Are Our Feline Friends Purr-fect Prognosticators?
What is the origin of the phrase “raining cats and dogs”? Can cats predict if a thunderstorm is on its way? How do cats seem to know about weather changes before we do? Let’s explore the wonders of our feline friends!
You can blame this article on the cat sprawling across my keyboard when I was trying to write on a rainy day. I started to think about cats and weather—specifically, the phrase “raining cats and dogs.” What do animals falling from the sky have to do with torrential downpours?
Can you imagine anything more improbable than raining cats and dogs or, for that matter, more uncomfortable? (Then again, why does a keyboard seem to be the ideal place for a catnap?)
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Raining Cats and Dogs
Some authorities tie the idea to Norse mythology. Odin, the Viking god of storms, was often pictured with dogs and wolves, symbols of wind. Witches, who supposedly rode their brooms during storms, had black cats, which became signs of heavy rain. Therefore, “raining cats and dogs” referred to a storm with wind (dogs) and heavy rain (cats).
“Pluie de chats.” Source: Wikipedia
While the story sounds good, the expression didn’t become popular until the 1700s, when Jonathan Swift (author of Gulliver’s Travels) used it in a satire.
He pictured snobby upper class aristocrats solemnly fretting that it would “rain cats and dogs.” Suddenly the saying caught on. Apparently, the English spent a lot of time chatting about rain and it was the latest hit phrase.
Cats and Weather Folklore
The cat/witch connection created a lot of superstitions. Many European cultures believed that cats could influence or even forecast the weather.
- In Britain, especially Wales, it was believed that rain was likely if a cat busily washed its ears.
- In Holland, cats could predict the wind by clawing at carpets and curtains.
- In early America, if a cat sat with its back to the fire, it was foretelling a cold snap and if it slept with all four paws tucked under, bad weather was coming.
Sailors were particularly superstitious or just so bored that they spent a lot of time watching the ship’s cat.
- If a cat licked its fur against the grain, it meant a hailstorm was coming; if it sneezed, rain was on the way; and if it was frisky, the wind would soon blow.
- Some believed cats could start storms through magic, so sailors always made sure cats were content. (I’m sure the cats encouraged this belief!)
Source: Wikimedia commons
So, Can Cats Predict Weather?
It turns out that cats are more sensitive to changes in atmospheric pressure. Yes, their heightened senses can allow them to pick up hints that a storm is coming. Cats’ inner ears may detect the sudden fall in atmospheric pressure.
A cat is also more sensitive to sounds and smells. Therefore, your cat will hear the rumble of a thunderstorm before you do. Likewise, your cat is more likely to smell the incoming rain or that metallic odor of lightning in the air.
In truth, cats aren’t the only animals who are attuned to nature and weather, but we’ll give our feline friends some credit; after all, they already know they’re superior to us humans, right?
Learn More
Discover more animals that can predict the weather!
Ever head of the annual Cat Nights, which occur in August? This bit of folklore also gives us the saying, “A cat has nine lives.” Learn more about Cat Nights.
James J. Garriss
Come on now! That is way too much work for a Cat. :)
I heard this expression came to be during the black plague. With so many deaths, both house and street cats and dogs were neglected and starved to death. When heavy rains came, the deceased animals would float through the streets, seeming as if they had rained down from the skies.
I just thought I'd point out that the computer is WARM. While the couch, etc may be softer, it is not warmer. I have one black cat who lies in front of the spot on my computer where the exhaust fan expels heat. If that isn't available, she heads for the keyboard. I have a tuxie kitten who has claimed the top of the cable box as her go-to space when she can't pin me down to nap on. And my other black cat alternates between heating vent and heating pad in winter, combined with her sunny spots on the floor in summer. They all go for the heat. If there is a human to interact with as well, all the better.
As for weather, I haven't really noticed anything more that more naps if it's rainy. The black kitten will growl and flee the first crack of thunder, but that's not much of a warning.
I believe you meant Thor, he is the Norse god of Storms.. Odin, the Alfather, is the god of passion, war, knowledge, the runes, and the dead. May have accidentally left some out. (He is called the Alfather because he is technically the father of all the Norse gods & goddesses, hense, the All father). He also knows Seidr, a type of Norse magic taught to him by Freya, a Norse goddess of love & battle.
It might have been good ( though not weather-related ) to have mentioned cats are the major ultimate source of most toxoplasmosis. Even if contracted from under-cooked meat it's because cats encouraged to remain in feedlots ( for rodent control ) use the feed troughs for "cat boxes" and that's how toxoplasmosis gets into the food supply.
Gestating women who have never had it before and if contracting it in certain stages of gestation may give birth to offspring with a variety of deformities or disabilities. Easily preventable by being sure to use gloves and proper sanitation after puttering around the garden if you have pesky neighbors who do not keep their cats where they belong---confined.
Further errant pet cats are able to extirpate a local population of lizards easily ( because they're torpid before sunning themselves and tend to have predictable sunning sites to start the day ). Why is this important? Because ticks that can transmite the Lyme spirochete prefer to feast on lizards ( if available ) in the instar prior to looking for a deer or human-size host and won't pick up the pathogen from reptiles. If only rodents are available ( which groom themselves and one-another making them a tougher meal for the ticks ) this is the natural reservoir of the dangerous spirochete. Rodents are endotherms so they're always alert while lizards are ectotherms making them highly vulnerable as per the above.
Cats are wonderful/magnificent creatures but a few households that allow their cats to roam ( because they're too lazy to clean a cat box once-in-awhile ) can easily exceed the "carrying capacity" of a small subdivision and then will turn from cat-wary rodents to song-birds. Anyway; who wants a cat which has just come in from playing with a deer mouse infected with leptospirosis, hanta virus and who-knows-what then coming in and licking them in the face? I know <i>I</i> sure don't...
What about Cat Naps? (not weather related <I think> but cat-related).
1 Tuxedo female(the queens of the house after 10+yrs), 1 Russian Blue(he's the newbie at 3), 1 Black Heathen Female(wicken?), 1 Toy Rat Terrier(the dog boss at 13yrs and healthy), 1 90lb Female Black Lab 3-year-old "puppy" and a 20+ yr cockatiel who just eats...that's all! All "spayed or neutered" except the bird (great producer more than 20!) and only 1 weather freak...the lab "puppy". I love this article!
There is truth to the weather folklore surrounding cats. My cats leap in the air, zing from room to room, beat up the dog, all with crazy bursts of energy and there seems to no rhyme nor reason to their behavior. Yet, there IS.....they have been very reliable barometers and I always know the weather is going to change 36-24 hours beforehand. They are quite accurate when it comes to weather predicting!
My cats (Maine Coons) have predicted Earthquakes by pestering us - digging at us before the Quake. My friends Cats living 80 miles away do the same thing.
You can tell the temperature in a room by the length of a sleeping cat.
