What's the significance of cats in this story?

[Dude1234]

At one point near the end of the game, you have a vision of the cave being full of "ghostly" cats but what is their significance? I looked up the real world myth of Abraxas on Google and he was depicted as having body parts of a rooster and a serpent/snake so that's why there are images of those animals that appear frequently on the game items but what have cats go to do with Abraxas? Even in the game when Thomasina has a vision, she digs up some dirt and finds a dead cat and even asks "What does this mean?".

[Ryan]

To answer your question, I have to answer another part of it first: the seven animals are actually part of the Ophite diagrams, a central part of Gnostic symbolism. Much of the ancient lore in the game is based on it.
I am a little confused why the developer used different names and animals for some of the archons. For example, Thauthabaoth is indeed a bear, but the cat (originally a lion) corresponds to Michael, not Iaoth.
It does get a bit confusing, as the Ophite diagrams depict seven angels (archons) but probably also correspond to the generations of Yaldabaoth (the true god), and Iaoth is one of the many, many names for them (including Adonai). So it isn't exactly unfair to just put a different name in there.
Just for info, the seven angels are (quoting): The first angel, lion-shaped, is called Michael; the second, bull-shaped, is called Souriel; the third, serpent-shaped, is called Raphael; the fourth, eagle-shaped; called Gabriel; the fifth, bear-shaped, is called Thauthabaoth; the sixth, dog-shaped; is caled Erathaoth; the seventh, ass-shaped, is called Onoel or Thartharaoth.

So, the ultimate answer is that the cat, in the developer's version, corresponds to Iaoth--that is, the true god. An army of cats could be seen as an avatar of God, attempting to watch over Thomasina and prevent her from proceeding into danger. This is further demonstrated by Thomasina banishing the avatar with her lack of faith in them (a central theme of the game).

[Kolbex]

I actually have come to think that the cats (Herbert, specifically, but also the illusory ones) are associated with Saxnot somehow. The illusory ones do seem to be trying to ward her away from the temple, and the only spiritual entity in the game with Thomasina's interests in mind seems to be him, as powerless as he is to stop her.

Silly as it may sound, the thing that really got me thinking this in the first place is the congruence between their faces when they are shown in the cutscenes:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GZTj8y7WcAANT3w?format=jpg&name=large
(if this won't load for you, delete the "amp;" from the URL that Chrome automatically inserts)

https://tomsgaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/hobs6.jpg?w=450

Plus, and perhaps even more of a stretch, Saxnot (or Seaxnēat) was according to wikipedia sometimes associated with Fraujaz, or Freyr, who was of course the brother of Freya, whose association with cats as the pullers of her chariot is well known.