Is this a simile or a metaphor and what two things are being compared? Please I beg y

[ali100]

"Because it rained cats and dogs, the cheetahs had to cut back their hunting".

I think that this is a metaphor, is it? And what two things are being compared?

Thanks

[Anglika]

It's raining cats and dogs is an idiom meaning raining heavily.

It seems to me a straightforward statement: Because of the heavy rain, the cheetahs could not hunt.

[Coli]

Yes, it is a metaphor that's why you don't see the comparison. The simile is a comparison, for ex. to a sound, animal, etc. - She sang as a bird.