Very
drunk, specifically on gin.
A result of the "gin craze," British government tried to stem the flow of gin with prohibitive taxes and rules, which drove the gin scene underground during 18th-century
England. Exploiting a loop-hole in these
new regulations, where a bartender couldn't be prosecuted for serving gin if the police couldn't be sure exactly which bartender served it, wooden plaques shaped like a black cat (hence "Old
Tom gin") were mounted on the outside wall of some pubs. These cat plaques had little paws, and under the cat's paw was a slot to put money in and a small lead tube. From the tube would come a shot of gin, poured by the bartender, who remained anonymous from inside the pub.
Today, "under the cat's paw," simply means to be very
drunk on gin, perhaps to great excess, as that is where most of these gin-crazed
bar-patrons would have spent most of their
time.
"I'm going to be under the cat's paw tonight!"
"Billy, if you
don't slow down on those martinis, you'll be under the cat's paw in no
time!"
"I can't remember a
thing- I was absolutely under the cat's paw!"
