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revered in some other religions like those of ancient Egypt didn’t help the cat’s plight. It was not uncommon for cats to be cru- cified and burned at the stake. By about the year 1400 the cat was nearly extinct throughout Europe. It’s ironic that the most effective deterrent to vermin was being destroyed just as huge populations of rats were spreading the plague across the continent. As the fear of witchcraft-caused physical and mental abnormalities finally subsided, so did the persecution of the cat. A stroll along nearly any European street today will reveal just how well the animal has rebounded.

Today these special qualities endear the cat to people—actually it’s more of an all- or-nothing, love ’em or hate ’em affair for most of us—but it has not always been like this. In the Middle Ages, when nearly every unfortunate happenstance was blamed on this or that action of a witch, the cat became linked as an ally or familiar of witches. Everything the animal did or was capable of doing, from being able to see well at night to landing on its feet when dropped, was cited as further evidence of the connection. Like the poor humans who were accused of black magic, the cat was persecuted throughout Europe by representatives of the Chris- tian church. The fact that the animal was

The Abyssinian breed was nearly wiped out three times in this century: During both world wars, when food supplies ran short, and then in the 1960s, when feline leukemia struck. The Manx is a naturally occurring breed, completely lacking any tail whatsoever, which gives the animal a stumpy, squatting appearance.

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