Book vs Internet: Was Cat Lady Among Preserved Remains at Pompeii?

Whilst recently reading a 1980s publication date book of anecdotes, trivia, etc. about cats (don't have the full title/book info any more), I came across a story about the preserved remains of the Mount Vesuvius eruption in ancient Pompeii, among which was supposedly found a woman cradling a cat in her arms (one of history's earliest cat ladies). I really wanted this story and perhaps a picture for an upcoming project, and began to search the Internet. Although my digging was by no means exhaustive, my initial search turned up nothing--there is the famous picture of the poor dog, but not only did I not find a picture or a story about a woman with a cat, I found no preserved cat remains mentioned at all, which seemed odd, as cats tend to turn up everywhere.

So the wise adage is to always check Internet knowledge against a book, but in this case--even though the book was not scholarly in nature--the book appears to have been incorrect.

If anyone with knowledge or scholarship in regard to the subject has any info about the supposed Pompeii Cat Lady, I'd appreciate it.

On a related note, I did discover that researchers have confirmed that Pliny the Elder's preserved remains were among the findings. Possibly also revealing the world's first jaw transplant.

A team of Italian researchers have strengthened the case that at least the cranium found near Pompeii 100 years ago really does belong to Pliny the Elder, a Roman military leader and polymath who perished while leading a rescue mission following the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 C.E. However, a jawbone that had been found with the skull evidently belonged to somebody else.

Remains Found by Pompeii Really Are Pliny the Elder, New Tests Indicate

So the wise adage is to always check Internet knowledge against a book, but in this case--even though the book was not scholarly in nature--the book appears to have been incorrect.

well, nobody said that every content of all libraries is also presented in the net and vice versa.

I was in Pompeji in august with my partner and very much has changed since I was there last time ( 90s). Of course due to Covid almost half of the streets were closed in the ancient city, much musealization is going on now.. I noticed that most of the famous murals are closed off and also the famous gypsum bodies. Another bad thing is the actual preservation, climate change and acid rain has damaged much.

I did some digging around and can't find any mention of a "cat lady." The closest I find is an artifact that's a long necklace called a "catena." I also tried a search in Italian (with Google translate) but likewise came up blank. No mention in any scholarly paper that I can find.

So.... interesting but appears to be a non-starter.

I think the reason that no cats were found is that they're small (and, like birds, bodies would be vaporized.) They're there, all right, but the traces have vanished.

a reply to: Byrd
Thanks for the research, esp. the Italian--I too have tried a few different types of searches and found nothing. Also makes sense about cats, etc. being too small to be preserved. Indeed, a cat lady at Pompeii did seem just too good to be true.

originally posted by: anti72
So the wise adage is to always check Internet knowledge against a book, but in this case--even though the book was not scholarly in nature--the book appears to have been incorrect.

well, nobody said that every content of all libraries is also presented in the net and vice versa.

Of course, however, this is a very well-documented subject, with a lot of popular interest. A cat lady at Pompeii is the kind of thing the Internet could never ignore, and alas, it seems indeed no such artifact exists. Anyway, thanks for the reply, and I hope I get to see Pompeii and the remains in whatever state remains someday.