at the time the song was written, robert smith was very interested in the work of australian author patrick white. according to a number of his fans, smith was inspired to write "the love cats" after reading white's novel "the vivisector" (1970), although this claim is difficult to verify. in the novel, the protagonist, hurtle, is appalled when his lover's husband drowns a sack of stray cats. white draws a parallel between the way in which the cats are discarded, and the treatment of certain characters in the book; by extension, the cats symbolize the most innocent and vulnerable members of society, and the casual cruelty with which they sometimes meet their fate.