‘My cat knows that he rules the household’
For years she was too busy for a pet. Now children’s author Dame Jacqueline Wilson loves her cat.
‘When I rescued him he was called Graham – a strange name for a kitten’ Jacob was a very frightened, timid kitten when I got him from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home seven years ago. He shrank from everybody, hid under my bed and would suddenly get a wild look in his eyes and run around the house looking terrified. I am so thrilled he has become this stately, glorious and relaxed cat. He knows that he rules the household.
He is my first cat. I have become a cat owner quite late in life. When I was a child, we lived in flats where you weren’t allowed them. For one reason or another, I either lived in the wrong sort of place or I was leading such a busy life going out all the time or staying away for days on a book tour. When I got to this stage in life, I thought, yes, I can have a cat now. As soon as I set eyes on Jacob, I knew he was the one.
At the time he was called Graham, which I thought was a strange name for a lovely little kitten. I’m a Virginia Woolf fan, and I like her novel Jacob’s Room, so I named him after that. It is the perfect name for him. He is a typical English moggy, with wonderful fur. Many have asked if I polish him because he is so sleek, shiny and fluffy! You can sink your head into his back and it’s just glorious. If I am hunched up over my computer, Jacob is not interested in the slightest. He looks up lazily, thinks, ‘she will be busy for a while’ and curls up on the bed.
Before I got him, I was told that a cat would relax me. But actually, I suffer more from anxiety now. Jacob is cat of routine, and if he is an hour late coming home, I start to flap and wonder if he has got stuck somewhere. He once went missing for two days when he was little and got himself locked into our neighbour’s garage. The enormous relief when he does come back is just wonderful.
I would suggest to anyone who wants a cat that you get an extra thrill if you take in some little unwanted creature. It takes a bit more time to get them reassured and bonded with you, but makes the relationship more intense.