Cliché Month: Raining Cats and Dogs
Raining Cats and Dogs: The Truth Behind the Downpour
I’ve always been a cat person, but I’ve had some special dogs in my life as well. The first one I remember was Kute Kitty Kolleen of Keswick. She was a very red Irish Setter, and I was told she put up with me teething on her nose. (Yuck!?) I do not recall my teething days, but I sure loved that dog and her puppy Kollette. They both lived with my grandparents. I’ll save the other dog memories for National Dog Day on the 26th of this month.
With August 8th marking International Cat Day and the entire month of August celebrated as National Dog Month. (Wait, cats only get one day and dogs get a whole month? Not fair!) Both of our favorite four-legged companions are sharing the spotlight for this blog. That makes it feel like the perfect moment to dive into one of the most famous pet-centric sayings in the English language: “raining cats and dogs.”
The Slippery Roof Myth
At some point, I heard the story behind the cliché. The legend states that back in the 1500s, homes had thick thatched roofs made of straw and reeds. Cats, dogs, and other small animals would climb up to sleep in the thatch for warmth. Then, during torrential downpours, the wet thatch would get slippery or cave in—literally raining pets through the ceiling and into the living room!
It’s an amusing visual, and one I thought of immediately upon deciding to use this cliché, but it turns out that linguistic historians have largely debunked it. A properly constructed thatched roof was a foot or more thick and tightly packed, so even an abundance of rain wouldn’t send sleeping critters tumbling through the ceiling.
So, where did the phrase actually come from? While its official origin remains mysterious, historians point to two far more likely roots:
- Norse Mythology: In ancient Norse lore, dogs were symbols of the wind (associated with Odin, the storm god), while cats represented heavy rain and atmospheric turbulence (tied to Freyja, whose chariot was pulled by cats). A fierce storm of howling wind and driving rain was figuratively called “dogs for the wind, cats for the rain.”
- 17th-Century City Streets: In 1600s London, poor drainage meant that sudden, severe rainstorms created heavy street flooding. The rushing runoff would sweep up debris and, tragically, stray animals that hadn’t survived the storm, making it look to people passing by as though they had literally fallen from the sky.
Raining Dogs and… Polecats?
Early variations of the phrase in the 1650s actually described severe downpours as “raining dogs and polecats” before settling into the catchy pairing we use today.
Fun Fact: Wait, isn’t a polecat a skunk?
If you grew up in North America hearing “polecat” used to describe a skunk, you’re not alone! But when 17th-century English writers wrote about “polecats,” they were referring to the European polecat (Mustela putorius)—a wild, agile cousin of the ferret. When European settlers arrived in the Americas and encountered skunks, they saw a similarly sized, dark-furred animal with a potent scent gland and borrowed the name “polecat” as slang.
Rain Chaos and Muddy Footprints 🐾
It’s funny all the directions a mind can run from one little thought!
About pets and weather, isn’t it amusing how these idioms stack up? You’d think if it were literally raining cats and dogs, they’d be fighting like cats and dogs just to scramble for cover and get out of the deluge!
Unlike the disciplined ants in the old children’s rhyme (another thought direction altogether,) who politely march one by one, hurrah, hurrah to get out of the rain, a sudden downpour usually brings pure chaos when pets are involved.
So if it rains for you this month, I don’t think you’ll find any cats or dogs falling from the sky, but you may get wet neighborhood cats showing up on your porch for food. Here’s a collage with 4 of our rainbow bridge kitties who were indoor-only cats (2013) plus 4 of the outdoor cats who used to show up at feeding time (2022). We still have 3 of them showing up in 2026.
by Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
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Creativity Day
I had a bit of a stressful day today, and I have a really busy day planned for tomorrow, so I decided that tonight was a great night to just do some picture playing while my phones charged before sleep. No deep words of wisdom other than to remind you (and myself) that God’s Word promises us that He will work everything for the good for those who love Him and are the called according to His purposes. To be able to work everything to the good means He is with us in those everything moments. So this is me trying to release any and all fears, anxieties, and issues with my battles with low self-esteem (though I know God sees me better than I see myself, so that helps), into His hands. I’m sure my readers have had their hard days and battles as well, so as I pray for those who visit my writings, I’m also grateful for those who take me to the throne when I’m not as strong as I’d like to be. Thank you with my whole heart. 🙏
Romans 8:28 BSB
[28] And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/rom.8.28.BSB
Philippians 4:6 BSB
[6] Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/php.4.6.BSB
Proverbs 19:21 BSB
[21] Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the Lord will prevail.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/pro.19.21.BSB
And now, more pictures…
Good night and Shalom! 🕊️
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Monosyllabic Challenge
Three Kitty Cats in the Window, Rock Texture, Syllable Text, by Crystal A Murray, All Rights Reserved
Click image to open a new tab/window to view my cats and critters album at Flickr.
Monosyllabic is a five-syllable word that defines words of one syllable. Only in the English language, right? But, if you’re like me and like rhythmic poetry like haiku, you might count syllables in words just for fun. For example, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious has 14 syllables, even if it is a made-up word. If you want a real word, there is a word for a lung disease that has 19 syllables, but I’ll let you do that research for yourselves. Oh, and just in case you were wondering, in the urban dictionary, monosyllabic is actually a word that means “lame” or “boring.”
In an effort to keep this post from being lame, I’m going to challenge readers to write a monosyllabic piece. In other words, create a paragraph or story made up of only one-syllable words. You can keep it to yourself, or you can share it in comments for me to read. I prefer the latter. Just to make it fair, I will share a quick one-syllable story, and this one even includes a cat just to match the image above. Here goes…
High noon, when the sun sits at the top of the sky, is too hot to work, but there is so much work to be done. But how can I work when life will not yield its strength to me. I need strength. I need hope. I feel the pain of my loss as it digs a hole in my heart. It makes me weak. I am bound by it, and I can’t do a thing to make it set me free. It haunts me. It taunts me with its knock, knock, knock at my brain.
I watch the cat curl up in a warm spot of sun on the floor, and I wish I were a cat. Not that cat’s lives are filled with ease. I know they are not when I watch them sleep and dream of that cat and mouse chase where they may win or they may lose. But when one has just sensed a great loss, it makes me think it would suit me more to just lie down and sleep.
There are dreams I would like to keep in the depths of my heart, and there are dreams I would like to share. But gone are the dreams I think could come true for me since my new dream is now gone. And it would have worked so well. But, like the cat and mouse game, the thought was there when I went to sleep, but when I woke up, it was gone. So it seems best now to lie in the sun and take a nap like the cat does each day at noon. It could be that as I sleep, my dreams will wake in me once more.
In case you don’t get the hidden subject, I don’t want to leave you thinking this is a negative story. It’s just about those ideas that you think about when you lie down to sleep, or dreams you have in the middle of the night. You are so sure you will remember the idea or dream, so you don’t write it down. And then, when you wake up, it’s all gone. You then hope that it will come back to you the next time you sleep. If it doesn’t, you write a story about it just to have something to feed your muse. 🙂
Now it’s your turn, and I hope you share.
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