9 Famous Cat Myths and Legends You Should Know About

Felines have always been curiosity-inducing animals, or as some would call them – creatures. 

While they were once worshipped for their apparently esoteric behavior, later, they were feared for the strange tales attached to their presence. Either way, there is a great amount of feline lore that would send shivers down your spine.

Moreover, many mythological cats were believed to appear in supernatural cases and even in dreams. These fictional cats have been associated with numerous real-life occurrences in families, businesses, and personal matters as well.

Although factually, these mythological felines have never existed – at least from what we know. 

Call them evil kittens, godlike friends, or a breed of ancient magicians, but be assured it would be truly entertaining to unfold these 9 famous cats myths.

1. Mythological Felines Could Predict The Weather 

As funny as it may sound to us modern folk, there was a tremendously strong connection between a cat’s actions and the onset of rainfall. And all this mainly was spoken about in England and British territories.

The Welsh believed that whenever a cat’s pupils dilated, rainfall was imminent. Similarly, the Englishmen considered the action of cats scribbling on carpets and curtains to be a sign of hardcore windy weather. 

Additionally, if a cat kept staring out the window on any given day, or kept playing with its ears, or took a nap with each of the four paws cozy under the body – it was going to rain! To top it up, if these little fellows were caught sleeping on their backs, people would get paranoid and prepare for a rainstorm.

All in all, if these mythological felines made any movement, people thought it’s going to rain.

2. Cats Work With The Devil

You wouldn’t believe it – present and even mythological cats were believed to be Satan’s messenger. Even more startling, those adorable whiskers on each side of their faces are referred to as the “devil’s hair.” These whiskers supposedly forced the cats to remain awake during the hours of darkness when the devil’s enemies – Christians – were asleep.

There’s also a deep connection between the presence of cats and graves. When the feline would be spotted over a grave, even priests accepted that soul to now be in the devil’s hands. 

Guess the freakiest part? Spot two cats squabbling near a person who’s on their deathbed, and it was almost certain that the angel and devil were battling for possession of the to-be deceased’s soul.

Even today, many Indian households are against the presence of black cats. They invest thousands of dollars over the years to hire priests who claim to connect with the invisible. All of this to shoo the black cats away from their property!

3. Cats Always Land On Their Feet

If your faith lies in this claim, then please steer clear and do the cat a favor by not flinging her of your roof! 

There’s a skill they possess, known as the righting reflex. This lets them turn around midair at a lightning pace. Even cooler, the presence of flexible backbones helps stabilize their position before they hit the ground. 

The benefits of this skill don’t always show up. There are thousands of animal accident cases where cats have fallen from buildings, terraces, and even highways. And a fair share of them can’t survive the hit. 

We recommend you get over this nonsense and install a mesh on your balconies and windows if you have feline pets at home. 

4. All Cats Transform Into Cacti & Consume Alcohol

As bullshit as it sounds, humans in far away parts of Mexico claimed to have sighted an alive and moving, cat-shaped cactus. Rather than the obvious, they spotted sharp blades as feet and needles as fur. 

Pulque, an alcohol beverage in Mexico, would be made by fermentation of juices secreted from a cactus plant. Myths say these cactus-cum-cats would stroll around the deserts and slice through the thickest undersides of cactus plants. Once 6 to 7 dozen such cacti were dissected, these mythological felines would get back to the start of their path of the night and drink to get drunk.

The scariest part is what these moving cacti would do after getting drunk! 

Can you guess?

They’d begin storming around the area and harass people, attack animal hoarders, and leave an evident scar that denoted their visit.

5. Cats Are Solely Nocturnal Creatures

Well, we won’t be surprised to see a cat spazzing on a window sill at night and staring into nothing with its eyes wide open. Although, the fact that cats are yet not nocturnal should surprise you.

They are more attracted to twilight, and thus, tend to showcase high activity levels during dusk and dawn. More simply put, they are active when the house is active. At the same time, they’re lazy and begin hibernating when the home environment starts to calm down. 

Why do you think they get treats often? Because of this adaptability trait!

Speaking of them being nocturnal or not, they prefer to stay awake and agile when there are slight amounts of light – just enough for them to hunt. Technically speaking, they’d be fast asleep during peak night hours.

6. Cats In Mythological Times Would Deprive Babies of Breath

Back in the day, humans had an absurd belief that a feline would jump into a baby’s crib and choke the child to the point of suffocation. Others feared the cat to be jealous due to a chunk of the family’s attention shifting to the infant. 

And the third variant of this hilarious myth considers mythological cats to get seduced by the scent on a baby’s lips, instigating them to try sucking the smell and acquiring complete ownership.

This Nebraska State Journal print shares an interview of a doctor who allegedly saw a cat attacking a baby in a highly comical lip-to-lip fashion.

Don’t freak out – this feline myth is false! 

Look at it this way. Since cats thoroughly enjoy cuddling with humans, there is a huge chance of suffocation when it comes to a cat getting too comfortable on a newborn’s face.

Scientifically speaking, there is another reason babies can choke in their sleep, whether or not they have cats in the house. There is a term, Cot Death, also known as SIDS, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, where a baby dies for no logical reason while asleep. The closest reasoning refers to the infant’s inability to understand breathlessness (while upside down), thus re-inhaling carbon dioxide.  

7. Black Cat Crossing Your Path Means Bad Luck

This myth resonates among the masses up to this day. 

Whether you are walking on the road, driving on the highway, going to work by bus, or getting up the staircase to your house, mythological cat myths claim that witnessing a crossing black cat is a warning not to go any further on your path. If you do choose to go ahead, don’t be shocked when the worst possible thing of the day happens.

In ancient times, people in the mountains and far-off villages would turn their backs and walk back through the woods if a black cat was spotted. 

The fact being, these random passing black felines would and will always be more scared than any passer-by. Be wise and let them do their thing.

Remember, you may land up manifesting such thoughts as they keep appearing in your dreams and linger around your subconscious mind. Reject this statement whenever you hear it, and give your conscience the freedom of being clean and free of such fallacious information. 

8. Mythological Cats Were The Root Cause Of The Black Death

We already know the close connection people of olden times made between felines and Satan. They were so feared that there were widespread rumors of cats having the same wicked powers as witches. Some even believed a cat bite, cat flesh, and cat breathe to be more poisonous than snakes.

Considering these beliefs and the way humanity was losing excessive members during the bubonic plague, people made some baseless associations between cats and the plague. They thought the devil was using its favorite companion – felines – and deploying weapons of mass destruction through the body of cats! 

As ridiculous as it sounds, thousands of black cats were purposely made to face death. In many cases, their owners, too, were victims of this falsified information. Merging the previous black cat myth and this one, too, the manner in which society can be influenced is unveiled to a fine extent.

Imagine what myths can do! If a plague (Black Death) that took the lives of over 50 million people, which is 60% of Europe’s gross population, can be co-related to poor little black cats, then can’t aliens be living in our commodes, right?

9. Cats Own The Sea & Give Birth To Storms

Fishers in the British Isles would have different faith in superstitious beliefs that promised them more bread and butter for survival. Ironically, they would offer their only monetizable commodity, the fish, back to the ocean. And for what? To appease the mythological cats in the ocean.

This one specific mythological cat, originally a lady, was cursed and thrown into the ocean because of a curse she bought onto the crew. As a sign of revenge, the crew decided to drown her. All of this backfired, and she was spotted as a vulgar-looking cat, ready to cause destruction amidst the sea. 

This legend followed for decades at a stretch, and there are traces of followings yet being pin-pointed across the British Isles. Despite awareness being spread, sailors yet believe that if a cat falls off the ship, a brutal storm will arrive and demolish the ship to the point of it sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

So if you own a yacht, or want to cruise across oceans, do not hesitate to take your kitten along. Rest be assured, there is no way your ship will capsize – at least because of the cat!

Are Cats Are A Boon or Bane?

Well, after all the information you’ve just been revealed too, let’s the answer to this question up to you. Regardless, if you own a cat, or are planning to adopt one, go ahead. They aren’t like mythological cats were and will entertain you in the laziest, happiest, saddest, and strangest of moments.

Bonus Read: A true fan of Lord of the Rings? The hidden mythology and archetypes behind the film will make your jaw drop.