In Asia, the cat is
one of the animals in the 12-year cycle of the
Vietnamese zodiac. However, it does not appear in
the Chinese zodiac. Legend holds that the rat, who
invited the animals to the Jade Emperor's Palace
to be chosen for the zodiac, forgot to invite the
cat, so the cat declared the rat its natural
enemy. Another version of this story involves
betrayal. As the mice and the cat were crossing a
river on the back of an ox to the Palace, the mice
pushed the cat into the river so the cat would not
beat the mice to the palace.
In most Western cultures, cats are rarely eaten
outside of extremely desperate times. However, cat
meat is sometimes used to prepare regional dishes
in some areas of China and Korea. Some outrage has
been generated when cats have been confused with
the Civet cat (also sometimes called a "bearcat"),
an Asian animal related to the mongoose that
slightly resembles the domestic cat and is
occasionally used as a source of human food. |
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