The First Ship’s Cat

There were many reasons to have cats on ships. Rodents were one reason, but did you know cats were believed to have magical powers able to protect a ship at sea.

Legend and myth are filled with stories about ship cats, and every ship had a few.

It is believed that during the 15th-18th centuries ships spread the cat throughout civilization. Cats were important to a ship. They kept rodents away, thus protecting the ships cargo, wiring, rope pulls, food supply, and the crew from disease.

If you have a cat in your home, it’s most likely that hundreds of years ago that cat’s ancestors were working ship cats.

This episode is an intriguing verse about how the first cat appeared on Noah’s Ark. The cat did not walk onto the ark like the other animals, but it did exit with the other animals.

The story was originally taken from Myth and Legend of Ancient Israel, it becomes a section in The Well-Read Cat. This verse peaks the imagination. It’s whimsical and mysterious.

If you want to build your library with interesting cat stories and legends, The Well-Read Cat—A Photographic Celebration is a beautiful book filled with short cat stories, legends, poetry and everything cat.

Book Details

The excerpt of the podcast is take from Myths and Legend of Ancient Israel, which I have found both as a three volume set, and as an individual book on Amazon.

Myths and Legend of Ancient Israel (3 volumes)

Rappoport, Angelo S.; J. H. Amshewitz (illust.)

• Publisher: Ktav Pub Inc; Revised edition (June 1, 1966)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870680994
• ISBN-13: 978-0870680991

Featured Cat

Oscar was a sixteen-year-old former feral whom did not get a home until age fifteen. He had a condition called Stomatits. He was the sweetest cat in the world. He loved to be petted, brushed, and even get his nails trimmed, and filed. He was the littermate to the late, Cat Olivia, featured in Episode 001 and Episode 003.

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This is Oscar on the day he came into a home, and his photo exactly two weeks later. It’s amazing what safety, good nutrition, attention, and love can do…and how quickly it can work. Both he and his sister battled the mouth disease, Stomatitis.

Oscar passed away January 3, 2019. We miss him terribly, and cherish his voice on this podcast.

Follow all the cats that meow and purr episode transitions here, on Instagram.

I hope you enjoy The Literary Catcast. I would love to hear from you. I never plan to have sponsors—this is a work of love. I have no set schedule to release episodes, because as I mentioned the reading is very time intensive, so please subscribe to stay tuned, and tap the 5-stars if you listen on Apple Podcasts.

Cheers to cats, hot tea, excellent writers, and good story telling. Thanks for listening.