Can someone tell me the reason why the cats in Cats are played by humans and not cats?

Flea collars are expensive.

Where keep the litter boxes for the bathroom breaks for the cast? Enquiring minds want to know. I can not believe I am actually answering this question.

I'm pretty sure the OP's tone is understood by most.

Having real cats perform it 8 times a week would constitute cruelty to animals.

The real question is why Cats are the only ones represented in the musical Cats. There is no reason that a qualified dog or actor dressed as a dog could not play Grizzabella or Rum Tum Tugger.

Not for the dog. He/she would be in heaven

This is a known fact but hey they are only humans right.

If the dog can meow without an accent, has little pointy ears, and has the right body shape, I think it should be eligible for the production. I have no problem with casting another species as long as that species, too, has not traditionally been given the opportunity to work on Broadway. Other than Sandy, from "Annie," I really can't think of any recent opportunities for dogs.

I do have one suggestion about a casting restriction: I think the cats to be cast should only be small cats, regardless of breed. I realize I'm engaging in stereotyping here, and I think I may be called a speciesist or a breedist, but lions, tigers, leopards, etc. are really to dangerous to be let loose on a Broadway stage, and we don't want to put them in cages for lots of reasons. I'd call being a small cat species a "bona fide occupational qualification."

I recently saw a fine actor named Vince Gatton appear in "I am My Own Wife," here in the Coachella Valley. Despite the possibility that his name is related to the Spanish word "gato," I don't think we need to open the casting to him or anyone named Katz, Katzmann, Chatelaine, Catalog, Catalac, etc. Merely having the right name does not, in my opinion, indicate that you have ancestors who were cats -- cads maybe, but we're not casting cads.

I do wonder why the "War Horse" was played by a mechanical horse, and Hannibal's elephant in "The Phantom of the Opera" by a mechanical elephant. This ruins opportunities to cast actual members of the species in question. However, I realize the logistics are different with these species than with cats -- it's easy to provide restroom accommodations for cats, but not for horses. Perhaps they can wear one of those poop collectors onstage. The first few rows would have to be discounted, however.

Audrey, who hopes that everyone understands that this post is tongue-in-cheek, and does not necessarily comport with the views of the author