Feline

Cats are, according to ailurophiles, the sweetest companion one could ask for. Others know them as the vicious creatures they actually are. Humans have been known to placate them with food or warmth.

Useful notes

Cats were sometimes used to ward of the lesser Goblins that would appear at the fringes of civilization.<ref>“Once upon a time, when humans weren’t much more than animals, we relied on our dogs to scare off the Others who wanted to prey on us and do mischief. Cats hunted and fought with the lesser Goblins, returning to owners with torn ears or small injuries. They still have those instincts. To destroy things of darkness, foulness and blight, before rot can set in.” - Excerpt from Breach 3.2</ref><ref>“The phone-obsessed cat is Verona Hayward,” Shellie said. “I know your type don’t like cats, but cats do not act that way. Get over it and get what you’re due.”

[...]

Why did so many Others not like cats? It was so unreasonable. - Excerpt from Gone Ahead 7.6</ref>

In fact many Others find them abhorrent,<ref>“Well, we have a project then,” Verona said. “We’ll get you set up with a phone and you’ll have the whole wide internet to occupy you. Cat videos and-”

Tashlit’s eyes widened. She shook her head.

“No? What, the cat video thing?”

Tashlit widened her eyes again.

“You don’t like cats!?”

“I met an Other similar to her, once, overseas,” John said. “It didn’t like cats either. The common cat was anathema to the Other. Inborn.”
[...]
“I think there was something about that in one of the books I took out of the library,” Avery said.

“Was it a thing before you, uh…?”

Tashlit nodded - Excerpt from Gone Ahead 7.1</ref> though not the way some humans do.

There are Aware who are exceptional in handling cats, though how this works is unknown and perhaps best left unknowable.

Notable felines

Actual cats

Sir

Practitioners who regularly take feline form

Verona Hayward (presents as a cat both to Spirits via her mask, and to the physical world using glamour)

Others who regularly take feline form

Rose Thorburn Senior's unidentified familiar
Wavy cat spirit
Sphinxes (can be partly leonine in Sphinx form)
- Isadora
- Phix
- (see also Sphinx#Known Sphinxes)

Trivia

While cats are domesticated they are not domesticated the same way other domestic animals are, as such they can return to the wild easily.<ref>Tucker, Abigail. 2017. The lion in the living room: how house cats tamed us and took over the world.
More recent evidence can be seen:

PBS Eons, “How We Domesticated Cats (Twice),” YouTube Video, 8:12, November 6, 2019, https://youtu.be/CYPJzQppANo.</ref>

Cats appear frequently in folklore throughout the world. They were highly revered in ancient Egypt, and were associated with deities in the ancient world including Isis (Egypt), Bastet (Egypt), Artemis/Diana (Greek/Roman), and Freyja (Norse). Cats are commonly said to have nine lives, and are considered lucky in many cultures, with the notable exception of black cats who are considered unlucky in many Western countries.

References