Twitter was very eager to remind me when I woke up that today is International Cat Day. Originally started by the International Fund for Animal Welfare in 2002, the date is celebrated annually on 8th August. It's the perfect excuse, if ever the Internet needed one, to post up photos of their adorable and occasionally vicious, feline friends. (And yes, this article will have an Alan Wake connection!)
With that theme, buckle up, I'm going to tell you about my cats. I know, so unlike me!
I've mentioned about a cat being around during the first few years of running the site. That was Tabbs, a beautiful tuxedo cat who would panic when she accidentally caught someone with her claws, but was also killing most of the wildlife in London. When I was a kid, I was terrified of pets. I'm still rather intimidated by dogs, but I stopped being scared of cats once she became a regular visitor and destroyer of our entire supply of ham for twelve years. She was also the first friend I ever made, so no pressure or anything, Tabbs!
I'm using past tense here, and there's a bittersweet story about that. Tabbs is still alive and living by the seaside, and probably wiping out a decent amount of the seagull population. While she lived in my area, she was co-owned and adventurous, and was well known by my neighbours. Her other owner was elderly and sadly passed away after a sudden illness a few summers ago. There were a lot of offers to take Tabbs in, but the family wanted to keep her, understandably, close. Of course I do still miss her, even now.
Tabbs was mentioned in a bunch of early articles on this site including Top 5 Scariest Remedy Moments, Alan Wake Cupcakes, and Pumpkin Carving on Halloween.
A few months after Tabbs had retired to the coast, another cat had started to turn up at our doorstep enquiring about a vacancy. Sometimes when we left the window open, she would stroll in and fall asleep on someone's lap without the slightest bit of concern. We tried to find out where she actually lived, as she definitely lived somewhere, then she suddenly got ill. She slept in overnight and very early the following day she wanted to urgently leave. We couldn't keep her locked inside against her will and away from family, but we continued our search for them after she left.
She disappeared. After a few weeks my family had come to terms with the possibility that something bad had happened. Then six months later, she turned up on our doorstep again. She was thinner, her fur heavily matted from a mix of her old winter coat from the previous year and new winter coat coming through, and she had some grey hairs, but she was definitely the same cat. She also didn't have an owner anymore, or one that we could track; possibly because she had also developed a violent streak during panic attacks. But she was the still lovable lap cat that she ever was.
January of this year, she got her official name, Mr Scratch, and she's doing a lot better now. She has a cat carrier in case of any emergencies, a cat tree, a bed, blankets, an outdoor shelter, half a year supply of Whiskas and plenty of cat treats and toys. Her last panic attack was last year and she has very strong views on fish. As her name is Alan Wake-inspired, you can sometimes follow her antics on the site's Instagram. She's like the Tommy Wiseau of the cat world.
