Originally created by French astronomer Joseph Jerome le Francais de La Lande in 1805 when it was published in his Bibliographie Astronomique. La Lande is quoted as saying: "I am very fond of cats. I will let this figure scratch on the chart. The starry sky has worried me quite enough in my life, so that now I can have my joke with it." La Lande created the constellation from stars found between Antlia, the air pump, and Hydra, the sea serpent. Felis appeared on several star atlases but was never widely accepted and never become an official constellation.