Welcome to the May 2026 Whisker List. Your cat updates are below:

BEL (15, CALICO)

Bel, Grand Duchess of Coburg has faced many trials in the last month. In an attempt to establish stronger diplomatic ties in Scotland, she has dispatched one of her two live-in humans to Glasgow for three weeks, leaving her to subsist on half the amount of love and attention to which she has become accustomed, as well as wide open to potential assassination attempts by local birds. Despite this hardship she has shown her characteristic steely resolve, limiting her balcony visits to six per day, and only needing her electric blanket turned on sometimes. Such is the formidable will of the Duchess Bel.

It is expected that upon returning her chosen ambassador will bring her many treasures from the Scottish realm in the form of scents on their clothes and hands. Not to mention a strengthened alliance, and an understanding that should Scotland ever wish to claim independence from the UK, Bel will stand proudly atop Hadrian’s Wall to personally hold the English back*.

*Note that while Hadrian’s Wall is not the border of Scotland, Bel is confident that she can push the English that far south with her fierce teeth and claws.

BONES (6, GREY TABBY)

Not content with simply learning to jump on our laps on command, he is now training us to have a lap available to him. When demanding attention, he now stands with one paw on your thigh, and will give a short, sharp meow until you offer him a seat. Has doubled in size and fluff since the weather dropped.

BRIAN (15, BLACK CAT)

Due to a whitetail spider bite he has a goopy abscess. He continues to goop five weeks on.  He's still very affectionate and wants to sit on laps.  He is allowed to if we put a towel down.

CHANTICLEER (7, FLUFFY TUXEDO)

Last week he went to the vet for the first time since he was desexed in 2019. I thought he seemed like he was getting a bit thin. The vet said he is the perfect weight and took a blood sample. She shaved his next to get the blood, so we’re calling him Mr.Neckshavey.

CHARLIE (5, WHITE WITH ORANGE BITS)

Charlie has been producing an excess of fluff which is forming many tumbleweeds around the house. He is enjoying wool blanket season.

CHRISTMAS (10, WHITE CAT)

New to this year, Christmas has become humpy when making biscuits. Despite this we still love him.  We just wish he'd quit it.

FREDDIE BEAR & COSMO (10, BLACK MANX & 10, GINGER CAT)

Purely indoor cats, they watch a bit of cat tv (birds) through the window, only dreaming they could take out the cockatoos and king parrots. They are extremely cuddly and love sleeping by the fireplace.

GARFUNKEL & PASCAL (11, DOMESTIC MEDIUM SHORT HAIR & 5, BENGAL)

I have recently moved in with my partner, which means our cats Garfunkel and Pascal have recently moved in with one another too. Both cats have intense personalities and have spent their whole lives so far as only pet-children, so we didn't know how introducing them would go.

Thanks to Jackson Galaxy's great videos, after a rocky start, the introduction has been a success! These boys aren't quite besties yet – they will often chase each other around and play fight – but there are moments of peace, like this one, amongst the chaos. What siblings don't bicker sometimes?

GATSBY (13, CAT)

We are going to miss him this week while we are in Sydney visiting family, so he will be looked after by friends. The onslaught of winter has made him transform into his winter orb shape and become a lover of laps again.

He is a connoisseur of side hip laps or on bag or on knee. We will miss his soft tummy and his tiny hands and his teeth. He has such a soft tummy and two visible pink nipples on his paunch. His legs are very long. I have put him in Tomodachi life as our child, Ive has him as a pet image that squeals.

JIMMY (7, BROWN TABBY)

Despite issues earlier in the year, he is now pissing normally. He's also meowing more than ever, he loves to yell. His meow is cute (ed.: a single, pure note), so no complaints from us.

JONESY (11, GINGER PRINCE)

Jonesy committed his first human-food based crime in almost 10 years when he licked and bit into assorted pieces of takoyaki while Simon’s back was turned. Prior to this he has only ever nicked one other piece of food off a dinner plate (roast chicken, 2016).

He is also doing a new thing where he gets in my face first thing in the morning and makes sloppy chewing sounds in my ear until I get out of bed in a huff and feed him. Highly effective.

MAGNUS (15, STANDARD CAT - ORANGE)

Magnus has been slowing down since the removal of a sarcoma two years ago. He spends his time sleeping and eating.

He feels the cold a lot more than he used to and is always on the lookout for a warm lap or a spot under a blanket where he entrenches himself surprisingly effectively given his light weight.

MIWA & FRANKIE (3, CALICO & 9, PETITE LONGHAIR TORTISHELL)

Miwa & Frankie are currently loving the cooler weather and cosiness of blankets, laps, and lounging in the autumn sun.

Miwa is also a year round die-hard water baby (Frankie does not share this passion). Recently, Miwa spotted that her cat mum had been overwatering all indoor pot plants and on discovering mud, engaged in some messy play, subsequently leaving some cute little muddy paw prints throughout the house.

Frankie has gone off her chicken pate Fancy Feast after requesting a bulk order. She’s discovered that variety is more rewarding.

PERCY (2, TONKINESE)

Percy is feeling a bit disillusioned after finding out recently his favourite cat actor Orangey, who appeared in films such as; Rhubarb, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Diary of Anne Frank, and The Incredible Shrinking Man, was actually multiple cats. (ed.: see this exposé of Orangey)

He’s been asking for a second helping of biscuits after dinner every night lately. I thought he was just eating his feelings, but he assured me he’s just trying to add extra padding for the winter.

PHOENIX (11, MEDIUM GINGER, POSSIBLY A SPRINKLE OF MAINE COON - HE IS A BIG BOI)

Flight path: Phoenix has had an eventful fortnight. My sidekick went bravely to the vet to get his teeth cleaned last week. He went well under sedation and the nurse declared him the vet’s “favourite man of the day”. I brought him home to rest, and although I was warned he wouldn’t be hungry, he waited patiently in the kitchen for his dinner - a good sign of the procedure’s success.

In other news, Phoenix was presented with a juicy cut of roast chicken last Thursday. I had roasted butter under the skin and Phoenix found this method very much to his liking. Enjoy, my best boy. Your human loves you so much!

This has been the May edition of Whisker List, a monthly-ish email newsletter update about the wellbeing, adventures and dispositions of various cats.

Share your cat update in the next newsletter? Reply to this email by: Saturday 13 June 2026 🐈

“I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul. A kind of active silence emanates from these few furry creatures, seemingly deaf to commands, calls, and reproaches.”

_{- Jean Cocteau quoted by Stéphane Garnier in Acting and Thinking Like a Cat.- Paris: Ed. de l'Opportun, 11/2011, p. 105)}