Why Do Cats Have Witches?

Have you ever asked yourself why cats, and black cats especially, seem prone to keeping witches as companions? It's a fascinating question, and it turns out witches and cats have been drawn to each others for millennia. Cats are not the only ones, of course: the following image is the cover of The Discoverie of Witches, published in 1647. It shows Matthew Hopkins, self-proclaimed "Witch Finder Generall", incel extraordinaire and criminal agains humanity, in the process of investigating two witches and their familiars ("imps"). The cover image of The Discoverie of Witches. Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=164832. Funny names asides, you'll notice a concerning lack of cats, except perhaps that tiny thing named Holt. What we have instead is a bunch of farm animals; that is, animals that anyone living in the countryside would have around. You see, had European witches been thought to keep wombats and pangolins, Hopkins wouldn't even have had a job and several…