Role of a witch's cat?

I wouldn't think that the role of a witch's cat would, on the surface, be very different from the role of a pet cat. Though, it does depend a lot on the cat's character. I've had three cats and all were very different in character and how they interacted with people and other animals. If I were writing a story that included a cat (which I have done) I would base the fictional cat on a mixture of my three cats - and then throw a bit of magic in the mixture and see what came out. I found the most difficult bit was how they communicated with humans. I did not want my human characters to have a conversation with a 'talking' cat so had to think out other ways. One cat in one story used a library of books that were magic and about magic to communicate with his person. If fitted with how I imagined his character, though he resorted to cat tactics when threatened so he would hiss, spit, fully extend his claws and his fur stood up making him very formidable.

My cat, Annie, would often show up at the door dragging a dead rabbit or squirrel. If I was using her example for a witches cat, I'd have her come home with a different sort of earthly delight.

A black cat was sometimes considered as the incarnation of a witch. As far as what the witch's cat could do to aid her in her bidding, he could be a spy or a retriever and report back with either information or objects which the witch could use to perform her voodoo or spells.

Other links you may want to explore:

Black Cats in Folklore: http://cats.about.com/od/catloreurbanlegends/a/blackcatlore.htm

Sorry I couldn't be of much help.

The role of a witch's cat is to give the witch something to clean out of the litter box and to give the witch's dog something to chase.

A witch's cat or familiar was sometimes employed to hurt her victims. This is from a historical point of view as in witches weren't seen as heroes, but as villians. In Salem for instance, the girls claimed that Tituba's "familiars" which consisted of red cats and yellow birds, hurt them.

A witch's cat helps her weed her herb garden, and the witch, of course, treats him properly!

It seems you don't know cats very well. The correct question is this: What is the role of a cat's witch?

The stories of a witch's cat doing harm mainly came from early tales of cot death which were often blamed on a cat 'sucking the soul out of a baby'. Even up til the 19th century, cats were blamed for this. They were also blamed for the black death - thousands of cats were killed to try to prevent the plague which, of course, was counterproductive as the cats were the one thing controlling the real cause - the rats that carried the fleas that carried the infection.

There are tales of witches being able to see through the eyes of their familiar beasts (and not just cats here but any animals could be a familiar). Most recently in stories I have read, there is the example of Granny Weatherwax in the Discworld novels (and later the Tiffany Aching novels, which are aimed more at younger audiences) who is capable of projecting her mind into animals, seeing through their eyes and guiding where they fly.

I heard that the Black Plague was caused by all the deaths of the cats which were keeping the rat population in check. All the cats were being killed because they were thought to be witches' familiars not because it was thought they caused the plague. What does Medievalist say?

Is the story being told from the cat's point of view or the witch's point of view? Perhaps you can expand the role of the cat as a killer of pests to a collector of potion and spell ingredients.

Julie Reilly said:

It's told from the cat's point of view. From what I read, a familiar would be given to a new witch by an old one to help her control her powers, so I'm thinking the old witch and the old cat, more the old cat than the witch, train up the new kitten so that when she is ready, she will be given to a new witch.

I have a few ideas about her duties, but this is all good stuff! In my book, all the witchcraft will be good though - more healing and good spells than cursing and soul-sucking. There may be a small element of punishing/judging the wicked, so the cat may have to 'see' whether someone is telling the truth or not - toying with the idea of seeing into someone's mind.

If a witch's cat is supposed to be the medium between the physical world and the spirit world, then a cat might be able to see someone's spirit, which wouldn't be able to lie.

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Bolding is mine.
I think this makes for a unique and intriguing premise!

Rides on the broom and navigates. That's what I thought when I was a little boy. Pictures of witches riding brooms often included a black cat perched up front on the broomstick, looking ahead.

Other than that, the witch's cat, like most cats, does whatever he wants to.

Julie,

I like your approach of having the old cat train the kitten. In this manner, you can show the reader whatever you want as far as what the cats are good for as a familiar. Perhaps the older cat warns the kitten about evil hex and stuff some witches will try to use them for...

I know it's not pertaining to a witch's cat, but in Celtic mythology, the cat is the gatekeeper to the other world. I know there's a lot of myth's about the coolest animal in the world, maybe you can take tidbits from here and there and combine them. At least that'd give you the advantage of "who's going to prove me wrong, my cat'll turn you into a frog and pounce all over you".

I mean taking different myths about vampires sure worked for Twilight from what I hear. I still haven't watched it and refuse to because vampires can't walk around in the daytime!

Also not pertaining to a witch's cat an American Indian woman consoled me when I was feeling very guilty about the death of a beloved cat (the cat got out of the house and drank anti-freeze and suffered terribly until I had her put to sleep) by saying that cats can shapeshift very easily and that I should be on the lookout for my cat entering the bodies of other cats. As the shaman was telling me this a cat approached us and then came close to me particularly.

The night of her death my cat came to me in a dream and spoke to me, in a woman's voice. Unfortunately I couldn't remember what she was saying except that if felt like: I'm okay.

Familiars are captve spirits that do whatever the witch wishes. That they are sometimes in the shapes of black cats is of no consequence. Sometimes familiars look like people, also.

Ditto what Snick said. The cat, or whatever body, is just a place to house the captive spirit that is a familiar.

For the kind of story I think you're talking about, the witch's cat would be more a helpmate, than a spirit held against its will and ordered to complete specific tasks. That kind of cat, I'd think, would need to know about the Circle, the items common to most spells - the cauldron, candles, incense, water, salt, etc - how to recognize 'bad' witches or evil people, maybe something about ghosts, fairies, etc, perhaps how to do a simple protective spell, things like how to protect itself from people who would use it for evil, how to warn its witch of curses/hexes. Such a cat might be a sort of guard for the witch's home or sacred space when she isn't there, possibly able to communicate alarm to her if there's an intrusion. It might be called upon to help select spells, herbs, stones, crystals, books, etc, and so might know how to read, if cats are capable of reading in your story world. If witches are common knowledge and magic accepted as normal, the cat might carry messages to other witches, to an herb shop to order something, to some sort of head witch, etc, either physically or in spirit form.

I know witches/people who believe their cats to be capable of all the above, and more, with the possible exceptions of reading, and physically carrying messages (an exception only because of the low likelihood of the cat finding humans capable of communicating with it). Who am I to argue...

Belle_91 said:

A witch's cat or familiar was sometimes employed to hurt her victims. This is from a historical point of view as in witches weren't seen as heroes, but as villians. In Salem for instance, the girls claimed that Tituba's "familiars" which consisted of red cats and yellow birds, hurt them.

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Red cat reminds me of the Basque Mari, who is said to be in the form of many beasts coloured red. One of this was the He-goat and is likely one for the sources of the modern depiction of the Devil (another being Pan.)

In the days of the witch trials, it was believed that cats were a witch's familar, a diguised demon who could do a witches bidding.

These days, it's just a cultural cliche and for modern witches, cats are just pets, like anyone else.

I always thought a witch's cat wasn't a cat at all, but a demon in the form of a cat. So maybe the kitten would have to learn, among other things, how to act like a cat?

A familiar, regardless of what shape it has, is a spy for a witch. It brings information about things that the witch might need to know. Familiars are "familiar spirits", but there is no certainty as to the nature of the spirit. It might be a demon, or it might be a cooperative nature spirit.