October 8, 1996

Mignon Good Eberhart (July 6, 1899 to October 8, 1996) was a prolific writer of mysteries. Her career spans most of the last century. It is said that she featured a feminine lead in her detective stories before Agatha Christie wrote about Miss Marple. Her biographer Rick Cypert (America's Agatha Christie: Mignon Good Eberhart, Her Life and Works, 2005)
writes

[H]er father... she described as "a magnificent friend with a fine mind". ....[As a child she was allowed to] adopt stray animals, especially cats, of which she kept a fair number, a favorite being a Persian cat named Pank.

It is clear from this biography that Eberhart had cats throughout her life. Like, a Siamese cat named Chico who is mentioned in a article about her household in 1953.

Naturally then cats populate her stories. Cats flash, sit, rise, and that's just to mention the creatures, not the metaphors. 

While the Patient Slept (1930)

Somewhere along the way the cat, Genevieve, picked us up. The first intimation I had of his presence was when Eustace hesitated for a second and then kicked violently into the shadows ahead. There was a spit from the cat, ...


The Mystery of Hunting's End (1930)

"I don't blame the cat for wanting in. Here, kitty, here. Come over here and get warm." The cat refused, however, to come farther into the room. It sat down suddenly on its gaunt haunches and started to lick itself with a long, thin scarlet tongue.

Death in the Fog (1933) features

... Friquet rose, a silent blue-gray shadow there on the desk, and Katie's heart leaped before she realized it was only the cat. Friquet stretched slowly and sat down again, great shining eyes watching Katie....

Escape the Night (1944) 

A yellow barn cat flashed out of sight through the open door at the back. 

The lady can write, and hopefully the biography is part of a revival of interest in Eberhart.