World’s Oldest Cat Door Has Let Working Cats Enter the Cathedral Since 14c | Hacker News Reader

World’s Oldest Cat Door Has Let Working Cats Enter the Cathedral Since 14c

mymodernmet.com

101 pointsakolbe22 comments

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A cat door, but contra the article, no actual cat flap. I believe that the cat flap was invented by Isaac Newton.

It's still strange to call a hole in a door a cat door. Apparently it cannot be called a cat hole though [1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathole

No, but it was still cathol-ic.

Astute observation, given that the cat hole clearly predated Henry VIII.

I actually googled that just to make sure before making the pun.

I come to HN to avoid comments that leave me brimming with anger.

Cat-holy-cs, or the ancient order of holy cats, that began in the ancient Egypt.

I thought you were joking, but Wikipedia does mention a tradition that Newton invented the cat flap. They call it an urban legend though.

I learned the tale from Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently books.

Given the site's propensity for hoaxes I thought I had better check that the 1827 book cited there actually exists. ;)

And lo and behold:

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=hVm4lHMT3VwC&pg=PA18

If you have enjoyed cat doors, you might also enjoy cat ladders.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/cat-ladders

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/switzerla...

After reading the title (and the article), I was left wondering how it denies access to lazy cats who don't work...

Perhaps, due to their lethargy, they're too rotund to gain access?

There is a fun high tale of an anti-gluttony door in a monastery that denied entrance to monks that grew beyond a certain size.

https://fakehistoryhunter.net/2021/10/09/not-a-monasterys-an...

Also some buffets that give discounts based on how small of a hole you can fit through

https://traveltomorrow.com/this-restaurant-makes-discounts-d...

"... which is associated to a tiny passage almost impossible to pass ..."

The irony is that it gets easier after eating there... ;)

I actually think some of the (in a way) hardest working cats are actually the fattest. It's just that they are like little politicians or maybe rent-a-friends. What they do is walk around in their neighborhood and just greet people and be affectionate.

Then after everyone feeds them for a few months, they can't fit in the cat door anymore. But they are definitely doing some work to get that fat. They work the neighborhood.

Catholic guilt.

Semi-related: Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Mouser_to_the_Cabinet_Of...

A Nave is the central part of a church. A knave is a tricky deceitful fellow.

although one could have a knave in the Nave

I love catte

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