| McGregor's Cat | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Unknown |
|
First Appearance |
The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902) |
|
Original Publisher |
Frederick Warne & Co. |
|
Created by |
Beatrix Potter |
Origin[]
Mr. McGregor's Cat is a pet of Mr. McGregor and one of the antagonists of the Peter Rabbit books. Her job is to keep out any animals that try to steal or eat Mr. McGregor's crops from his garden, but always fails at that job due to Peter Rabbit and his friends.
In the Tale of Peter Rabbit, Peter notices the cat sitting by a pond. Peter considers asking for directions, but ultimately decides not to, having been warned about cats by his cousin.
In the Tale of Benjamin Bunny, the Cat is resting in Mr. McGregor's Garden when Peter and Benjamin see her. She gets up, stretches herself, and sniffs the basket under which Peter and Benjamin are hiding. Suddenly, the Cat sits down on top of the basket where Peter and Benjamin are hiding and stays there for five hours. Late in the afternoon, the Cat hears a pitter-patter and some bits of mortar fall from the wall above. She looks up and sees Mr. Bunny prancing along the top of the wall of the upper terrace. Suddenly, he takes a leap off the wall onto the Cat, pushes her off the basket, and kicks her into the greenhouse, scratching off a handful of fur. The Cat is too surprised to scratch back. After kicking the Cat into the greenhouse, Mr. Bunny locks the door. After arriving back home, Mr. McGregor can't understand how his Cat could have managed to shut herself up inside the greenhouse, locking the door from the outside.
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of McGregor's Cat from before January 1, 1930 are public domain in the US.
Public Domain Literary appearances[]
- The Tale of Peter Rabbit, by Beatrix Potter (1902)
- The Tale of Benjamin Bunny, by Beatrix Potter (1904)