Music/history question, please don't laugh. Cat guts for violin strings? truth or bunk?

Question

I need historical details for a novel and no animals will be harmed in the process of writing!

Were animal guts actually used for the strings of musical instruments...?

What was the process used to prepare them?

I don't even want my characters to deliberately kill a cat even if it's only fiction, but my editor won't accept it if the scientific details are wrong. Would roadkill work...?

I've read they were also used for tennis rackets. would that really work...? How strong would cat guts be?

Does anybody still do this today?

Details, please, don't just give me links. Thanks to all serious answerers!

Answer 1

Animal guts were indeed used to make the strings of early violins. They are still used today, for restringing antique violins, because they produce different (and therefore more authentic-original) sounds to those from monofilament nylon strings.

But most sources insist that sheep, rather than cats, were (and are) the main source of these gut-strings. To make strings, the sheep's intestines were stretched, dried and twisted.

One source that claims "cat gut" really does mean "cat gut" is the Thinkquest site at link 1 below.

But most sites disagree, and insist that "cat" really means "sheep". If so, there obviously needs to be an explanation of why we say "cat" but really mean "sheep".

There are many suggestions as to why "cat gut" arose as the common term to describe these strings.
One explanation, that also suggests how animal intestines came to be used in the first instance, is at the "La Bella" site (link 2 below). An entirely different (and, in my opinion, more credible) explanation is offered at the "Cumpiano - Stringmaking" site (link 3 below).

That is not to say that cat intestines were NEVER used to make instrument strings. It is possible that cats did indeed provide the strings for a tiny 3-string fiddle, the "pochette", that was used by dancing masters for their classes.

It is extremely unlikely that "cat gut" was ever actually used in tennis rackets, etc.

The NY Times article (link 4) attributes the use of the term "cat gut" in that context to a corruption of "kit gut" (the "kit" being a stringed instrument used by medieval troubadours). Astonishingly, (see page 3 of the NYT pdf file) it says that the guts of three cows (or many more sheep) were required to string one tennis racket: that being so, dozens of cats would have had to be sacrificed to string a single tennis racket.

Answer 2

Absolutely NOT! Violin strings are NOT and NEVER were made from the intestines of cats!! Here are a few historic theories about the origins of the word "catguts": The strings are made from the guts of cattle; such as cows, goats, sheep etc. and were originally called "cattle-guts". Some historians believe the name catguts just became a shortened version of "cattle-guts" over time. Another theory is catguts became the Anglicized word for "kitguts"; the word kit is the 18th century word for violin. The kit is a stringed instrument, essentially a very small violin, designed to fit in a pocket. Kit "guts" were the strings they used on the tiny violin. Not hard to see the transition when "kit" was our word for small cat or kitten. Kit or Katguts... eventually leading to Catguts. If we really want to go back even further in history: catguts were first used by the early Egyptians. Cats were sacred to them, to even accidentally hurt or kill a cat meant bringing famine, plague or even death to your family because it was considered such bad luck. Someone mentioned that they were made from pigs intestines, which is highly unlikely. Artisans made the (strings) catguts from herbivores because the less fat, or the leaner the animal, the better the quality of string. Some people have suggested that to preserve their secret the artisans tried to make people believe the guts came from cats. Therein the name "catguts", but there is nothing historically to show this to be true. Last, but not least, Catguts are STILL made and used today. They are much preferred over the manufactured strings produced from man-made materials. They last longer and produce a much deeper, richer sound in the instrument. I hope the information I ve provided here will help debunk this myth and/or spread the truth/shed some light on how the word "catgut" originally got its name.

Answer 3

Yeah cat gut was used for badminton and tennis rackets. Not any longer. But the Gosen guts for badminton rackets are from sheep I think. I am sure catgut was used to string lyres and bows. The same way deer sinew or tendons are used to string bows.
If you have seen Catwoman in Batman comics, she uses a catgut ladder to escape. Its pretty strong.