The "cat" I have in court (5)
I believe the answer is:
civet
'the cat' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both animals as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I can't see?
'i have in court' is the wordplay.
'i have' becomes 'I've' (contraction of 'I have').
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'court' becomes 'ct' (abbreviation used in road names).
'ive' going into 'ct' is 'CIVET'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for civet that I've seen before include "Catlike mammal secreting musk used in perfumes" , "A cat, its musky perfume" , "Cat; scent" , "fur" , "Catlike animal" .)