Do cats really have 9 lives?

I'm sure you have heard the saying that cats have 9 lives, but do cats actually have 9 lives? Let's look more into this popular saying! 

Why do they say cats have nine lives?

According to cattitudedaily.com, there is an old English proverb that says "A cat has nine lives. For three he plays, for three he strays, and for the last three he stays." Petsradar.com says one possible origin of the saying is from English ships when cats would survive falling overboard and climb back onto the ship, causing sailors to think they had come back to life. But, some say the saying goes back much further than that - all the way back to ancient Egypt! TheGuardian.com says that the number 9 in the saying of 9 lives comes from Atum-Ra, who was worshipped as embodying 9 lives in one creator, including one that took the form of a cat in order to visit the underworld. 

But, the number 9 seems to be dependant on the culture. Britannica.com says that the number 9 is a lucky number in many Anglo-Saxon cultures, and cattitudedaily.com says the number nine is one of the luckiest numbers of all in Chinese traditions, and is associated with cats. However, in Italy, Greece, Brazil and Germany it is said that cats have 7 lives and in Turkey they are said to have 6 lives. 

But, do cats have nine lives? 

Cats do have impressive agility and are smart, which can allow them to walk away from situations where other animals, including humans, might not, but they are not immortal, and do not have the ability to come back to life!

One reason why people say cats have 9 lives is that they have what is called a "righting reflex". Cats.com says this gives them the ability to twist their body around to land on their feet. They also have flexible bones and shock absorbing toe beans that allow them to not only survive great falls, but walk away from them relatively unscathed. TheGuardian notes in medieval Europe, cats were sometimes thrown from towers and would walk away from the fall to the amazement of spectators, helping to cement the idea that cats had multiple lives. They even noted a legendary story of Baldwin III, Count of Ypres, who threw some cats from a tower in AD962 and sparked an annual cat festival, although these days only toy cats are thrown from the tower! 

The idea that cats have nine lives might also come from their strong survival instincts. Besides their ability to walk away from a fall, cats also have a strong sense of smell, sight and hearing that help them detect and avoid danger and find food which help them to survive in unhospitable conditions. Some even say that cats have a sixth sense or intuition that helps to keep them safe. Cats.com adds that they are very clean, which helps them to stay away from diseases that might affect other animals. These abilities to keep themselves alive also help to reinforce the idea that cats have multiple lives.

Cats, like us, only have 1 life to live, but cats amazing abilities to survive. Pair that with a little luck and you can see why they might that cats have 9 lives, and I'll love my cats for all 9 of them! 

Cover photo by Oscar Fickel on Unsplash