Releasing feline and deer I caught (9)
I believe the answer is:
cathartic
'releasing' is the definition.
(I know that releasing can be written as cathartic)
'feline and deer i caught' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'feline' could be 'cat' (cat is a kind of feline) and 'cat' is located in the answer.
'deer' could be 'hart' (hart is a kind of deer) and 'hart' is found within the answer.
'i' is within the answer.
'caught' could be 'c' (cricket abbreviation) and 'c' is found in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cathartic that I've seen before include "releasing emotion" , "releasing suppressed emotions" , "providing a release" , "Purgative" , "Purging" .)