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Originally Posted by Stuart W
The 'cat' was a cat-o-nine-tails used to punish men at sea. It was kept in a bag on the main mast as a reminder to the crew about harsh punishment.
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It's an interesting theory, but see:
http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorl.htm#letcat
If you go around the HMS Victory (which, btw, is the oldest commissioned warship in the world as it's still on the British Naval Lists), they'll tell you that when a sailor was to be punished he would be given a length of rope to unbraid (which was made from three strands of triple wound rope, hence the nine tails) and that would then be used for his punishment.
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You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours is from the same place!
Officers were not allowed to punish the crew directly as this would lead to mutiny, so instead they would order another member of the crew to issue the punishment.
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Officers would not punish the crew because it was "manual work", something which a gentleman would not stoop to.
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You must be hit by the 'cat' until you bleed, hence, you scratch my back instead of lacerating it, and I'll scratch yours when your punishment comes.
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The cat would most certainly make your back bleed, but the punishment would not stop when you bled, the number of strokes was pre-determined by the crime you committed.