Loving Feline

I'm a 57-year-old freelance sports journalist, so am fairly flexible about where I can work.

We've had cats all my life - from Louis and Ella (dad was a big jazz fan, so they were named after Armstrong and Fitzgerald respectively) at home as a kid, to the two furballs we've had in our own family, Syd and Nancy.

They came together as rescue cats from Hounslow in 2009. Sadly, they were separated a few weeks ago when Syd told us she couldn't carry on, which was a horrible day. I had to phone the kids - now adults - with the awful news, which reduced us all to tears instantly. Nancy, however, is still going strong. She's 17, nearly 18 now. So plenty of experience of cats at all ages and stages.

Cats are like a window on the soul - yours and theirs. The relationships you can have with them constantly amaze me, their ability to 'tell the time' to the minute in terms of food (or the expectation of it), the way they know exactly where to sit to get your undivided attention, or on occasion, the absolute raging sulk because you've not done your 'job' as far as they're concerned. Fascinating creatures that can teach you plenty about yourself as well. I've never not stopped on the street to make friends with a cat.