, no one has been able to track that journey (1).

The Greek word for the thunderous cataracts of the Nile river, Katadoupoi, has also been suggested as a possible source (1). In this case, an obscure French word for waterfall, catadoupe, is said to be the link between the Greek and the English (2, 3, 4). English speakers are thought to have turned the French word into “cats and dogs” over time (4), although some think it rather a stretch to find dogs anywhere in catadoupe (1, 3).

With some reverse-engineering, Italian and Dutch phrases have also been put forth as possible origins, but without solid evidence (1). Another popular theory discards linguistic evolution in favor of Nordic mythology. This school of thought posits that dogs/wolves were associated with Odin, god of storms, thus the canines were themselves associated with stormy winds (1, 2, 3, 4). Cats, then were said to symbolize rain or be thought to bring rain (1, 2, 3, 4). This was either the superstition of sailors (4) or because cats were associated with witches, who rode the storms in the form of their feline familiars (1, 3).

As interesting as that is, the mythology doesn’t support it. Odin is not a storm god (1). Perhaps someone was thinking of Thor? Moreover, the animals associated with Odin are a horse and two ravens, not dogs and wolves (1). While cats and witchcraft became strongly linked in European folklore, they aren’t a part of Nordic myth like this popular theory would have us believe (1).

Maybe the origins of this bizarre idiom aren’t to be found abroad, but rather in England, its native soil. A rather practical but very depressing theory is based on the poor urban infrastructure of 17th century England. The rivers and even the streets were essentially both open sewers and landfills. When animals died, people threw them in the waterways or left them out on the street. Stray and feral cats and dogs were everywhere, too. They were left where they died. Without storm drains, it’s possible that some animals drowned during heavy downpours, contributing to the number of dead cats and dogs that would be seen floating in the streets and rivers during or after a heavy rain (1, 3, 4).

This sad scene may have prompted some people to think that the animals had actually fallen with the rain or at least to make an association between the two phenomena (1, 4). However, people would be used to seeing dead animals on the streets and in their waterways during dry weather as well, so this idea is a bit of a stretch (3). Still, the 1600s were a strange time, and people came up with a lot of strange ideas.

Wet white and black cat on street — Image by Dimitris Vetsikas from Pixabay

Another suggestion, which I remember hearing somewhere, refers to conditions in even earlier times. It starts with thatched roofs. A thatched roof is made of layers of dried vegetation, forming an insulating and waterproof covering. This was the traditional form of roofing in many parts of the world, including England in centuries past.

The story goes that small animals and even family pets or stray cats and dogs would take shelter from inclement weather in the thatching of English homes (5). If the rain came down hard enough they would slip and fall out, thus making it seem to rain cats and dogs (3). This hypothesis seems to have primarily circulated in one of those fun fact emails that used to be so popular (3). It probably has no basis in reality. That small animals like bugs and mice lived in thatched roofs is likely, but to suppose anything as large as cats and dogs did is pretty ridiculous (3). I am embarrassed to admit that I believed this rumor for years nonetheless.

Perhaps trying to find an explanation for this phrase is besides the point, though. One of the more common theories is that the idiom has no complicated origin, but is simply a silly and imaginative phrase that someone came up with to describe heavy rain (2, 3, 4). If we consider some of the idioms in other languages used to refer to such deluges, this starts to make sense. Some, such as “it’s raining buckets” or “jugs” are pretty straightforward, as they suggest water pouring out of a vessel (5). Others are much more creative. Below are some of my favorites (5, 6):

Welsh: It’s raining old women and sticks
Slovak: Tractors are falling
Greek: It’s raining chair legs
Spanish: It’s raining toads and snakes
Aussie English: It’s a frog strangler

And many, many more of varying degrees of weirdness. Maybe there is a reasonable explanation for why we say it’s raining cats and dogs, as it is outside my window right now. Maybe there’s an explanation for all the strange things people say about the weather. Or maybe there’s no really reason for any of it besides human creativity. Probably no one will ever know for sure. Personally, I’m glad there aren’t any tractors falling.

Works Cited

Liberman, A. (2007, March 21). Raining cats and dogs. Oxford University Press Blog. https://blog.oup.com/2007/03/raining_cats_an/
Quinion, M. (2007, December 29). Raining cats and dogs. World Wide Words. http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-rai1.htm/
Martin, G. (n.d.). Raining cats and dogs. The Phrase Finder. https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/raining-cats-and-dogs.html
Brasch, R. and Brasch, L. (2006). How did it begin: The origins of our curious customs and superstitions. HarperCollins Australia.
Ager, S. (n.d.). It’s raining cats and dogs. Omniglot. https://www.omniglot.com/language/idioms/rain.php
Raining cats and dogs. (2020, August 15). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raining_cats_and_dogs

Published August 16th, 2020

Updated December 7th, 2020