Re: Alley cat

Posted by David FG on May 04, 2005

In Reply to: Re: Alley cat posted by Smokey Stover on May 04, 2005

: : : : What is the origin of the idiom "alley cat"?

: : : A cat that lives in the alley? As opposed to a housecat.

: : Yes. A feral cat that typically spends its time fighting, fornicating and scavenging for food. (Quite a lot like some men I know.)

: : DFG
: Ooh, la, la, David, you sound so harsh! Alley cats are the product, directly or indirectly, of bad human behavior. They may have been thrown out or abandoned by humans, they may be the progeny of other cats that were abandoned by humans (and not neutered as almost all cats should be), or they may have gotten lost as a result of human carelessness. SS

Sorry if I sounded harsh; I didn't mean to. I was describing the habits (as I see them) of alley cats, and was not intending any moral judgement.

DFG