THE CAT WHO SAVED MY LIFE
At his lowest ebb, heroin addict James Bowen took in an injured animal. It would turn out to rescue him
AMES has now written seven books about his life with the coolest cat and had an advisory role on the film. Life has never looked more hopeful. “If you were to write a book on how to cope with fame this would be the chapter where one day you are sitting in the rain on a pavement with no prospects whatsoever, and the next you are on the bestseller lists,” says co-writer Garry Jenkins of James’ remarkable experience.
Born in Surrey in 1979, James Bowen had a rootless childhood in Australia. He detested his stepfather and was bullied at school, sniffed glue, and was diagnosed with ADHD and manic depression.
He returned to England in 1997 to live with his half-sister from his father’s previous marriage but her boyfriend did not take kindly to the volatile teenager. Soon he was leading a nomadic existence at various flats and squats around London. When he ran out of floors to sleep on he moved to the streets.
It was a desperate decade in which he was robbed by other users and dealers, and beaten by drunks while sleeping rough.
James admits his life only changed in 2007 when he found a dishevelled cat curled up in the hallway of his sheltered accommodation while he was a participant on a drug rehabilitation programme. Living hand to mouth on the streets the last thing he needed was a pet. Yet something drew James to the strikingly intelligent cat and he spent the last of his savings taking him to the vet to treat an injury to Bob’s leg.
From that day onward the cat would not leave James’ side. Concluding he was a stray, he named him Bob. “After nursing him back to health it seemed he needed me and I felt a bond with him,” says James. “And after that he just didn’t want to leave my side – to the point where he actually jumped on the bus. It gave me the shock of my life that he was devoted to me and that made me start on my own healing.”
Soon the inseparable companions were wowing the crowds in Covent Garden and Piccadilly on a daily basis, as Bob kept his devoted and composed friend on the blanket next to him.
Videos of the appealing Daily Express Tuesday October 18 2016 duo, taken by passers-by, became a phenomenon on YouTube and gradually the bond with Bob helped James to slowly withdraw from the heroin-substitute methadone.
“Bob gave me the determination to knuckle down and get over it. Using drugs is a selfish thing; Bob gave me something else to focus on,” he says.
EVENTUALLY busker and cat caught the interest of literary agent Mary Pachnos, who used to pass them each day outside Angel tube station. She asked her long-term collaborator Garry Jenkins to take “this fascinating man and his cat” out for a coffee and find out more.
It was a memorable encounter that would change all their lives. “We sat outside, due to the presence of the cat, and had tea,” says Jenkins. “But it was as if Bob was assessing me. Other people have used this phrase but there was something ‘zen-like’ about him. A stillness. You can’t help this sort of observation with Bob, he seems to have such human qualities. He is so knowing and observant.”
The resulting account of James rescuing Bob, and in turn being rescued by the cat’s loyalty and trust, was published in 2012 and caught the world’s imagination.
“At one level it is a modern fairy story, about two broken souls in a dangerous and unloving world, who find each other and save each other,” says Jenkins.
But it is also a parable. “James had the choice of spending his last money on an injured animal, or turning his back. In that simple act of kindness he sowed the seeds of his own future.”
Since then, the seven books about James’ life on the streets with the cat have been translated into 30 languages and have sold more than five million copies worldwide. Earlier this year the success of the books bought James his own home in south London.
And of course, he’s got the best room-mate of all – Bob, the ginger tom who made it all possible.
A Street Cat Named Bob goes on general release in UK cinemas on November 4