Catgut is the name applie to cord of great toughness and tenacity prepared from the intestines of the sheep or goat, or occasionally from those of the hog, horse, mule, pig, and donkey. Those of the cat are not employed, however it is supposed that the word is properly kitgut ("violin string"), kit being derived from the ancient word "citara" or "kitara" from which comes the modern word "guitar". The present form may have arisen through confusion that kit = cat. Another explanation of the origin of the cat in catgut is that it is an abbreviation for cattle which originally denoted not only cows, but all types of livestock.