Six cats who inspired some of the greatest writers

So many pampered pets have achieved fame in today’s world of social media that it is difficult to imagine a time when the antics of cats went largely unrecorded. Fortunately, creative types have long seemed to enjoy their company and some past literary greats were only too happy to put pen to paper in celebration of their favourite felines.

Statue of Hodge outside Dr Johnson's House in London © Elliott Brown/Wikipedia/CC BY 2.0 

The 18th-century literary figure, Dr Samuel Johnson, is best remembered today for compiling the first modern English Dictionary. The entry for cats is hardly flattering: “A domestick (sic) animal that catches mice, commonly reckoned by naturalists the lowest order of the leonine species.” 

Yet, Johnson is known to have been devoted to his own pets, particularly Hodge, whom he once famously described as “a very fine cat indeed”. Hodge is now immortalised in a bronze statute outside Dr Johnson’s House in London. 

Most of what we know about Hodge comes from an account by Johnson’s friend and biographer, James Boswell. As a non-cat lover, Boswell was astonished to discover that his friend enjoyed cuddles with his furry companion and liked to treat him to oysters. 

Bronte Parsonage © DeFacto/Wikipedia/CC BY-SA 4.0

During their childhood at Haworth Parsonage, the three famous 19th-century novelists enjoyed the company of several pets, but a black cat, named Tom, appears to have been a particular favourite. Family friend, Ellen Nussey, wrote that Tom was treated so well he “seemed to have lost cat’s nature, and subsided into luxurious amiability and contentment”. 

Charlotte Bronte later included a description of a similarly pampered pet in Jane Eyre, whilst sister Emily, when living abroad, wrote an essay in French in praise of cats entitled Le Chat. The title character of Anne Bronte’s first novel, Agnes Grey, decides her future husband is the man for her when he rescues a cat from an evildoer.

Edgar Allan Poe’s story, The Black Cat, is so graphic in its depiction of animal cruelty that, even though the unfortunate feline has its revenge in the end, it is difficult to imagine its author as an animal lover.

Yet, in real life the US gothic horror writer adored cats, particularly a tortoiseshell named Catterina. The bond between Poe and his favourite tortie was immortalised in a sketch by illustrator, Charles Mills Bond, who pictures Catterina sitting on the famous author’s shoulder and watching intently as he writes. The two were so obviously devoted to each other that, in 1849, they are alleged to have passed away at the exact same moment even though they were many miles apart. 

1871 Illustration from Edward Lear's "The Owl and the Pussycat" © Public Domain

Lear is famous for making the limerick fashionable during the Victorian era and for his nonsense poems such as "The Owl and the Pussycat". Away from the public eye, though, he increasingly became a solitary figure who suffered from periods of severe depression.  

It is little wonder, then, that he formed such a close attachment to his beloved tabby cat, Foss, who was his faithful companion during his later years. Foss made frequent appearances in the poet’s writing and humorous sketches. Usually depicted as overweight with only half a tail, his appearance may best be described as “characterful”, but Foss was certainly well-loved.

When Lear decided to move house, he arranged for the new property to be built with an identical floor plan to his previous home so that his cat would not be too disturbed by the move. 

“If man could be crossed with a cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat,” renowned feline admirer, Twain, once wrote. Cats make cameo appearances in some of the US humorist and novelist’s best-known works such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. 

Twain’s favourite cat was Bambino. He taught his pet to switch off the lamp at night and took great delight in having Bambino show off this party trick when visitors came to the house.

When Bambino went missing, Twain took out a newspaper advertisement offering a reward for his return, describing him as “large and intensely black; thick, velvety fur; has a faint fringe of white hair across his chest; not easy to find in ordinary light.” Happily, his beloved pet eventually returned home of his own accord.

Ernest Hemingway with Boise © Public Domain

Hemingway once famously remarked that “one cat just leads to another.” The US writer was particularly drawn to polydactyl cats (which are born with six, rather than five, toes) and his former residence in Key West, Florida, is still home to a colony of their descendants today.   

In the early 1940s, Hemingway moved to Cuba, where he lived at Finca Vigia. Named after a US navy cruiser, Boise was one of the first of many cats to take up residence there and became the author’s constant companion. Hemingway later featured a cat of the same name in his novel, Islands in the Stream, which shared many of his real-life counterpart’s characteristics including a fondness for hunting fruit rats. 

Read more: Four ways to tell if your cat loves you

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