>>14008975People automatically think that because of the ears and Eevee's tail.
They don't realize that there are lots of cats and other animals that have ears just as long as a fennec fox's.
Espeon is particularly reminiscent of a caracal/nekomata. IIRC a Japanese website mentioned how Umbreon is based on the lucky black cat of Japan and a moon rabbit.
Jolteon seems doglike to me, but the rest seem like mixes of foxes and cats.
