Ferreter wrote: »

Exactly right

Not quite.

Puss is common in rural England and less so in Ireland. In Scotland the country word for a hare is "malkin" or "mawkin" and is interchangeable between cat and hare.

In Celtic mythology cats and hares are commonly linked e.g. black cats, the rabbit's foot charm was originally a hare's hind foot. Witches could change into hares/cats and in Irish tales witch-hares could only be caught by a black greyhound.

Cowper the poet kept a few as pets and wrote an epitaph for them on death.
"Old Tiney, surliest of his kind".
Tiney lived to eight, but always stayed wild:
Though duly from my hand he took
His pittance every night
He did it with a jealous look
And when he could, would bite. "