Dear LPG,

Did you know that today is world cat day? 

I can’t talk for the world but, in the UK, cats are the 2^nd most popular  pets owned by a family and we brits come 7^th  in the ‘amount of families that include a cat’ top twenty charts.   Apparently it is also fact that if you were to work it out mathematically each family in the UK has 1.8 cats, and we know that while many people have none, there are also quite a few who have more than one, and even more than two. 

When I was young my mother bought me my first cat to help me to learn how to look after something of my very own and cultivate a sense of responsibility, and I did the same when I had my children, but now I am older, too immobile to have a dog to walk every day and, living alone (apart from her company), I appreciate her so much more.  My cat keeps me grounded and having someone to talk to and worry about is so important, except when I find myself at the back door shouting my cat’s name into the darkness at midnight because she has not come back home yet. 

The names of the cats in my neighbourhood can be a bit mind-boggling too.  When I am at the back door and shouting to my beloved Shebe I often hear other neighbours calling out some of the strangest of names in an attempt to get their firry friends to come in for the night.  There is everything from the shouts for Bella or Lucy to the more unusual cries for the Quinney’s and Theodosia’s of the cat world.  There is also something really special about the way that we cat owners shout at the back door too.  It starts with a sort of whispered shout of the name in question, and after a couple of minutes, especially on a cold night, you can her the growing exasperation coming through with a touch of the ‘Well I’m not going to stand here all night.  I am only going to say this one more time before I shut the back door and lock the cat flap so it’s now or never’ attitude seeping through.  The sad fact is though, that if there is no response we stand out there for a lot longer than our threats imply. 

But tonight, at the end of this very special day of celebration, when you are doing your back door monologue, let’s spare a thought for the really big ones and the ones whose species are becoming a bit more endangered every year, and just think of what life would be like without the little firry family members too.

  Cat owners of the world, let’s all show a little appreciation for our feline friends as this special day comes to a close.

SW, Lewisham

SW offers a little information about unusual cat names, World cat day and some images which are designed to provoke that ‘Aww’ feeling when you watch them…

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