According to the ancient Chinese legend, there is no cat in the Chinese zodiac because the cat got tricked by the rat and could not make it to the party hosted by the Jade Emperor. Here is the story:
The Jade Emperor wanted to select twelve animals to be part of the Chinese zodiac. He sent out invitations saying the order would be decided by the order in which the animals arrived to his party. The mischievous rat decided to play a trick on his neighbor, the cat.
The day of the party arrived. The rat was worried that the cat could run faster. So he told the cat that the date was the day after. On the day of the party, the rat rode on the back of the ox and jumped off to cross the finish line first!
The next day, the cat learned he had been tricked. When he arrived to the party it was too late. The twelve zodiac spots had already been filled by the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.
And so the story goes that this is why cats chase and try to kill rats - they are still angry they missed their chance to be in the Chinese zodiac because of the rat's cunning trickery all those years ago!
