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關於這句俚語的來源，似乎至今還沒有一個確定的出處，倒是有好幾種不同的說法。其實，最初人們的確用過to rain pitchforks, to rain shovels, darning needles, chicken coops和hammer handles來描述“持續的大雨”。 “To rain cats and dogs”最早應該是出現在理查德-布羅姆1652年創作的劇本《The City Wit, or the Woman Wears the Breeches》中：“It shall rain dogs and polecats.” Polecats 是一種類似於雪貂的貓，但是這個詞后來在喬納森-斯威夫特的筆下變成了Cats。1738年，斯威夫特在《A Complete Collection of Polite and Ingenious Conversation》一書中所使用的短語就是如今我們所熟悉的這種形式：“I know Sir John will go, though he was sure it would cats and dogs.”
《詞匯短語起源故事百科全書》(Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins) 中收錄了對其起源的一種解釋。書中說“17世紀的英格蘭在下大雨的時候，一些城市的街道就會水流成河，而且這些污水中還會飄浮著大量的死貓死狗。”（During heavy rains in 17th century England, some city streets became raging rivers of filth carrying many cats and dogs.）

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"People who hate cats were rats in another incarnation." - Proverb
譯：討厭貓的人前世是老鼠。

"No matter how much cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens." - Abraham Lincoln

"There are people who reshape the world by force or argument, but the cat just lies there, dozing; and the world quietly reshapes itself to suit his comfort and convenience." - Allen & Ivy Dodd

"Beware of people who dislike cats." - Irish proverb

"One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives." - Mark Twain

"Alexander the Great, Napoleon, and Hitler...were apparently terrified of small felines....If you want to conquer the world you had better not share even a moment with an animal that refuses to be conquered at any price, by anyone." - Desmond Morris

"A dog is prose, a cat is a poem." - Jean Burden

"Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow." - Jeff Valdez