# Cats (the play) Questions

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-the-play-questions/185850>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 2, 2003, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-the-play-questions/185850 "2003-07-02T19:38:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-the-play-questions/185850/1 "2003-07-02T19:38:08Z")

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I think both of these questions refer to Asparagus the Theatre Cat.

Is “posey”[sup]sp?[/sup] a real disease that cats suffer from?

Is “Friar Farfiddle the Fiend of the Fell”[sup]sp?[/sup] a real character from some other play, or is that made up?

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**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-the-play-questions/185850/2 "2003-07-02T19:53:19Z")

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can’t answer your OP, but FYI, here’s TS Eliot’s orig. _Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats_

[http://users.htcomp.net/weis/practicalcats.html](http://users.htcomp.net/weis/practicalcats.html)

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**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-the-play-questions/185850/3 "2003-07-02T19:56:30Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Bear\_Nenno \*  
> \*\*  
> Is “posey”[sup]sp?[/sup] a real disease that cats suffer from?

\*\*

I always thought it was “palsey.”

> [@](#):
>
> \*\*  
> Is “Friar Farfiddle the Fiend of the Fell”[sup]sp?[/sup] a real character from some other play, or is that made up? \*\*

No, it’s real and in the “Gus” poem. The association of Gus = Growltiger was something that was done for the play. In Eliot’s poems, the two cats (Gus and Growltiger) are separate with no connection to each other.

Zev Steinhardt

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**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-the-play-questions/185850/4 "2003-07-02T19:59:42Z")

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Duh. That was dumb of me.

> [@](#):
>
> Gus: The Theatre Cat
> 
> Gus is the Cat at the Theatre Door.  
> His name, as I ought to have told you before,  
> Is really Asparagus. That’s such a fuss  
> To pronounce, that we usually call him just Gus.  
> His coat’s very shabby, he’s thin as a rake,  
> And he suffers from **palsy** that makes his paw shake.

Palsy. A neurological condition, common in old age, characterized by an uncontrollable shaking of the extremities.

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**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-the-play-questions/185850/5 "2003-07-02T20:03:16Z")

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“Firefrorefiddle, the Fiend of the Fell”, is the right spelling. I’m guessing Eliot made it up.