How do you say “Like herding cats” in German?
The closest natural German equivalent is wie einen Sack Flöhe hüten, which literally means “like looking after a sack of fleas”. English speakers use like herding cats to mean to be very difficult because a group will not cooperate or stay organised. German has a similar joke about keeping unruly people together. Fleas replace the cats. Register: informal. Usage frequency: common.
Closest natural German
wie einen Sack Flöhe hüten
/viː ˈaɪnən zak ˈfløːə ˌhyːtn̩/
- Literal meaning
- “like looking after a sack of fleas”
- Register
- informal
- How often it's used
- common
- Equivalence
Close equivalent
88 out of 100
What a native German speaker would actually say
This image works especially well when children keep moving or a group will not settle. It stresses the difficulty of keeping everyone under control.
For adults with conflicting schedules, it can sound teasing. A plain “schwer zu organisieren” is less pointed.
How close is the meaning?
- Meaning4 out of 5
- Tone5 out of 5
- Context4 out of 5
- Literal similarity3 out of 5
These ratings are editorial approximations, not measurements.
In context
English
Getting all six cousins ready for the photo was like herding cats.
German
Alle sechs Cousins für das Foto zusammenzubekommen war, als müsste man einen Sack Flöhe hüten.
English
Agreeing on a rehearsal time with this band is like herding cats.
German
Mit dieser Band einen Probentermin zu finden ist, als müsste man einen Sack Flöhe hüten.
Related expressions
Last updated 2026-11-13