My cat, Boy (formerly Laurel), has been with us since he came to us in the spring of 2013. Our last cat Levi had passed a couple of months prior. We still had cat food and her hutch set up. Mum was putting out the washing and this tiny and clearly hungry cat started shouting at her. She fed him and he kept coming back. It was clear he either didn't have a home or wasn't being looked after properly. We assumed he was lost and so took him to the vet. His chip had a name and address and so we took him to his home. He had another brother, Hardy, who was also not being fed properly. Even though we took him home (which was a 10 minute walk from our house) a few days later he came back in no better shape. We kept feeding him and when it was time for us to move house in the July of that year we took him with us! I don't condone stealing cats but...
We had his chip changed and he's loved our new house ever since we moved. His name is Boy because when we met him we didn't know if he had a name. After it became clear he would be ours I wanted to rename him but nothing stuck. Of course we have other nicknames for him, which I use more often, such as baby/babbin/bee-bop/bee-bop-a-loo-la/flopsy bunny... My fave is Babbin (Babin?) as I think it's fun to say and one can say it in many different tones. He's an incredibly sociable cat in the sense that he shouts a lot and always wants to be around people. But that doesn't mean he wants to be petted all the time. He often just likes to sit on Mum's desk whilst she works, lie on my bed whilst I'm in my room, or curl up on Dad's lap whilst he's watching the Tele. He's fussy and very particular about food and the type of pets he gets — under his chin is his favourite! In the morning, after he's eaten some of his breakfast, he'll thunder upstairs and sit outside my bedroom and shout until someone opens the door for him. If it's my Dad then Boy will jump onto my bed and find the most comfortable position to nap in (usually on my legs or back). Although it can be annoying, I'd be lying if I said I didn't love waking up to his jet-engine-level purring.
He and I are of course very close. As you can see in this photo he sometimes grooms me. He'll get on the table and stand up on his back legs, getting his front paws situated on my head. He'll dig his claws in and pull my head forward so that with his teeth he can grab a chunk of hair and pull on it. It's kinda painful but I try to be appreciative of the gesture. He does it once in a blue moon, but I find he does it most when my hair's wet. I'd love to know what he'd thinking when he's doing this. Does he see my as his brother, like I call him? Am I like a pet or other cat he is grooming? And why only sometimes? Maybe only when my hair is in a particularly awful style... He's a menace. He once brought in a live young magpie and we had to take it to the vet after is made a mess of our kitchen. I think when I have my own cat I'll keep it indoors. Thankfully Boy's now at an age (12ish years old) where he doesn't bring things in as much. No more mouse brains in the back living room... He's much more content to lounge and pester us.
I love him very much. I sometimes wish I was able to pick him up and cuddle him — he doesn't like getting picked up or having his space crowded due to a lack of physical handling as a kitten — but I'm happy to just sit with him and fuss him when he wants it. I like when my parents go away so that we have the house to ourselves. He pesters me a lot more then, particularly because I'm more strict with his meal times than my parents are. It's nice to have someone to share the space with. Spending mornings with him is my favourite time of all.
I feel grateful to have watched him grow. He chirps and talks and shouts in new ways than he did a few years ago. He's disregards table manners since we got our kitchen redecorated. He also now has bald front inner legs due to over grooming. We're not sure why he's doing it as he's not in any discernable pain and he doesn't seem anxious. I think it's either because of the injury he got that might have spooked him or a change to the household's routine. Now I'm away at uni for a lot of the year and my parents take the opportunity to go on holiday when they can. I worry he thinks we're leaving him for good when we go. But as I say, he still shouts and purrs like there's no tomorrow and always has. As long as he's happy, we are. I love you Boy.
written: 10/JUN/25.