Mister Patch

This is my response to Bethanne's Sunday cat challenge, and took me more time and effort than all of the photographs of birds and insects that I've produced!

When I told my sons about the challenge they said I should do a portrait of Mister Patch, as all our other three cats have already appeared in my journal. Mister Patch is entering his dotage, being at least sixteen years old. He arrived not long after we moved here, a young adult male who was clearly not happy with his previous home.

We never knew where he came from but it wasn't long before he moved in and become a much loved companion to the boys. He soon found my Mum, who lived with us, and towards the end of her life would spend hours curled up on her lap, purring. We wondered how he would cope after her death, but in the way of cats, he adapted. He now spends much of his time curled up in various boys' bedrooms, but won't come into ours because of the dogs, with whom he has a slightly uneasy truce.

He's not an easy cat to photograph. He won't lookat the camera and doesn't do very much. His life now revolves around food and sleep, and he only goes outside for personal reasons. He was very handsome when he was younger, but now he's stiff , his front legs are slightly bowed and his fur is a bit worse for wear. He has to be lifted onto the table for his food, and occasionally seems to forget what he was about to do, and yowls for no reason.

This is a very characteristic portrait. He's lying on the kitchen table with his back to the light (however much I coaxed him he wouldn't turn round) staring disapprovingly at Gemma the dog, who had her nose in the cat biscuit container. I don't know how much longer he'll be with us, but at least we now have a reasonable portrait of of our loving, idiosyncratic Mister Patch. Thank you, Bethanne.