My family had cats for pretty much my entire childhood so know about the benefits they can be bring, and how individual their personalities are. But until Monkey Cat moved in eight months ago I hadn’t lived with a cat for many years.

Monkey is Chopin’s cat and while he’s been staying with me I’ve been reminded how wonderful and weird cats are. Monkey’s definitely part of our spaceship crew and he has a number of quirks that we all find endearing. This post is in praise of Monkey and what he’s bringing to our crew.

He’s a good cuddler – No one’s told Monkey about social distancing and when he decides to focus his attention on you, you absolutely know about it. With me, he’s quite obsessed with getting as close to my face as possible ¬– it sometimes feels like he’s trying to become part of my head. He has a great deep purr, and at a time when physical contact between people has to be limited, his cuddles are being enjoyed by everyone in the spaceship.

He’s chatty – Monkey’s good at coming and finding us when he wants something, meowing for more food, water or attention. I enjoy hearing Leftwing Idiot talking to him, insisting that he asks for whatever it is he wants – he sometimes complies!

He’s playful – Like lots of cats Monkey gets particularly zoomy at night. His antics keep us all amused and sometimes awake. At a time when laughter is sometimes in short supply, he’s adding lots of joy to lockdown life.

He’s everywhere – We find him in all sorts of odd places. To date these have included: curled up in a nest made of carrier bags, at the back of a cupboard, inside a drawer and balanced precariously on my commode! He also seems to be under the impression that he’s an actual wheelchair user – he loves sleeping in my chair and is consistently reluctant to get out of it even when I need to get in.

For years I’ve ticced ‘I love cats’ and always dismissed this as a tic, claiming that my real feeling towards cats was indifference. But I really can’t claim that any longer, now there’s one cat I do love. Thank you Monkey for being such a good companion.

To all those locked down with cats I hope your feline friends are giving you as much joy as Monkey’s giving us.