Some Cats I Have Known

My first cats were my grandmother's cats, most notable of which was a white manx cat with half a tail who was a 'dipper' as my grandmother called him, dipping his paw into his milk to drink.

When we lived in Blackheath, my mother bought a sealpoint siamese kitten called Lulubelle. Lulu lived for 25 years. As a kitten she would climb up curtains, get stuck up trees, and leap around at great heights in derelict buildings, so my mother gained a lot of climbing experience when rescuing her. Lulu had a strange habit (for a cat) of using the loo for its correct purpose. I once saw her on the loo, front legs together and back legs astride, facing me and pooing into the loo. She could open doors by jumping up and hanging on the handles. Her naughtiest trick was to steal a roast leg of lamb from the kitchen next door, which had stable doors. This was found, attacked and ruined, on the lawn outside.

Lulu was joined for a short period by my black cat, Charlie Boy, who died in his sleep when young.

At boarding school, my sister saved the life of a tabby kitten, Lolla, who was brought home to join the family and lived a long and useful life. After Lulu's eventual demise, my mother gave up having cats.

At this time I was living in Twickenham and decided to get a cat. Questioning the local vet, it seemed they had been asked to clear some wild cats from a railway yard. They had found one small ginger kitten, covered in black oil and took it back with them. The next day they found another in the same spot. One was short haired and one long haired so of course I had to have both. They were known as Fritz and Spitz. Spitz became my then husband's favourite, and Fritz, the longhair, was mine. Fritz was a fun-loving boy and liked to chase torch beams on the floor or wall. He would lie on my bed on his back, back legs crossed and front paws behind his head like an old man. I wish I had photographed this.

Later a pair of half siamese farms cats, Chavender and Chub, arrived. We named them from the fish in Izaak Walton's The Compleat Angler: 'the Chavender, or Chub, as they were identical . When we divorced I inherited Chub, who again lived for 25 years. Chub was a super affectionate female cat, very vocal with a typical low siamese voice. I left the rather whingey high-pitched Chavender with my ex-husband. Chub is now succeeded by the evil Malvolio, my current diabetic cat. For a short while I had a lovely stray, Bacon, pictured above, who just appeared at my flat. Unfortunately he died of cat leukaemia. He was a superb silver tabby, and possibly the friendliest cat I have ever owned. Malvolio continues to torment me every morning by clawing at me until I get up and feed him and I am sure will continue to do so for a long time.