In Celebration Of International Cat Day, We Investigate The Truth Behind The Nine Lives Myth

Every cat owner knows that cats have unique personalities. Some are picky, some are sweet, and some are scared of everything. Every cat owner also knows that cats do weird things, like running across the house like psychopaths, and playing for hours in carton boxes. Unapproachable, independent, hedonistic: the cat is a fascinating creature. Sometimes it’s the purrs, sometimes the claws. On International Cat Day this 8th day of August 2017, we ask the question on everybody’s mind…..”Do cats really have nine lives?”Let me give you a bit of spoiler now; common sense tells us that no, cats in fact have only one life. So what was the origin of this popular myth? The main reason that cats got a reputation for reincarnation is their ability to jump and land, traced back further in history. The fame started when Baldwin III, Count of Ypres, who threw cats from a tower in AD962 but the cats usually landed without breaking their bones like man or other animals. Cats were therefore seen as divine and consequently were deemed to have 9 lives as the number 9 was also seen as a number of divinity.Even till today, cats have been known to fall off skyscrapers and other high rise buildings in earthquakes and still survive. But this not due to them possessing more than one lives as legend dictates. 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. They also have extremely good balance and reflexes, and have very flexible backbones, as they have more vertebrae than humans.So there you have it. Cats do not have nine lives but only one as we all do. They just literally have a way of wriggling out of a deadly situation.