Cats here! Cats there! Cats everywhere! Arturo was in seventh heaven - and so was I. For once, cats have their place within the UK media. Yesterday and today - there are ginger toms in all the best papers. Let me explain.
The Independent put the 'cat among the pigeons' - if that isn't too indelicate a phrase to use - in their columns about
Jock V1. Who's Jock, do you ask? Well take a look at this:
Winston Churchill's home gets new rescue cat called Jock VI
Kasmira Gander wrote:
Now, almost 50 years after Churchill died, a new kitten has moved into the ex-Prime Minister’ former country home to honour a request made by him and his family.
The cat was named after one of Churchill’s private secretaries, Sir John “Jock” Colville, who gave the former statesman the pet for his 88th birthday in 1962.
Jock was so dear to Churchill and his family that they asked that a marmalade-coloured cat named Jock with a white bib and four white socks would always live at Chartwell, Kent.
See how some people admire their cats!
'Boy David' Cameron and '
Georgy' Osborne - take note!
The article went on
Previously known as Malley, Jock IV was rescued by Croydon Animal Samaritans before being adopted by Chartwell's house and collections manager, Katherine Barnett.
Trust officials said he takes afternoon naps, eats tuna and lounges on Persian rugs at Chartwell, which has a green cat-flap approved by an historic buildings inspector.
Ms Barnett said: "Jock VI has had a difficult start to his life, but as the saying goes, a cat will always land on its feet. I'm delighted with Jock.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/winston-churchills-home-gets-new-rescue-cat-called-jock-vi-9182404.html
So - Jock VI
takes afternoon naps, eats tuna and lounges on Persian rugs! I ask you! Where did I go wrong in one of my nine lives? Never had anything like that - nor has poor old Arturo!
Then more publicity! In
'The Telegraph, more about this fortunate moggy, written by no less than
Matthew Holehouse, Political Correspondent!
The cat was so dear to the former Prime Minister that it was rumoured that meals would not start until Jock was at the table.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/10688068/Churchills-wish-upheld-as-new-cat-welcomed-to-Chartwell.html
Can you imagine that! The cat was
so dear to
Winston Churchill! And here are me and Arturo struggling in the cellars of Nos 10 and 11 to catch rats to keep body and soul alive! It tears at your heart-strings, doesn't it?
Cats were also in the news about their place in
Government in
'The Independent'. In an article by
Felicity Morse
An army of cats are poised to descend on Westminster to help rid Parliament of vermin.
Battersea Cats and Dogs Home have drawn up a list of their top mousers that could help solve Parliament's pest problem after yet another MP complained about mice. However a spokesperson told The Independent that they as many as 160 cats available
For those who work in Parliament, sightings of mouse colonies are common and MPs have reported mounds of droppings as well as nibbled corners on official documents.
The article went on to discuss the relative merits of Larry -
Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office and Freya, who is George Osborne's cat. Can you credit the wording '
Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office'!!!
More was to follow - not only are 160 cats to descend on Westminster - without a mention of
Arturo or me - but the word is that :
With troubles at the top, it is perhaps only a matter of time before there will be a new set of whiskers prowling the green benches. Battersea has suggested three possible candidates: Jill, Finn and Bloom.
According to Battersea, three-year-old Jill “hopes to tackle mouse immigration” while four-year-old Finn “would like to promote equal rights for cats and dogs in the long standing debate for equality.” Bloom, the baby of the bunch, is a one-year-old and “has been sharpening her claws on global economic policies ready to show just how it’s done.” It is not clear how their "policies" were ascertained.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/cats-poised-to-descend-on-parliament-to-help-rid-westminster-of-vermin-9090838.html?origin=internalSearch
We trust that
Cameron, Osborne, Hague and Hunt etc etc are forewarned of what might be let loose on them!! They should listen to
'Cat Out of Hell' by Lynne Truss on BBC Radio 4. Chilling! You can't imagine! But as
Tom Cox says of the novel, in
The Guardian Lynne Truss's new novel does nothing to quell the fears of those who believe that all felines are plotting our downfall.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/06/cat-out-of-hell-lynne-truss
Cameron et al - be afraid - be very afraid! You know not what lurks below the stairs! Us felines could easily get our bums on your seats. We might even do a better job than you've been doing!
After so much catty attention, me and my buddy, Arturo, are off to find some 'tuna' and a Persian rug! Why should a kitten have all the fun?
'Bye'
