"There are more ways of killing a cat than choking it with cream," was the older form of this British expression. This implied that a method of doing something was rather foolish, since cats like cream and wouldn"t likely choke to death on it. But the saying changed in wording until it took on its present meaning - that there are more ways than one of accomplishing something. The expression shouldn"t be confused with the American saying skinning the cat, which describes a child hanging from a tree branch, drawing his legs up through his arms and over the branch, and pulling himself into a sitting position atop it.