The Cat replaces the Rabbit in Vietnam’s zodiac tradition.
Vietnamese zodiac lists share most of their 12 animals with the Chinese system, but they use Cat where the Chinese zodiac uses Rabbit. The Vietnamese sequence therefore includes Rat, Buffalo, Tiger, Cat, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.
This difference is often explained through linguistic and cultural history. Vietnamese uses the word “mão” for the Rabbit zodiac position, and its pronunciation has been associated with the word for cat. Scholars also note that cats are familiar domestic animals in Vietnam, while the exact historical path of the substitution is not completely certain.
Vietnam also commonly uses Buffalo instead of Ox. These variations show that East Asian zodiac traditions are related but not identical. A Vietnamese Cat year corresponds to the same calendrical position that Chinese tradition calls Rabbit.