Have you ever heard that popular phrase that says that cats have 7 lives. Naturally, this is not true, it is just a myth. So, you want to know where this saying came from. In Petlifey, we explain the most famous curiosity about kittens and the origin of why it is said that cats have 7 lives.
Do cats have 7 lives?
In countries like Spain, Mexico or Chile it is said that a cat has seven lives. But in other countries it is even said that they can have nine. Claiming that cats have seven lives is a popular saying that is expressed symbolically.
This is so, since cats (and felines in general) have great agility and speed. This allows them to escape unharmed from dangerous situations that for other animals would be certain death.
A cat is perfectly capable of jumping a length up to ten times its size. They have really strong and powerful legs in relation to their weight.
It is for this reason that they can fall from considerable heights without being damaged, since they also have the ability to always land on their feet. That is, on its legs.
Another reason cats are claimed to have 7 lives is that they almost always successfully escape dangerous circumstances.
This is because this type of domestic mammal has an amazing speed and response speed.
You will have been able to verify it if you have ever tried to reach one and it does not want to be caught.
In a study carried out in the 1980s in the United States, it was found that of all the cats that fell from heights between 2 and 30 plants, about 90% survived . Surprising, isn’t it?
Origin of the expression “cats have 7 lives”
In our culture, the main reason cats are said to have so many lives has an esoteric origin.
There are several cultures in which certain numbers have a special meaning. The number 7, in ancient times, was considered the lucky or magical number.
And there is no other animal that is so lucky to have the skills to be able to survive and / or escape from so many situations in which other animals would surely perish. For this reason, the kittens were awarded this magic number.
n some Anglo-Saxon countries, cats are even said to have nine lives. This number is borrowed from ancient Egyptian culture, in which cats were sacred animals.
History explains that the Egyptian god of the Sun, called Ra, begat nine gods. These were called The Nine. Then the god Ra became a cat to be able to travel to the world of darkness, being graced with 9 lives to be able to achieve that goal.
Finally, we want to make it very clear that cats only have one life, like other living beings.
Remember that pets need pampering, attention and care for them to have a happy and healthy life.
