How many lives do cats have

Do Cats Have Nine Lives? The Myth Explained

Across the U.S. there are almost 60 million pet cats, with around one in four households having a feline companion. With their incredible agility—and apparent ability to avoid certain death on a semi-regular basis—the saying that cats have nine lives has resonated across societies and generations.

But where did this saying come from?

Cats started living alongside humans in the Near East during the Neolithic period, around 10,000 years ago. It is thought the departure from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to a farming one was beneficial to these ancient cats. As humans farmed and stored food, they attracted common prey for cats, such as mice and rats. The relationship between human and cat became beneficial for both species—humans were providing food for the cats, and cats were stopping rodents from raiding human food stores.

Domestication sped up in Ancient Egypt. The civilization was known to worship cats, with several deities being depicted as having cat-shaped heads.

Pet cats were mummified and buried. One 2,500-year-old specimen scanned by French scientists in 2019 was found to be several different cats, with a textile ball in the place of the head. Earlier this year, researchers announced the discovery of what they believe to be the world’s oldest pet cemetery, with nearly 600 cats and dogs at one single Ancient Egyptian site.

How long do cats live?

Studies show the average cat may only live to be 14 years old, which is the equivalent of age 70 in human years. Ageing in cats begins rapidly, but slows down as they get older.

Dr. Lucinda Alderton-Sell, Cats Protection’s Field Veterinary Officer, previously told Newsweek: «Between the ages of 3 and 6, cats are in the prime of their lives and usually at their peak of physical fitness. This period covers age 24-40 in human years.»

Alderton-Sell explained that as cats mature, from age 7-10, they start to slow down a bit and put on weight. When they reach old age, they need more rest and tend to live at a slower pace of life. If a cat makes it to 21, that would be like 100 years old in human terms.

How many lives do cats have?

It has been suggested that the idea of cats having nine lives has its roots in Ancient Egypt. The sun god Atum-Ra was said to take the form of a cat so he could visit the underworld. Atum-Ra was said to have given birth to eight other gods. As a result, some people have linked the saying of cats having nine lives with this myth—the eight gods, plus Atum-Ra, equal nine lives.

Anita Kelsey, U.K. feline behaviorist and author of Let’s Talk About Cats, told Newsweek: «No one really knows for sure where that saying came from and we can only go on myths such as from ancient Egyptian times. As the Egyptians revered cats the myth of the saying originating there does sound feasible.»

The Egyptians’ obsession with cats is believed to have helped the species disperse around the globe, with felines traveling along trade routes into Europe and beyond.

And as they expanded across the world, so too did the myth of multiple lives.

In other countries and cultures, the number of lives a cat is said to have differs.

Arab countries tend to say that cats have six lives. In Spain and other Spanish speaking nations, cats are said to have seven lives. This is thought to relate to seven being considered a magical number related to good luck. With cats being some of the luckiest animals in terms of evading danger, assigning the species seven lives seems appropriate.

The number nine has significance to many early cultures. To the Ancient Greeks, it represented a magic number and is associated with the gods. For example, they believed it took nine days to fall from heaven to Earth. In Hinduism, nine is considered a complete and divine number. In China, nine is associated with the dragon, which is a symbol of power.

Cat behavior expert Celia Haddon told Newsweek: «Some numbers seem to have a special significance and perhaps this is why cats have nine, rather than 10 or eight, lives. In the Bible, nine was used 49 times and stands for completion. Christ died on the ninth hour of the day. Or maybe because it comes from the Welsh, where nine steps was used to measure legal distances. It crops up in a stitch in time saves nine.»

The idea of nine lives may also have come from Shakespeare or traditional sayings.

An old English proverb of unknown origin directly references the idea of cats having nine lives. It says: «A cat has nine lives. For three he plays, for three he strays, and for the last three he stays.»

William Shakespeare also references nine lives in his 1597 tragedy Romeo and Juliet, appearing in Act 3, Scene 1 during a fight between Tybalt and Mercutio.

Tybalt: What wouldst thou have with me?

Mercutio: Good King of Cats, I want to take one of your nine lives. I’ll take one, and, depending on how you treat me after that, I might beat the other eight out of you too. Will you pull your sword out of its sheath? Hurry up, or I’ll smack you on the ears with my sword before you have yours drawn.

Tybalt: «What wouldst thou have with me?»

Mercutio: «Good king of cats, nothing but one of your nine
lives. «

Shakespeare – Romeo and Juliet

— Shakespeare Magazine (@UKShakespeare) March 2, 2019

Kelsey says the saying has endured because of our connection to felines: «We love cats and want them to be mystical and all powering. Plus, they get up to so much mischief we want the nine lives saying to be true!»

Do cats really cheat death?

In September, a viral video of a cat hanging off the roof of a football stadium in Miami went viral. The black and white cat was holding on with just one arm when it plunged around 30 feet, with crowds holding out an American flag in an effort to break its fall. Seconds later, a member of the crowd lifts up the cat and the whole stadium erupts in cheers.

Falling #cat saved at #MiamiHurricanes football game at #HardRockStadium #9lives #catsoftiktok @Miami Hurricanes

Stories about cats surviving huge falls are commonplace. One New York cat is known to have survived a fall of 32 stories. It suffered a chipped tooth and a collapsed lung and was sent home from the vet after two days.

They are able to come away from these perilous drops because of what is known as their «righting reflex.» This is a balance reflex that allows them to orientate themselves as they fall in order to land on their feet. The righting reflex, along with their flexible bones and ligaments, is how they are able to survive falls from huge heights—heights that would prove fatal for most other mammalian species, cementing the old saying that cats have nine lives.

«Cats are curious by nature and many love exploring new situations and scenarios, some of which clearly are not good for them,» Kelsey said. «But our cats are fearsome predators and survivors equipped physically with great tools such as the mid air reflex whereby they right themselves during a fall to land on all feet, their whiskers, which can determine whether a space is big enough for them or not and their ability to make themselves appear like liquid when they squeeze into small boxes or a tight space. The latter is due to them not having a tight collarbone. They are also extremely quick at being able to react when danger presents itself.»

Haddon said: «Cats are small animals that can be preyed upon by bigger ones such as wolves, dogs, coyotes, large constrictor snakes, leopards etc. So they have evolved to be escape artists.

«They haven’t lost their instincts to hunt—which means they can survive without human help. There are feral cats all over the world. Even a pet cat, if it gets lost from its home, has quite a good chance of managing to find food and shelter on the streets at least for a little while.

«And finally, they don’t take abuse. Dogs can be hit and abused by cruel owners and will come back for more. Cats neither forgive nor forget. They will leave home if treated badly.

«All this adds up to an amazing survivorship.»

How Many Lives Do Cats Have? Why Do Some Say They Have 6, 7, or 9?

Ever heard that cats have 9 lives? You might be surprised to learn that the number that’s used in this common myth varies depending on where you heard it. In some cultures it’s said that cats have 6 lives, in others, 7, and finally, which I think is the most common rendition – it’s also sometimes said they have 9 lives.

Just so things are straight in your head right from the very start – cats only have one life. The idea that they have multiple lives is absolutely a myth and not factual or based in any kind of reality.

We don’t know exactly why this myth emerged, and why precisely it takes the form of three different numbers rather than one. Still, we do have educated and incredibly reasonable guesses that do a good job explaining away why this myth may have emerged, as well as why each of these different numbers may have cropped up in different cultures around the world.

In this article, I’ll be discussing why the myth around cats having multiple lives may have emerged first – what may have led people to believe cats have more than one life in the first place.

Next, I’ll be discussing the discrepancy there is between cultural backgrounds on the precise number of cat lives there are – i.e. why in different cultures the numbers 6, 7, and 9 may have ended up being popular over others.

Why Would People Think Cats Have Many Lives?

Ever watched a cat – whether it’s a house cat, a lion on TV, a leopard at the zoo, jump and run and heck – even fall – all without a scratch?

The fact that cats are so agile, swift, and flexible likely has a lot to do with the myth about cats having multiple lives arising.

Wikipedia points out that:

The myth is attributed to the natural suppleness and swiftness cats exhibit to escape life-threatening situations. Also lending credence to this myth is the fact that falling cats often land on their feet, using an instinctive righting reflex to twist their bodies around. Nonetheless, cats can still be injured or killed by a high fall.

Cats run at speeds quite baffling from the viewpoint of a human. The fastest domestic cats can sprint up to 30 mph or 47 km/hr – that’s ridiculously fast for a little cat!

Imagine seeing a cat speed away from an aggressive dog or wolf, or any other predator picking a fight with him or her, and making it out of a terrible, completely life-threatening altercation, just in the nick of time. I can see why you’d think that type of near-death experience cats face and scramble out of all the time might mean some started to believe cats have more than one life, and they used one up each time they came so close to death.

Then there’s the fact that cats have the ability to right themselves in midair when falling from high places – often saving themselves with little to no physical damage, even if they’re many storeys up in the air.

Sure, not every cat will survive a fall that’s incredibly high – it depends on a lot of factors and a high drop is not something to take lightly, even for cats – but the fact that any feline can drop from such high places without dying, and sometimes without even much injury, is incredible and likely another enormous reason this myth developed.

Again, imagine seeing a cat fall out of a high window, even one that’s one or two stories up, one that a human would definitely get incredibly injured having fallen out of, if not died due to terrible wounds or infections from those wounds that historically couldn’t have been patched up quite easily. The average domestic cat? Lands on it’s feet and injured or not, walks off to live another day. Pretty darn impressive.

Finally, a suggestion I’ve seen floating around that makes quite a lot of sense considering humans got sick so frequently back before we knew so much about hygiene and medicine – cats rarely get sick (in comparison to us), and so the fact that their immune systems were so much better than a humans’ may have led people to believe they have multiple lives as well.

Now, one extra point I’ve come up with on my own relating to this last one – cats rarely ever show pain, discomfort, or illness at all. In fact, your cat could be in pain for ages without you having any clue about it because they just don’t show it the way we humans do. They’ll lick and over-groom a wound, they’ll purr to relieve stress, they’ll maybe behave a little strangely, but there won’t be much crying or meowing due to pain like there would be in humans.

Because of the fact that cats don’t express pain, this might lead people to believe they never get sick or injured, even if they are. Thus, increasing the chances that people might believe cats can live multiple lives because they are never injured or sick – even if they are, humans who saw them probably couldn’t tell at all!

If a cat’s agility, speed, immune system, and ability to right itself in midair to land on it’s feet when it falls from high places all explain away why cats have been said to have multiple lives – what about those numbers? Where did 6, 7, and 9 come from? Let’s take a look.

How Would People Think Cats Had 6, 7, or 9 Lives Exactly?

First of all, let’s discuss which cultures think cats have 6 lives, which have the myth that says they have 7, and which culture states cats have 9 lives exactly in total.

Back to Wikipedia for an excellent overview:

According to a myth in many cultures, cats have multiple lives. In many countries, they are believed to have nine lives, but in Italy, Germany, Greece, Brazil and some Spanish-speaking regions, they are said to have seven lives, while in Turkish and Arabic traditions, the number of lives is six.

So we’ve got the vast majority of countries and cultures that believe in the 9 lives myth. We’ll take a look at this number more closely later.

Then, in the second-most-popular spot, we have Italy, Germany, Greece, Brazil, and some Spanish-speaking countries and regions who state cats have 7 lives. Again, we’ll take a closer look at this number later.

Finally, there are a few cultures that have the myth cats have 6 lives – particularly Turkish & Arab nations and traditions.

So where did these hyper-specific numbers come from? Here are the theories…

The following is a translation from this particular Super Interssante article, titled “Qual é a origem da lenda de que os gatos teriam sete vidas?” in Portuguese, and translated to “What is the origin of the legend that cats would have seven lives?” by Google Dictionary into English:

But why seven and not another number? The curious thing is that the number of lives varies from one part of the planet to another. In English-speaking countries there are nine, instead of seven lives. The two numbers have a special mystical significance in different cultures and religions. In the cabal, seven is one of the digits with the greatest magic power and nine is not far behind, representing life and abundance.

Although it is impossible to pinpoint the exact origin of the legend, it is believed to be in the Middle Ages, when it was thought that witches associated with cats, especially blacks. In 1584, in the book Beware the Cat, the English writer William Baldwin said that “witches are allowed to possess the body of their cat nine times”. Another Englishman, John Heywood, assembled, in 1546, a collection of proverbs, of which one said that “the woman, like the cat, has nine lives”. The Arabs and Turks, on the other hand, had nothing against cats (Muhammad was surrounded by them) and their sayings speak of seven lives. It is likely that this version was passed on to the Spanish and Portuguese in the occupation of the Iberian Peninsula by the Moors – which began in the 8th century and lasted almost 800 years. From Portugal, the myth of the seven feline lives soon arrived in Brazil.

Thus, while we can’t know for sure why these specific numbers were picked it seems that…

The Cats Have 9 Lives Version Likely Comes From…

Cats and witches seem to have historically thought to have had a connection. Either way, they’ve been associated together for a very long time, it seems.

In the 1559 book Beware the Cat by William Baldwin, it states:

For witches have gone often in that likeness – and thereof hath come to the proverb, as true as common, that a cat hath nine lives (that is to say, a witch may take on her a cat’s body nine times.

Thus, it may be that something to do with a witch being able to possess a cat 9 times had something to do with the myth being so popularly connected to the number 9 in English cultures.

As the quote also points out, in John Heywood’s proverbs (again, goes way back, being published in the year 1546), there’s a line alluding to the myth about cats having 9 lives that says, “A woman hath nine lives like a cat.”

So this myth goes pretty darn far back, even with the specifics of the number nine. And truth be told, while we have guesses with regards to where these specific numbers might have emerged – we may never know! It might turn out these sources came way after the myth emerged and spread, and built on the already-existent myth of cats having 9 lives.

The Cats Have 7 Lives Version Likely Comes From…

The fact that the number 7 is thought to be one of the most “mystical” and “magical” numbers out there, so cultures that didn’t have a problem with cats or actually revered or worshipped them (I’m thinking of the Ancient Egyptians here), might have thrown this number onto the myth because it was, even then, the most popular and common “lucky” or “magical” number.

The Cats Have 6 Lives Version Likely Comes From…

Finally, we have the myth that cats have six lives. And this one, for some reason I couldn’t find any guesses or information on.

I have a feeling that the fact that cats were thought to be associated with witches and hexes, evil and bad luck, made the number 6 spring up because, Biblical, the number 6 is also associated with evil, as well as Satan/the devil.

If you already have a bad or negative representation or idea of cats, it makes sense to couple the myth with a negatively thought of number, at least this is the theory I’ve come up with that makes the most sense to me.

Your Thoughts on How Many Lives Cats Have?

What do you think about the myth that cats have many lives?

Which version have you heard – 9 lives, 7 lives, or 6? Have you heard of multiple? From which sources (if you can remember)?

Do you have any theories on why people may have thought these specific numbers were the amount of lives cats have? Do you like or dislike any of the theories presented here? Have you heard any other information on the topic of the specific number of cat lives?

Love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Elise Xavier

Have three pet cats, Avery, Bjorn, & Athos whom I love to bits.
Obsessed with cats. Figured I might as well blog about ’em.

Fond of my fluffies? See more of them on my personal blog, E&T.
Dig KittyClysm? Check out all the other blogs I pen & photograph.

Elise’s Favourite Tip

One of the most frustrating problems I’ve had to deal with as a pet parent is staying on top of my cats’ desire to play. While this is typically hard to do, toys like these that allow cats to play by themselves make the job one heck of a lot easier.

The hits in my household are ridiculously affordable: cat springs, ball track toys, & kick sticks. I have a slew scattered around the house, so when my cats get bored, even if I’m busy or not even home, my furries are able to actively play.

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Comments

How many lives do Asian people think cat have? (China, Japan, Indonesia, Korea, Thailand…).

In Brazil it is said 7 lives. Today, when I said to my sister that a cat had 7 lives, she said: cats have 9 lives, haven’t you seen the Tom & Jerry cartoon? Lol. So another reference spreading throughtout the world, the notion that a cat has 9 lives. Yes we did watch Tom & Jerry cartoons growing up in Brazil but I don’t remember this specific episode and will look for it on youtube. This conversation led me to search and found your article, glad we were both right. A cat here has 2 extra lives lol.

Interesting and intriguing. I have only ever heard the myth Cats have 9 lives. Thank you for your input and this information that other cultures have other numbers.
I found this post informative.

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Do Cats Really Have Nine Lives?

Have You Ever Wondered.

Today’s Wonder of the Day was inspired by name-hanna from live in canada. name-hanna Wonders, “do cats have 9 lives?” Thanks for WONDERing with us, name-hanna!

Have you ever heard someone say that cats have nine lives? What’s up with that? Is it true? If so, who keeps count?

To the relief of dogs everywhere, we can say without a doubt that cats have but one life to live. The “nine lives» story is just a popular myth that has been around for hundreds of years.

So where did the myth about cats having nine lives come from? No one knows for sure. We do know, though, that it’s been around for a long time.

William Shakespeare refers to the nine lives myth in his play Romeo and Juliet. There is also an ancient proverb that claims, “A cat has nine lives. For three he plays, for three he strays and for the last three he stays.»

Over time, people witnessed cats survive in situations that surely would have severely injured other animals. Some people likely began to believe that cats must have multiple lives.

In ancient Egypt, cats were sacred animals that were worshipped as gods. Ancient Egyptians believed that cats were divine creatures with psychic or supernatural powers. The idea that they could have multiple lives fit right in with their view of cats.

But why nine lives? No one knows the answer to that one either. There are many possibilities.

For example, the ancient Egyptian sun god, Atum-Ra, was believed to take the form of a cat on visits to the underworld. Legend has it that Atum-Ra gave birth to eight other gods and thus represented nine lives in one.

Others believe the number may have come from China, where the number nine is considered lucky. The number nine — sometimes called “the trinity of trinities» — is also believed to be mystical in many religions and regions around the world.

The myth that cats have multiple lives exists in many cultures around the world. It’s not always nine lives, though. Some Spanish-speaking regions believe cats have seven lives, while Turkish and Arabic legends claim cats have six lives.

Wonder Contributors

We’d like to thank:

jonathan
for contributing questions about today’s Wonder topic!

The facts behind cats’ nine lives

How many lives does a cat have, really? We look at the truth behind the myth of their supernatural survival skills.

Quick Links

People and cats have been living alongside each other for as long as 8,000 years – and over that time, many myths have sprung up about our feline friends. A common saying we often hear is that cats have nine lives. But where does this legend of near-immortality come from? And why would a cat have nine lives, in particular?

Why do we say cats have nine lives?

A cat is one of the most agile, quick-witted and independent pets out there. In particular, cats can withstand falls that would easily kill a human – which perhaps explains where the idea that a cat has nine lives came from. In one documented case, a pet cat in New York City survived a fall of 32 storeys with only relatively minor injuries. This ability to survive against the odds is all thanks to a cat’s amazing anatomy:

Where does the saying come from?

No one knows where the expression ‘a cat has nine lives’ originated, but it has certainly been around for centuries. William Shakespeare even used the phrase in Romeo and Juliet:

‘Tybalt: What wouldst thou have with me?

Mercutio: Good king of cats, nothing but one of your nine lives.’

There’s also an old English proverb that states: ‘A cat has nine lives. For three he plays, for three he strays and for the last three he stays.’ This may be where the myth that cats have nine lives came from, although clearly the proverb is a light-hearted one.

Do cats have nine lives, or seven, or six?

Interestingly, the myth that cats have multiple lives exists around the world. However, it’s not always nine lives – the number varies from culture to culture. In certain regions of Spain it is believed that cats have seven lives, for example. Meanwhile, some Turkish and Arabic legends say cats have six lives.

Nine has traditionally been considered a magic number, which could also help to explain why cats are associated with nine lives. In ancient Greece, the number nine referred to the trinity of all trinities and a supernatural number that invokes tradition and religion. Cats have been both worshipped and feared over the ages, and were often seen as magical creatures.

Can cats cheat death?

Our cats have lightning-fast reflexes, speedy decision-making skills and remarkable agility. They’re adept at making themselves scarce at the first sign of trouble – or strolling nonchalantly along high ledges that would daunt most humans!

One incident where death might have been cheated was when a cat called Jack escaped his travel carrier at John F. Kennedy International Airport in the US and disappeared – only to fall through the airport’s ceiling two months later, weak and terrified. On another occasion, a cat called Jessie went missing after moving across Australia with her owner. A year later, Jessie showed up at her old house. Jessie’s owner said that since her pet hated getting in cars, she thought Jessie must have trekked 1,865 miles across the country, including crossing a barren desert!

These abilities may sometimes seem extraordinary, even supernatural, to us. But the idea of cats having nine lives is no more true than the myth of black cats being lucky or unlucky. Therefore, cats need as much care and attention as any other pet.

Why do cats ‘have nine lives’? What we know behind the myth

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Do cats really have nine lives? If so, why do they have exactly nine lives? And where does this come from?

Cats are one of the nation’s favourite pets with more than seven million cats residing in homes across the UK.

Before your mind starts to do jumping jacks, let us be real here: we (and science) can say without a doubt that cats have but one life to live, just like the rest of us.

The popular belief is just a myth that has been around for hundreds of years.

Why do we say cats have nine lives?

Nobody really knows why this saying is said; but the popular idea is because these felines are particularly agile and possess great dexterity.

Cats are able to negotiate huge heights whilst being able to land on their feet. The reason for this is because they have what is called a ‘righting reflex’ – they are able to twist around very quickly in the air if dropped from high places.

Because cats also have more vertebrae than humans, they are extremely flexible, enabling them to have fantastic poise, balance and reflexes.

Not just nine lives though…

The myth that cats have multiple lives exists in many cultures around the world. However, it is not always nine lives and the number varies from different cultures.

Some Spanish-speaking regions believe cats have seven lives, while Turkish and Arabic legends claim cats have six lives.

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What are the origins of this saying?

Again, no one exactly knows where this expression came from, but it has been around for centuries, with even William Shakespeare using it in Romeo And Juliet:

Tybalt: What wouldst thou have with me?
Mercutio: Good king of cats, nothing but one of your nine lives.

There is also an old English ancient proverb that says: ‘A cat has nine lives. For three he plays, for three he strays, and for the last three he stays.’

This proverb does not literally mean that a cat indeed has nine lives but is a statement about the longevity of cats and they give the most affection when they reach an older age and are too old to chase mice and run away.

Thomas Fuller wrote a book in 1732 called Gnomologia: Adagies And Proverbs; Wise Sentences And Witty Sayings, Ancient And Modern, Foreign And British.

He said: ‘A cat has nine lives, and a woman has nine cats’ lives.’

According to Wyrdology, one notion behind why cats have ‘nine lives’ came from the ancient Egyptian reverence of cats.

The god Atum-Ra took the form of a cat when visiting the underworld and gave birth to eight other major gods. Therefore, Atum unified nine lives in one.

The nine lives theory could also have originated in China. The number nine is considered lucky in China (though not as lucky as six or eight) and featured heavily in the mythology of Chinese dragons.