Why Cats Are the Only Domestic Animal Missing from the Bible

Open any Bible and you'll find sheep, goats, cattle, donkeys, camels, horses, dogs, and even chickens. But there's one glaring omission from the menagerie: the humble house cat. Despite being one of today's most popular pets, cats are completely absent from the canonical books of the Bible.

This isn't just a curious oversight. Every other domesticated animal that ancient peoples would have encountered gets at least a mention, making the cat's absence all the more striking. Sheep alone appear over 500 times in scripture, while goats clock in at 172 mentions. Even dogs, despite being referenced mostly in unflattering contexts, made the cut.

The Apocrypha Exception

There is one asterisk to this fact. Cats appear exactly once in the book of Baruch (6:21), which describes idols being perched upon by "owls, and swallows, and other birds" along with "cats in like manner." The catch? Baruch is part of the Apocrypha, a collection of texts included in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles but excluded from most Protestant versions.

The original 1611 King James Bible included the Apocrypha, so if you're reading that specific edition, you will find cats mentioned. But for the vast majority of modern readers using canonical texts, cats simply don't exist in Biblical scripture.

Why Were Cats Left Out?

Several theories attempt to explain feline absence from holy writ:

• Geographic rarity: Domestic cats weren't common in ancient Israel when most Biblical texts were written. While cats had been domesticated in Egypt and Mesopotamia, they hadn't achieved widespread distribution in the Levant.
• Egyptian associations: Cats were sacred to the ancient Egyptians, closely linked to the goddess Bastet. Given the Biblical authors' emphasis on rejecting pagan practices, they may have deliberately avoided mentioning animals associated with rival religions.
• Limited utility: In an agricultural society, the Bible focuses on animals that provided food, labor, or sacrifice. Cats, being neither edible nor useful for plowing, simply weren't economically important enough to warrant attention.
• Literary scope: The Bible isn't an encyclopedia. It focuses on the relationship between God and humanity, not on cataloging every species in creation.

What This Tells Us About Ancient Life

The absence of cats provides a fascinating window into daily life in Biblical times. While modern Western culture considers cats essential household companions, ancient Israelites apparently had little contact with them. The animals that do appear in scripture—sheep for wool and meat, oxen for plowing, donkeys for transport—reveal what mattered most: survival, agriculture, and commerce.

Dogs get mentioned, but usually as scavengers and insults rather than beloved pets. The Bible's animal kingdom reflects a practical, agrarian worldview where creatures earned their place through utility, not companionship. In that context, the solitary, independent cat simply didn't make enough of an impression to be recorded for posterity.