Photo: Cats as gargoyles
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From the right angle, with the right lighting and circumstances, cats can take on different forms. For example, this morning I was sitting on the floor trying to capture a picture of Dawn in the sun.
Then I noticed she was looking upwards, an expression of concern on her sweet kitty face.
So I glanced up…and saw this.
My immediate thought was: gargoyles.
I did the research: Technically, a gargoyle is a creature-shaped sculpture that serves as a rainspout on many buildings–often seen on churches. If the sculptures are merely ornamental–as in, they don’t spit water–they’re known at chimeras, which are usually carved as grotesque mixtures of animals. Supposedly, their purpose is to scare away evil spirits that might be lurking about.
It all started to make sense.
Athena is really a cat-dog, who wags her tail and greets me at the door.
My daughter refers to Elsa Clair as the dragon cat. Because, well, she is. A dragon. Dressed up as a cat.
And both were successful in keeping Dawn from approaching the buffet. Though I might argue against the idea that Dawn is evil. But I’m not a cat, and my judgment doesn’t count.
For reference, here’s a photo of gargoyles on the Cathedral of Notre Dame, one of the most famous gargoyle hangouts.

Gargoyles on the Cathedral of Notre Dame (photo credit: The Classy Traveler)
Kitty gargoyles? Cat chimeras? Catgoyles? What do you think?
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Haha! Love the two cats on top! 🙂
It absolutely looks like gargoyles – great photo…poor Dawn.
I didn’t know the difference between gargoyles and Chimeras. I like Cat eras myself.
Ah! This explains why Binga doesn’t do this – she IS an evil spirit! BTW, here is the answer to your question on my blog about finding images, in case you don’t go back to look for answers (I forget constantly): “My human has access to her hosting account and she can see the files there and the navigation. For WordPress, the folder is usually yourblog.com/wp-contents/themes/yourtheme/images. Most of the images used to personalize your theme will be in there.”
I don’t think you’ll have to worry about evil spirits in your house!
Gargoyles will never look as good as cats!!
The Florida Furkids
Ha ha, love the catgoyles. I have a few of those myself although they sometimes transform into other creatures of the night like Batcat and Toothless the dragon in “How to Train Your Dragon”. Gotta love cat personalities — they make households so much fun, don’t they?
Hehe good comparison! And interesting too. I think of chimeras as 2 or 3 headed monsters… a lion head and I forget what the other heads are on them.
I think I’m a dragon too. MOL! Cats can perch like gargoyles but we’r not grotesque.
They make great gargoyles! BOL!!!
Great pics! Love the second one!
Purrs xx
Athena and Marie
Very clever! Gosh I miss having cats! Sandra
Well look at that, I had no idea a gargoyle was supposed to spit water.. I thought the ones that were water spouts were actually called something else and the non functional ones were gargoyles.. I’m happy I learned something new.
Ha ha ha! They are perfect little gargoyles. Beware, Dawn!