Etymology
- Catgut may be an abbreviation of cattlegut.
- It may derive from kitgut or kitstring.
- The word kit, meaning fiddle, may have been confused with the word kit for a young cat.
- The term kit was derived from Old English cythere, Latin cithara, and Greek kithara.
- Kit was used to refer to a small fiddle used by dancing teachers.

Common uses
- Catgut was commonly used for strings in musical instruments such as harps, lutes, violins, and guitars.
- Gut strings are still preferred by classical and baroque string players.
- Steel strings became popular for acoustic guitars in the early 1900s.
- Nylon strings replaced catgut for classical and flamenco guitarists after World War II.
- High-quality gut strings are produced in Italy, Germany, and the United States.

Sutures
- Catgut sutures were widely used in surgical settings.
- Catgut sutures are still used in developing countries due to their affordability.
- Chromic catgut, treated with chromium salts, is also used in surgery.
- Catgut sutures are treated to resist body enzymes for slower absorption.
- Catgut plain sutures are untreated catgut sutures.

Tennis racquets
- Natural gut strings were used as high-performance strings in tennis racquets.
- Synthetic strings are displacing natural gut strings.
- Natural gut strings had more popularity in the past.
- Natural gut strings are still used by some tennis players.
- Synthetic strings offer advantages in terms of durability and cost.

Clocks and watches
- Catgut is traditionally used to hang weights in grandfather clocks.
- Catgut was used in early pocket timepieces before the use of the Fusee chain.
- Catgut played a role in the functioning of clocks and watches.
- The use of catgut in clocks and watches has been replaced by other materials.
- Catgut was a common material in timekeeping devices in the past.

Catgut (Wikipedia)

This article is about the material. For the racehorse, see Catgut (horse). For the species of seaweed, see Chorda filum.

Catgut (also known as gut) is a type of cord that is prepared from the natural fiber found in the walls of animal intestines. Catgut makers usually use sheep or goat intestines, but occasionally use the intestines of cattle, hogs, horses, mules, or donkeys. Despite the name, catgut is not made from cat intestines.