The 420,000 cats myth

MANILA, Philippines - One’s company, two’s a crowd, three’s a party.”

That is according to the late pop artist and celebrity Andy Warhol who in a tiny book called Cats, Cats, Cats declared that at some point he had 26 cats.

As an incurable cat lover with many cats of my own, I can understand why anyone could have many of these creatures at one time. Cats just grow on you — in more ways than one!

Which is why the myth (or urban legend) that one female cat and its offsprings will reproduce 420,000 more cats in seven years piqued my curiosity like... well, a cat.

It is a widely bandied piece of information the veracity of which has been questioned. It’s one stat on cats that’s gone stray (pun intended) especially when nobody is really stepping forward to claim ownership or producing any study that could back the 420,000 figure. Even the Humane Society of the United States and other animal welfare groups said they’re not the source of this mysterious number.

Meow Culpa

The Feral Cat Times, a special publication of the Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Project in Seattle, Washington also dispelled the 420,000 number with a question: “If feline reproduction were really that successful, then wouldn’t we be covered in cats like those old movies with locust clouds invading the African plains?”

In search for answers, The Feral Cat Project had documented studies done by wildlife biologist Dr. Michael Stoskopf, and sent his findings to the University of Washington Math Department for analysis.

The 420,000 figure was based on one cat delivering 12 kittens a year, with a 20 percent mortality rate. Stoskopf’s myth busting scientific studies, documented in actual colonies, found six kittens a year, with a 75 percent mortality rate or 1.5 surviving kittens/year per female, bringing the number down to 100 to 400 cats at the end of seven years. The original projection assumed 100 percent survival of all cats that reach adulthood for the entire seven years, which was a flawed assumption from the very start.

Millions Of Cats

Now that a more realistic figure has been established, one should be able to enjoy reading the classic and award-winning children’s book Millions of Cats without a care.

Written by the late American author and illustrator Wanda Ga’g, the book is about a lonely old couple who wanted a cat. The old man searched for one and on a hill he found:

“Cats here, cats there,

Cats and kittens everywhere,

Hundreds of cats,

Thousands of cats,

Millions and billions and trillions of cats.”

According to the story, the old man first chose to keep a white cat that he thought was the prettiest. But he also spotted a pure black and thought it would be a shame to leave it behind. Then he fancied an orange tabby and continued with his selections until he eventually returned home with one million cats!

The couple told the cats only the real prettiest one could stay but since each cat thought itself the prettiest, a big catfight ensued. When it was all over, only one thin and scraggly kitten remained alive because he didn’t say he was pretty and was therefore left unbothered. The couple cared for him until he grew up to be “the most beautiful cat in the whole world”, said the old man.