no there are certainly examples of cat purges, for assorted reasons but primarily because as I said they just didn’t have the knowledge and needed to blame things. “large numbers” is relative, most are scattered examples with less than 100 cats killed. I know that is a large number of cats but I’m talking relative to the total cat population.

important to remember that people in the medieval era had varying opinions just like you two have now. some probably didn’t like cats, some probably preferred them. in literature I’m sure you’ll find examples of both opinions. also u/no_motor_7666 mentioned they were killed in great numbers during the plague, clearly out of desperation and something that isn’t entirely unexpected without modern medical knowledge. while cats may have been seen as demons by some, and by more in times of despair, this is not indicative of a standardized negative attitude towards cats.