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In S06 Ep21 of The Sopranos titled Made in America, there is a cat that the Soprano crew brought over to the office that was apparently a stray.

The cat is shown staring at Christopher's picture on the wall. The cat is heard purring and is moving it's tail while staring at the picture. The cat apparently does this all throughout the day. The picture of Christopher gets moved and the cat goes and keeps staring at the picture after it is moved.

Yeah, he does that. Sometimes most of the day. Just stares at Chrissy's picture.

Paulie is extremely disturbed by the presence of the cat and even more disturbed that the cat is enamored by Christopher's picture.

You see that shit? Does it all the time, he says. Look at him staring at that dead kid!

Cat

Is there any explanation from the producers/writers of the show as to the significance of the cat and why it is constantly staring at Christopher's picture? Why is Paulie so disturbed by the presence of the cat?

Note: There are A LOT of opinions and speculations about this everywhere on the internet. I am looking for an explanation from the producers/writers on the show (if there is one).

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  • Not with the show and I think what the cat represents is pretty clear. Paulie's reaction to me is guilt over how he treated Christoper, especially at the end - in "Kennedy and Heidi" he almost cried when he told Tony about how he undermined Chris's sobriety. He was also always very unsettled by omens and supernatural type effects (the seance, etc) and so the cat's behavior would have unnerved him even if it hadn't been so focused on Christopher.
    – lonstar
    Mar 8, 2019 at 18:16
  • @lonstar As you can see from the last part of my question, I asked if there was any information from the show's producers/writers due to the numerous opinions and speculations about this subject. Thanks :)
    – steelersquirrel
    Mar 9, 2019 at 23:06

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It's connected to the study Dr. Melfi reads at the suggestion of her own therapist. The study says that sociopaths show affection towards babies and pets. Tony, while a remorseless killer of people, does seem to have some measure of genuine affection towards animals. As I see it, the appearance of the cat- and Tony's warmheated feelings - are an affirmation of the findings of the study.

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  • I sort of agree with this (it is certainly consistent with his character that he likes the cat and we have also seen the duck thing as well as the woman whose car he had damaged having a dog that Tony petted) but I think there is more to the cat. One sort of guess is that Tony has been avoiding death for a long time, survived a serious gun wound. Perhaps the cat symbolizes that Tony has finally run out of his own "9 lives."
    – releseabe
    Jan 5, 2022 at 16:15

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