My cats - what they mean to me ...

I grew up with cats – and have had ten over the years – so I always associate cats with home really. I have lived in many places - and in four different countries – in my life when I didn’t own any cats. But none of those places was really a home, I have to say. No cat = no home! A house, yes – but not a home.

Cats have always made me laugh too – which is why when I write stories with cats they always end up as comedy! The cats we own at the moment – Honey and Bumble – make me laugh every day without fail.

I utterly admire cats’ independent streak – their sheer bloody-minded attitude and their uncompromising individualism. As an individualist myself, I can certainly relate to that – I would even say I try to emulate cats in my non-conformist attitude to life.

We only have one life, after all, and it’s very short – so why waste it doing a lot of things you don’t want to do for someone (e.g. a boss at work) that you hate? I suppose that’s why I became a self-employed businessman and a writer.

I don’t dislike dogs, but to see a dog follow orders always makes me feel a bit sad – I’m always sort of hoping the dog will refuse and go off to have a snack, as a cat would! Or, if the owner looks irresponsible and violent, I sometimes hope the dog with attack them or make a run for it – because better to be a stray than to be with the worst of owners.

I suspect people who are insecure prefer dogs to cats – they so like having power over others and issuing orders because of their insecurity. Those I have met who dislike cats seem to really hate the way cats ignore them and any orders they issue. I love that, and I side with the cat – always!

It’s very British thing to be on the side of the little guy – and, where cats are concerned, I am always on the side of those little guys!

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