April Pet of the Month – Winston the Cat

Winston is a 9 year old  British Shorthair/British Blue cat. He’s called Winston after Churchill on account of his round face. He has orange owl-like eyes and his fur is incredibly dense and soft.

We’ve had him since he was a kitten, he’s a real character and totally rules our house. We have since read that the breed aren’t lap cats and generally don’t like being picked up. This couldn’t be further from the truth with Winston – he loves sitting on us, laying on us and being carried around the house like a little (or not so little) lord.

When not being carried his favourite things include lying on his back, stomach exposed and legs akimbo sunning himself, sitting on the fence grumbling at our neighbour’s lovely one-eyed cat Nelson, watching but never chasing birds, pushing things off of shelves, eating our houseplants (particularly when he wants to get us out of bed first thing in the morning), sleeping, biting our hands when we’re typing, playing with his fishing rod toy, cuddles, and eating.

If he could speak he would probably just say it was eating. He is an amazing communicator and has learnt to pat the wall next to where we keep his favourite toy to get us to play with him, or pat us and then pat his dry food container if he thinks we haven’t fed him enough!

He has a fairly short tail and as a result, is quite clumsy and lacks agility; it took him about 4 years of living in our current house and many failed attempts to realise he could jump on top of the not very high fence.

Winston is incredibly affectionate and a huge part of our household. We can’t imagine life without our very own Cheshire Cat.

If you would like to feature your own pet as our Pet of the Month, please e-mail media@rspcasouthlondon.org.uk

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