‘Enry Cooper came next

I’ve told you about the first three animals we got – Winston the stray kitten, Churchill the Doberman Pinscher who turned out to be a German Pinscher and Ella Fitzgerald the Spaniel that turned into a German Shepherd cross.

We had a bit of calm after that but six months later I returned from one of my regular trips to London and found a kitten living in the kitchen!

The other half said that the kitten had appeared on the back door step. He opened the door (the other half that is, not the kitten) and it ran in the house and refused to leave! He was very small, very dirty and very hungry and climbed all over us – up our legs and onto our shoulders and was very very affectionate and pretty and he had and still has the longest hair I’ve ever seen on a cat. We decided to call him ‘Enry Cooper, because he was a little fighter and the other half likes ‘Enry Cooper.

‘Enry has turned into a bit of a rascal. He chases the chickens all round the garden, corners them and then panics when they peck at him. He lies on the terrace just out of reach of the dogs in their pen and teases them into a frenzy, writhing on his back or running at the fence and poking his paw through and then running away again. He loves to sit in things, bowls, boxes, baskets and bags – anything with sides and a bottom and that’s where you’ll find ‘Enry. This is quite cute at times but it does mean that you have to keep an eye on him – I can’t leave my Mulberry handbags out any more as he really really likes to sleep in them and he chews the handles!

He is also the most affectionate cat ever. When I pick him up he dribbles with delight, literally. I’m not sure if this is sweet or disgusting – I think the latter actually.

He loves the dogs and lies with them at night on their cushions in front of the fire and they lick and clean him. They cuddle up together quite happily and if there’s any discord, ‘Enry is always the winner. If its cat on cat though,Winston still rules and he gets the pick of the beds!