Richard's Cat

"Cats look down at you and dogs look up to you, but pigs are your equal."
- Sir Winston Churchill

"Will you please put that camera away and get my cat food out?" - William the Cat

William was given to Richard by the Cats Protection League, where he had lived on a local farm for a while. He is the latest in a line of cats, originally acquired to keep the local mice out of the garden, a task which has been completed with varying degrees of success. William replaced Danny and Bagpuss, both of whom were much older when the Cat's Protection League found them. Like William, Danny was a black cat, whose hobbies included racing up trees and annoying the more serene Bagpuss. Bagpuss herself was an imperious tortoiseshell cat whose main hobby was climbing up on the roof, looking through the windows, and observing the humans within in much the same manner as a human might watch fish in an aquarium. Bagpuss made it quite clear why the Egyptians had made Set into a God, although her omniscience was blinkered when it came to noticing the extra titbits given to Danny.

William's favourite hobbies include smuggling himself into the house, or indeed the garage, caravan, or anywhere where he isn't supposed to be. Not long after he came to stay, he went missing for a few days. Then one night he was heard calling, and a search revealed him peering out of the caravan window, which he had sneaked into while my mother had been tidying it. On other occasions, he has been rather less pleased to have his hiding places discovered, such as the time a chair was drawn out from underneath a table, much to the indignation of William, who was under the impression of having found the ideal place to sleep. However, the more typical course of events is for him to fall asleep on the black kitchen carpet only to be trodden on by unsuspecting humans. He has also acquired the habit of leaping into people's laps unnanounced. This can be somewhat disconcerting as the sensation is best described as being struck in the stomach by a furry cannon ball.