This year’s International Cat Day sees more than 400 million cats on the planet, including strays and ferals.
Bad news for vermin, and sadly birds, but great news if you’re cat-lover, and we’ve plenty of those in the north and north-east.
Cats have their quirks, and although they might be soft as butter or nippy as frost, we humans have to accept our subordinate status in their world.
Cats have staff
Everyone knows the saying ‘Dogs have owners, cats have members of staff’ and moggie lovers know exactly what that means.
One hundred per cent.
We respect their right to sit on us for hours while we remain immobile until our bladder practically bursts. ‘Can you make the tea, I can’t disturb the cat’ etc.
They love to sleep on our head at night – that’s so understandable.
They like to wake us at 5am by patting our faces or biting our ears. What’s wrong with that?
They demand to go out, ten seconds later they demand to come in, and repeat the whole cycle ad nauseam.
OK, exasperating, but their staff have no choice but to operate the door until they have made their minds up.
We love to show off our felines
And of course we think our moggies are the most beautiful in existence and love to show them off.
There was a time when cat shows were in vogue, and we paraded our pets for prizes and accolades.
From the 1990 North East of Scotland Cat Club annual pet show, here’s Guinness on the left with his servant, Linda Alexander of Nether Kinmundy, Peterhead and Leia, with her member of staff, Fay Campbell of Airyhall, Aberdeen.
In quite a different league are long-haired Persians Angus, left, and Brandy, below, with their dedicated staff member, Maureen Ross of Belhelvie in Aberdeenshire in 1991.
The pampered Persians had done her proud with numerous awards at the Supreme Cats Show in Birmingham.
Below, Gismoh is none too pleased at being atrociously treated – in other words, disturbed from his lengthy catnap in the warmest spot in the house – by his chief housekeeper Eileen Grant and her daughter Stephy of New Elgin, when they took him to the 1990 Nor’east of Scotland Cat Club annual household pet show.
And Dotti of Drumnadrochit may have won the best smoke-coloured kitten award at the Best of Scotland Cat Show 1991 in Motherwell, but she looks completely unamused with her servant Gilly Hagen for putting her on display like that.
Like a bored toddler, Sox, below, is somehow managing to endure the antics of her servant Violet Wardhaugh of Dalcross, Inverness at the West of Scotland Cat Show in Motherwell in 1992.
Sox had already won multiple awards on her journey to becoming best in show and winner of the household pet section.
Cats love to go a-wandering
Meet Maisie, also not looking very impressed, in the arms of her staff Brian and Carol Dawson.
She hadn’t returned home one evening in 1990, completely out of character.
The Dawsons embarked on frantic but fruitless searches and appeals.
Then Brian had a brainwave – had Maisie, unseen by anyone, popped aboard a removal lorry for a snooze during a flitting by one of the neighbours?
After a few disbelieving phone calls it turned out that, yes, Shore Porters had indeed found Maisie curled up on a sofa in Knutsford, Manchester.
In due course, the company came north again and Maisie was reunited with her doting staff, after an 800-mile round trip.
The appeal of the car engine
Car engines often have perfect toasty warm hidey-holes for cats, and here’s Lucky of Pitcaple feeling rather embarrassed after by accidentally abducted by Gail Ross in 1989.
Gail, from South Fordtown near Kintore, had travelled into Aberdeen for shopping on Saturday afternoon, then made some calls at Inverurie.
Somewhere along the way, Lucky had crept into the engine compartment, giving Gail quite the shock when she opened her car bonnet to investigate some strange noises.
Lucky by name, and by nature, the kitten was later reunited with his Pitcaple family.
Cats care too
Despite their preference for a pampered existence being waited on hand and foot, cats are capable of altruism.
Here’s doting mother Milky who had been feeding and showering with affection a little black bundle of fluff for two weeks in 1989.
A resident of the Aberdeen Dog and Cat Home, Milky had taken on the orphan bundle without a second’s hesitation.
The fur-ball was in fact a pure-bred black Laborador pup, and Milky had saved his life.
Sunbeam shines a light on charity
Sunbeam, a 12-year-old Siamese graciously agreed to accompany her servant Meg Mann on a fundraising drive for an Aberdeen Journals Appeal in 1972.
Mrs Mann, 78, planned to take Sunbeam on a tour of OAP clubs in the city.
She brandished up her Lifeline can and vowed: “Just wait till Sunbeam and me get started. We’ll have this full in a week.”
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