# Cat skinning **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 28, 2001, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-skinning/59845 "2001-03-28T16:42:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ducks3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c67d28/32.png) [@ducks3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducks3)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2001, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-skinning/59845/1 "2001-03-28T16:42:17Z")
“There is more than one way to skin a cat?” For the life of me I can only think of the one, standard, way… Where does this phrase come from? ---
**Author:** ![G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.B.H.Hornswoggler)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2001, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-skinning/59845/2 "2001-03-28T18:01:57Z")
Well, you can start at the head, you can start at the feet. You can kill the cat first, or not. I might just be of a crueler disposition, but I can think of several ways to skin a cat, just off the top of my head. But it does seem a trifle bloodthirsty for such an everyday phrase. ---
**Author:** ![LateComer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2001, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-skinning/59845/3 "2001-03-28T18:03:02Z")
“All of this and some of that’s the only way to skin the cat.” -Jethro Tull, “Thick as a Brick.” I have nothing to add, except maybe start with the head as opposed to start with the tail. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why somebody would want to skin a cat. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2001, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-skinning/59845/4 "2001-03-28T18:06:32Z")
Sure, there’s more than one way to skin a cat. For one, you could use an electric sander… ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2001, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-skinning/59845/5 "2001-03-28T19:50:25Z")
My father (a veritable fount of sayings both old and odd, due to his remarkable memory, rural upbringing, and odd sense of humor) has been known to comment: “There are more ways to kill a cat than skinning him with a butter knife.” Other variations end with “choking him with cream/butter”. The latter seems more common, upon brief research. He usually utters it when we’ve just tried (unsuccessfully) to do something in what hindsight reveals to be the most ridiculously impractical manner. This parallels the meaning of the “more than one way to skin a cat” phrase. According to [World Wide Words](http://www.quinion.com/words/qa/qa-mor1.htm), the two phrases are related, with the “cream” version being the older. Other people suggest various independent origins for the phrase, ranging from [a gymnastic trick](http://www.shu.ac.uk/web-admin/phrases/bulletin_board/3/messages/101.html) to [preparing catfish](http://www.1313mockingbirdlane.com/cats/cat1.htm) (I’m not especially impressed by the latter source, BTW). These smack of folk etymology, though. It may be that some other phrase was conflated with the “cream” version (clearly, my father’s phrase conflates the two versions of the saying), but I don’t know what it could have been. Nor have I been able to determine the origin of the “cream” version, although it dates back at least to 1855, when Charles Kingsley used it in _Westward Ho!_ ---
**Author:** ![Lego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5e925/32.png) [@Lego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lego)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2001, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-skinning/59845/6 "2001-03-28T21:31:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Max Torque \* > \*\*Sure, there’s more than one way to skin a cat. > > For one, you could use an electric sander… \*\* Or you could pull down on his mouth and peel him like a banana. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2001, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-skinning/59845/7 "2001-03-28T22:05:06Z")
From an old P.G. Wodehouse story (ca. 1920’s) I get the impression that the use of cat fur wasn’t necessarily so horrifying to readers of that generation. The story has a character who wants to start a “cat ranch” out west. To feed the cats, he was going to have a “rat ranch” next door. The cats would live by eating the rats; the rats would eat the cats after they were slaughtered and skinned. Ironically, I think P.G. was reasonably fond of cats and mentions them much more sympathetically in other stories. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2001, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-skinning/59845/8 "2001-03-28T23:57:31Z")
I ran across the phrase (with an interesting twist) about four years ago while reading one of Davy Crockett’s speeches to congress (Yes, he was a real person), but he uses the phrase “More than one way to skin a polecat.” For those not aware of it, a polecat is another word for a skunk. The skunk was a relatively popular skin before the civil war. And I think most can see there are obvious problems with skinning a skunk. I have found the “polecat” version of the quote two or three times since then reading pre-1880 newspapers. I have since wondered if possibly that could be the original quote and the “pole” part was lost to a society that was unfamiliar with polecats. I should mention that when Crockett used the phrase, he was was not speaking literally, he was refering to getting the best of (skinning) a crook (a polecat). ---
**Author:** ![Gaspode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gaspode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaspode)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-skinning/59845/9 "2001-03-29T08:54:25Z")
A somewhat abridged version from “The Ailurophobe’s Handbook”. The original runs about 20 lines listing every device imaginable to man: “Oh I have tried with sickle, hammer, scissors, saw and baseball bat, and let me tell you this my friend, there’s just one way to skin a cat!” But seriously, the only footage I’ve ever seen of commercial cat skinning involved making a nick in the skin above one ankle and pushing an air compressor hose under the skin. This caused the skin to baloon making it easy to strip once the it was cut along the stomach. So there really is more than one way to skin a cat. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-skinning/59845/10 "2001-03-29T10:01:48Z")
In comparative anatomy class we skin cats starting with an incision along the back. Then we slip our fingers and hands between the skin and body, separating the skin from the muscle. We eventually get them peeled down to their feet, tail, and head, then cut the skin off from there. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-skinning/59845/11 "2001-03-29T10:08:31Z")
:eek: ☹ All of you – leave my sweet puddy tats alone! There’s _definitely_ more than one way to skin an ailurophobe. Wanna hold still for a moment? ---
**Author:** ![woolly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ebca7d/32.png) [@woolly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woolly)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-skinning/59845/12 "2001-03-29T13:05:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LateComer \* > \*\*For the life of me, I can’t figure out why somebody would want to skin a cat. \*\* Presenting Dr John Wamsley, conservationist and pathological hater of feral cats. Up until the time he listed Earth Sancturies, he’d often pose wearing one of his selection of cat-pelt hats. Just can’t seem to find a link to a photo. Maybe some of the other Aussies will be able to address my inadequacy. [http://www.esl.com.au/jw.htm](http://www.esl.com.au/jw.htm) I think you could paraphrase his approach as, it doesn’t matter where you start to skin the cat, provided you’ve used the 12 guage properly. ---
**Author:** ![Azazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Azazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azazel)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-skinning/59845/13 "2001-03-29T13:29:19Z")
ailurophobe skinning- that’s a good activity for Comparative Anatomy class. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-skinning/59845/14 "2001-03-29T14:00:41Z")
> [@](#): > > From an old P.G. Wodehouse story (ca. 1920’s) I get the impression that the use of cat fur wasn’t necessarily so horrifying to readers of that generation. The story has a character who wants to start a “cat ranch” out west. To feed the cats, he was going to have a “rat ranch” next door. > The cats would live by eating the rats; the rats would eat the cats after they were slaughtered and skinned. You do know that this was a joke. The particular “opportunity” was sort of the “Make Money Fast!” legend of its day, though I don’t think too many actually fell for it. According to Peter Passell/Leonard Ross (precursors of Cecil), the best way to skin a cat is to use [dermestid beetles](http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/virtualtour/dermesti.htm). Of course, you don’t have much left when you’re done. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-skinning/59845/15 "2001-03-29T14:08:22Z")
There’s more than one way to skin a cat. There are 37 ways.