ねこのてもかりたい

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　山田（電話で）：もしもし、木村君、今晩一緒にめしでもどう？
　木村　　　　　：悪いけど、無理だなー。来週アメリカから10人も視察団がうちの会社に来るんだ。その準備が大変で、ネコの手も借りたい位だよ。

Neko no Te mo Karitai

Mr. Yamada (Denwa de): Moshi moshi. Kimura-kun, konban isshoni meshi demo do?
Mr. Kimura: Warui kedo, muri da na. Raishuu America kara juunin mo shisatsu-dan ga uchi no kaisha ni kuru'n da. Sono junbi ga taihen de, neko no te mo karitai gurai da yo.

* * *

Rushed off one's feet

Mr. Yamada (On the Telephone): Hello, Kimura? I was just wondering whether you fancied a bite to eat tonight.
Mr. Kimura: It's not possible I'm afraid, I've got too much on at the office. There's a ten-man inspection team arriving from the States next week and the preparations are something unbelievable. I'm just about rushed off my feet.

* * *

With the imminent arrival of an inspection team from America, Mr. Yamada is up to his eyes in paper work. He will not be home before midnight again, tonight, so he is forced to turn down his friend's invitation to dinner. No wonder he sometimes asks himself if it's all really worth it.
Most Japanese farmhouses in the past had a cat or two, probably to keep down the rats. Farmers were busiest during the spring sowing and the autumn harvesting. They had too much work to do in too short a space of time and with too few people.
At such times they would have welcomed a helping hand, even from a cat, which is what "neko no te mo karitai" literally means.
A cat lending a "hand" is not likely to happen. That is why the expression is usually followed by "gurai" as in "neko no te mo karitai gurai isogashii desu."
There is no exact English equivalent to this picturesque idiom.
"Up to one's cues in work" or "rushed off one's feet" express extreme busyness but not the idea that a helping hand from anyone, would be welcome.