# Am I being worshipped by a stray cat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 4, 2009, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-worshipped-by-a-stray-cat/488273 "2009-03-04T14:51:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-worshipped-by-a-stray-cat/488273/1 "2009-03-04T14:51:16Z")
There’s a stray cat in my neighborhood. A furry black and white beastie. He is very furtive, but I see him occasionally, sprinting from hiding place to hiding place. Now, I don’t feed this cat. (Well, once about two years ago, but not at all since then.) Lately, this cat (or some other more invisible cat) has begun leaving dead critters at my back doorstep: chipmunks, mice, rats, etc. Possibly, the cat is trying to tell me I should think about an exterminator. Leaving that aside, I hear cat owners talk about how their cats will do the same sort of thing: bring kills to their doorstep. So what gives? Why is this cat leaving tiny carcasses for me? Is it a bizarre form of worship? I mean, I know I cut a striking figure and all. Hushed admiration, I can understand, but _worship_? What explains such cat behavior? Why did the cat pick me, of all the people in the neighborhood? Frankly, I am not a god who requires animal sacrifice. The lessons of Cain and Abel notwithstanding, from my point of view some carrots would be nice. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-worshipped-by-a-stray-cat/488273/2 "2009-03-04T15:30:16Z")
You have been adopted. Make the necessary changes and move on. It’s also possible that the cat is bedding down somewhere in your backyard and merely thinks of your back doorstep as his fridge. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-worshipped-by-a-stray-cat/488273/3 "2009-03-04T16:12:49Z")
You’re being played. Cats are pure evil. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-worshipped-by-a-stray-cat/488273/4 "2009-03-04T16:20:46Z")
A cat? Worshipping a human? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! You don’t know cats very well, do you? What it’s telling you is, “You’re looking kind of scrawny. You should eat better. Here, let me help. It’ll make up for the food you gave me a couple of years ago.” Cats hate being in debt. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-worshipped-by-a-stray-cat/488273/5 "2009-03-04T16:36:24Z")
It’s an implied threat–if you don’t pay protection tunafish, some day in some dark alley, you’re going to end up like that mouse. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-worshipped-by-a-stray-cat/488273/6 "2009-03-04T16:43:30Z")
As a factual answer no. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-worshipped-by-a-stray-cat/488273/7 "2009-03-04T16:54:57Z")
Nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-worshipped-by-a-stray-cat/488273/8 "2009-03-04T17:57:13Z")
Yes you are. Use your power wisely. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-worshipped-by-a-stray-cat/488273/9 "2009-03-04T18:26:38Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > As a factual answer no. You may be right, but I’d like more info if you have it. What _is_ the explanation for the behavior? On the other hand, if I _am_ being worshipped as a god, what’s expected of me? Should I step out the back door occasionally and make an elaborate production of striking a match (FIRE! THE GREAT ONE HAS MADE FIRE!) or what? ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-worshipped-by-a-stray-cat/488273/10 "2009-03-04T18:59:38Z")
You’ve been adopted more or less. “here, this house has been nice to me, i should bring the person a gift so that it is remembered that i am to be rewarded for my offering, perhaps given a warm shelter when it rains or is cold, purr purr purr.” ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-worshipped-by-a-stray-cat/488273/11 "2009-03-04T19:14:43Z")
You better _hope_ it’s the cat and not the budding-sociopath 12 year-old next door. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-worshipped-by-a-stray-cat/488273/12 "2009-03-04T19:24:26Z")
Cats tend to do this for their owners because it’s normal adult kitty training for kittens - bring them dead animals to eat, then later live (barely) animals so they can develop their hunting skills. So if you had a pet cat I’d certainly understand this, but a stray that you don’t interact with leaving kills on your doorstep? That’s odd. I’d think he’d just eat them himself. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-worshipped-by-a-stray-cat/488273/13 "2009-03-04T19:32:43Z")
I have a dog- a half Jack Russell/half don’t ask don’t tell terrier- who is very catlike. He’s killed rats and mice and never tries to eat them (he gets plenty to eat so he can’t be hungry), he just leaves them on the back porch. I think it’s less tribute to than his way of saying, to borrow-a- line-from-Coraline, “I don’t like rats at the best of times”. Could be the same with the cat. Incidentally, my dog’s (literal) ratkilling (there was a problem in my neighborhood for a while with the bastards, not sure why) is incredible, better than any cat I’ve ever seen. In one of those “sometimes we forget they’re animals” things it was shocking to see that all of these years he was a pampered house dog his obsessive constant demands for anyone with a thumb to throw the tennis ball were his way of, essentially, drilling. The same moves when he kills rodents, and the cute little way he shakes his chewtoys is the same way he snaps their necks. Makes me glad he weighs 20 lbs. and likes me. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-worshipped-by-a-stray-cat/488273/14 "2009-03-04T19:57:53Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I have a dog- a half Jack Russell/half don’t ask don’t tell terrier- who is very catlike. He’s killed rats and mice and never tries to eat them (he gets plenty to eat so he can’t be hungry), he just leaves them on the back porch. I think it’s less tribute to than his way of saying, to borrow-a- line-from-Coraline, “I don’t like rats at the best of times”. Could be the same with the cat. > > Incidentally, my dog’s (literal) ratkilling (there was a problem in my neighborhood for a while with the bastards, not sure why) is incredible, better than any cat I’ve ever seen. In one of those “sometimes we forget they’re animals” things it was shocking to see that all of these years he was a pampered house dog his obsessive constant demands for anyone with a thumb to throw the tennis ball were his way of, essentially, drilling. The same moves when he kills rodents, and the cute little way he shakes his chewtoys is the same way he snaps their necks. Makes me glad he weighs 20 lbs. and likes me. Makes perfect sense, that’s what terriers were bred for in the first place, to control rats (as well as some other animals). “Ratting” was a popular sport in England a long time ago, put a terrier in a pit with a bunch of rats and see how many he’d kill in a certain amount of time. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-worshipped-by-a-stray-cat/488273/15 "2009-03-04T20:04:30Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > “Ratting” was a popular sport in England a long time ago, put a terrier in a pit with a bunch of rats and see how many he’d kill in a certain amount of time. Pity those days are gone cause I’d be the Elin Nordegren of ratting (aka sharing a bed with Tiger Woods every night).😛 ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-worshipped-by-a-stray-cat/488273/16 "2009-03-04T21:32:28Z")
Today there was a crow at my back door eating the latest “offering.” Now I’ve been living in the city for a while, so I’m a little rusty on my hillbilly signs and portents, but I’m pretty sure having a crow at your back door isn’t a _good_ thing. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-worshipped-by-a-stray-cat/488273/17 "2009-03-04T21:43:39Z")
Face it, dude, Lenore’s dead. Either that, or there is no god but **spoke-** , and the crow is his prophet. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-worshipped-by-a-stray-cat/488273/18 "2009-03-04T22:37:54Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > Now, I don’t feed this cat. (Well, once about two years ago, but not at all since then.) Well _here’s_ your problem. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-worshipped-by-a-stray-cat/488273/19 "2009-03-04T22:42:06Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Face it, dude, Lenore’s dead. I saw what you did there, but crows aren’t ravens. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-worshipped-by-a-stray-cat/488273/20 "2009-03-05T03:30:50Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > I saw what you did there, but crows aren’t ravens. 😉 And The Straight Dope ain’t forgotten lore. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-worshipped-by-a-stray-cat/488273.md?page=2)