Cat Got your Tongue?

Hello. I'm curious as to the origin of the phrase, "Cat got your tongue". Does anybody understand how this expression came to be?
Thanks Kindly,
Kita

"HAS THE CAT GOT YOUR TONGUE? Why don't you speak? Your silence is suspicious. The saying originated in the mid-nineteenth century and was used when addressing a child who refused to answer a parent's questions after some mischief. Often shortened to `cat got your tongue?'." From Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996).