How did Nikola Tesla’s cat change your life? Tesla became fascinated by electricity when he was only three years old. It was all because of  an experience he had with his beloved cat, Macak. If not for that cat, would we have entered the age of electricity?  Or would we still be in the dark?  Tesla grew into an extraordinary visionary. From predicting cell phones to bringing light to our world he was well ahead of his times.

Following is an excerpt from an essay written by Nikola Tesla.

“I must tell you a strange and unforgettable experience that stayed with me all my life. Our home was about eighteen hundred feet above sea level, and as a rule we had dry weather in the winter.

It happened that one day the cold was drier than ever before. People walking in the snow left a luminous trail behind them, and a snowball thrown against an obstacle gave a flare of light like a loaf of sugar cut with a knife.

In the dusk of the evening, as I stroked Macak’s back, I saw a miracle that made me speechless with amazement. Macak’s back was a sheet of light and my hand produced a shower of sparks loud enough to be heard all over the house.

My father was a very learned man; he had an answer for every question. But this phenomenon was new even to him. “Well,” he finally remarked, “this is nothing but electricity, the same thing you see through the trees in a storm.”

My mother seemed charmed. “Stop playing with this cat,” she said. “He might start a fire.” But I was thinking abstractedly. Is nature a gigantic cat? If so, who strokes its back? It can only be God, I concluded. Here I was, only three years old and already philosophizing.”

You can read the complete  essay by Nikola Tesla here.

Just for fun, check out Cats That Found Out About Static Electricity The Hard Way.