The cat

Cat

The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...

is the fourth animal symbol in the 12-year cycle of the Vietnamese zodiac, taking place of the rabbit

Rabbit (zodiac)

The Chinese Year of the Rabbit is actually the Chinese Year of the Hare, as China has seven native species of hares and no native species of rabbits. The Chinese applied their word for hare to the first rabbits to be taken to China, and the word is now erroneously back-translated into English as...

 in the Chinese zodiac

Chinese zodiac

The Shēngxiào , better known in English as the Chinese Zodiac, is a scheme that relates each year to an animal and its reputed attributes, according to a 12-year mathematical cycle...

. Cats are 'smooth talkers', talented and ambitious, and will succeed in studies. They are in conflict with the rat. A cat person has a supple mind and patient personality and knows how to wait for favourable conditions before taking action. Cat hours are between 5am-7am, when cats begin their prowling. According to legend, The cat was left out of the Chinese Zodiac because the rat

Rat

Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...

 tricked the cat into missing the banquet with the Jade Emperor; in reality, it is likely domesticated cats had not proliferated through China at the zodiac's induction.

Said to be free of stress, the year of the cat may have been the inspiration for the Al Stewart

Al Stewart

Al Stewart is a Scottish singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician.Stewart came to stardom as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s, and developed his own unique style of combining folk-rock songs with delicately woven tales of the great characters and events from history.He is...

 album Year of the Cat

Year of the Cat

Year of the Cat is the seventh studio album by Al Stewart, released in 1976 and engineered by Alan Parsons; it is considered his masterpiece, its sales helped by the hit single "Year of the Cat," "one of those 'mysterious woman' songs," co-written by Peter Wood...

, and the song

Year of the Cat (song)

"Year of the Cat" is the title track of the 1976 album Year of the Cat by singer-songwriter Al Stewart, which album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London in January 1976 by engineer Alan Parsons and released in July 1976. The "Year of the Cat" single reached #8 on the Hot 100 in Billboard in...

 of the same name. In the manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 Fruits Basket

Fruits Basket

, sometimes abbreviated , is a Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Natsuki Takaya. It was serialized in the semi-monthly Japanese magazine Hana to Yume, published by Hakusensha, from 1999 to 2006. The series was also adapted into a 26-episode anime series, directed by Akitaro...

, Kyo Sohma

Kyo Sohma

is a character in the manga and anime series Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya. He transforms into an orange cat whenever he is hugged by the opposite gender or when his body comes under a great deal of stress. This animal is not in the Chinese zodiac, but legend says would have been if it had not...

transforms into the cat of the Chinese zodiac legend; the Vietnamese zodiac is never mentioned.