is a dog, not a cat
Origin said:Arcanine is based on the Ryukyuan シーサー shisa, or koma-inu. They are mythical creatures that take inspiration from lions, tigers, and dogs. Statues of them in pairs are used as guardians and to invite good luck. It could also be based on the Haetae, a mythical fire-eating dog with similarities to lions and tigers.
hisa (シーサー Shīsā?, Okinawan: siisaa,) is a traditional Ryukyuan decoration, often in pairs, resembling a cross between a lion and a dog, from Okinawan mythology.
From the Edo period they started to be called "guardian dogs" in general in mainland Japan. Gender is variously assigned to the shisa. Some Okinawans believe the male has his mouth closed to keep bad out of the home, while the female has her mouth open to share goodness. Others believe the female has her mouth closed to "keep in the good", while the male has his mouth open to "scare away the bad". (Compare this to the distinction between male and female guardian lions in Chinese culture.)
The shisa, like the komainu (lion dogs), are a variation of the guardian lions ("fu dogs") from China.
Komainu (狛犬・胡麻犬?), often called lion-dogs in English, are statue pairs of lion-like creatures either guarding the entrance or the inner shrine of many Japanese Shinto shrines or kept inside the inner shrine itself, where they are not visible to the public.
Chinese guardian lions or Imperial guardian lion, traditionally known in Chinese simply as Shi (Chinese: 獅; pinyin: shī; literally "lion"), and often called "Foo Dogs" in the West, are a common representation of the lion in pre-modern China.
Korea said:According to Korean records, Haetae's body is shaped like a lion and it has a horn on its forehead.
In English, it is called "the Unicorn-lion" or "an omniscient mythical beast."
http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...(Pokémon)
says it's a dog
and according to her, does not learn close combat xd