I think a little more detail is required on the term cat o' nine-tails. It was essentially a punishment device - a whip with nine 'claws' or knots. The nine knots representing the nine lives of a cat. There is a view that the Egyptians who long believed in the positive spiritual role of the cat used such a device using cat hide and that the victim would gain virtue from the beating! There is even a view that the noise the 'cat' made as it flashed through the air was like that of a cat screech. Such implements have been used across nations and empires for many years although it was the British Navy use that made it most notorious - drunkenness a dozen lashes; three hundred for mutiny. Often salt water would be poured on to the wounds ( which did have healing anti microbial properties ) hence the phrase 'pouring salt on the wound which would have been very painful.
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