Guest Writer's Cat Of The Week: Mr Pussy, owner Of Spitalfield's Life's The Gentle Author

Name? 

Mr Pussy

Nicknames? 

They call me 'Rosemary' as a tease sometimes -  it is the name my first owner gave me as a kitten when she thought I was girl. Hence the gender confusion.

Theme Tune? 

Maybe it's Because I'm a Londoner...

Age? 

Twelve

Owners? 

My first owner was a kind old lady called Valerie who loved gardening, and since her demise I live with the next generation.

Brief biography? 

Born in Mile End, then five years in Devon catching rabbits and moorhens, but now back in the East End for good.

Catchphrase? 

In the midst of life I woke to find myself living in an old house beside Brick Lane in the East End of London

Favourite Habits? 

Perching on a window sill and looking down imperiously. Licking up fresh running water in the sink. Sitting in patches of sunlight.

What constitutes a perfect evening for you? 

Stretched out before the wood-burning stove in an insensible stupor of warmth.

Favourite food? 

I am partial to licking chicken liver pate off a finger.

Defining moment of your life?

The death of my mistress Valerie seven years ago. I search for her everyday and still live by the routine that I established with her. I have not given up hope she might come back. Like Hamlet, I wear my black coat in eternal mourning.

Any enemies? 

A Staffordshire Terrier by the name of Trigger that lives nearby.

If you could do one thing to make the world a better place for felines what would it be?

Tell everyone to sit still.

If you could meet a celebrity who would it be and why? 

William Shakespeare, because we share an instinctive appreciation of the lonely poetry of the night.

Which one of the cats in Under The Paw, Talk To The Tail and The Good, The Bad And The Furry  would you like to be stuck in a lift with? 

Unquestionably it would be the Bear. I recognise a soulmate there, as one who instinctively understands the melancholy poetry of life.

The Gentle Author's London Album, a magnificent hardback album of more than 600 pictures of London appearing in print for the first time, is published on 17th October