Animals have been used in warfare by humans for thousands of years; and cats are no exception.  Anyone who has had a cat knows that they have an independent streak, making them very difficult to train!  This streak has limited the use of felines in war, as opposed to say horses or dogs, but people have found uses for them:

 

The ancient Persians used the Egyptian reverence for cats against them, carrying cats into the Battle of Pelusium.  It was assumed that the Egyptians would be hesitant to strike the cats by mistake.  The battle ended in an overwhelming Persian victory.

 

For ages cats have been used by navies as pest control -- or ratters -- to keep food supplies safe.  In the 16th Century the Germans developed plans to use rocket propelled cats, and cats for carrying jars of poisoned gas.

 

Surprisingly, cats have even been used in modern times.  The British used 500,000 cats to detect poisoned gas during World War I.  In World War II, the British used cats as an early warning system against German bombing.  Maybe the most gruesome use of felines belongs to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), with its Operation Acoustic Kitty during the Cold War.  A cat underwent surgery to have a microphone placed in its ear, a transmitter attached to the skull, a battery placed in the neck, and wires run along the length of the spine.  This was done to create a "Living Microphone," to listen in on Soviet conversations.  Some Russian diplomats were in a park in Washington, D.C.  The CIA subsequently released the cat in their direction on a spying operation.  Everything was going according to plan until the kitty walked into a street -- and was hit by a taxicab! 

 

References:

www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/05/operation-acoustic-kitty-the-cias-would-be-cat-spy/275665/
www.forbes.com/sites/michaelpeck/2013/01/30/rocket-propelled-cats-and-other-feline-weapons-of-war/
www.ripleys.com/blog/pelusium-cats/
www.petmd.com/cat/slideshows/seasonal/five-cats-of-war

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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