The Right Cat Will Find You
As Told By: Aimee Shields
Every pet parent thinks that their fur babies are special but mine really are. I have two Domestic Short Hair moggies. Catface (who is male, 9 years old) and Peanut (female, 7 years old).
My flatmates and I got Catface (as he is now known) in November 2011 when he was 8 weeks old. All three of us were going through a tough time for various reasons and I was grieving the loss of a much loved family friend. We all needed a lift and something to love. All of us were animal lovers and were great friends so we declared we deserved a pet. The day we brought him home, it was decided that we should each have a hand in naming him. He started off as “Iago, the artist formerly known as Chairman Meow” followed by a long list of traditional Jewish names, which I confess I have now forgotten. Both my flatmates were Jewish and we thought it was fair that he should be named in recognition of his faith. Nichola, my actor flatmate and Hayley, my artist friend suggested that he may not want to follow the religion as he grew up but that he might as well be given the chance. The conversation went a little like this
Catface at age 2
Nichola: We don’t know he’s Jewish.
Hayley: We don’t know he’s not.
Thus the cat of a thousand names was baptised.
He now goes by Catface, Cat Cat or The Big One. It’s just easier for him to remember.
Catface sleeping like a person
As well as multi-faith we were also an international family; so it was agreed that Catface would stay long-term with whichever of us stayed in England the longest. I am unbelievably glad it was me.
We adopted Catface when Nichola and I were in third year of Drama School. I first noticed his genius when I came down with a terrible case of tonsilitis and spent two weeks in bed. Both girls were excellent nurses but had to be out during the day and so left our kitten to take care of me. I vomited, hallucinated and generally wished I was dead twenty hours a day but Catface never left my side. He slept on my feet or the pillow next to me, sporadically patting my face to check I was still alive and remind me that he was there.
Eventually the Dream Team broke up, left our little Brixton flat and went our separate ways. Nichola back to Northern Ireland, Hayley to LA. Catface lived with me in West London for a couple of years whilst I auditioned for work and had lots of side gigs to keep the Whiska’s on the table. My then-partner and I moved back up North in Dec 2014 and took Catface with us in our old blue Micra. Though his sister Peanut sat calmly in her carrier, curiosity got the better of Catface somewhere just north of the M25 so he broke out of (and completely destroyed) his carrier so that he could sit on the parcel shelf and surprise the drivers behind us. I like to think he wanted to see the world.
Peanut at 6 weeks old
Peanut, age 2
He loved living in a more rural area, chasing birds and voles, until I went on holiday with my parents. My brother popped in to feed both cats of course, but Catface decided that he deserved a holiday too and promptly went missing for three weeks. His microchip wasn’t scanned by any vets in all that time and he waltzed back through the cat flap just as we were putting up posters; smelling like mothballs and with a particularly shiny coat. I suspect he spent his vacation on the lap of an elderly neighbour, being hand-fed tuna and pieces of ham.
He has since moved with me to Yorkshire where he is top cat in our little street and likes to sit atop my shed annoying next-doors dogs with his very presence.
“The name’s Catface.”
It is an old-wives tale that the right cat will find you; Peanut forced herself on me and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I was working as a Receptionist at Young Vet’s in Ealing (best side-gig ever!) when a litter of tiny kittens was brought in after being abused. Part of my job was to update the Facebook page with pictures of the animals in our care and stories of their progress. In every photograph I took, this tiny tabby was staring directly at me. I noticed she was the smallest of the kittens (about two-thirds of the size of the others) but was by far the loudest and always fought hard for her place in the line when it came to bottle-feeding time. Something in me found a kinship in her; not least because I am also small, loud and pushy. I managed to convince my then-partner and our housemates that we absolutely required a second cat.
proud Peanut
From the second she came home, we knew that her difficult start in life had impacted on her confidence. Catface would gently try to make friends but she would always run away terrified. It wasn’t long however, before they reached an uneasy truce and they became really close until Peanut was spayed. She got really ill, despite being under the care of my friends at Young’s and we learned that she carried a form of Cat Flu and we almost lost her a couple of times. When she finally came home, smelling of the vets, it took a while for them to make friends again.
Peanut: “Draw me like one of your French girls.”
Peanut is wonderful but she is by no means a feline genius. She makes me laugh daily by getting into scrapes; like forgetting how to jump down from the bannister every day, chasing her own tail and falling out of bed. She never quite grew to full size (about 2.75kg now) but she makes her presence absolutely known. She’s the most vocal cat I’ve ever encountered and loves nothing more than stealing your attention when you’re trying to work, shoving her bum in your face and screaming Meeeeoooow at the Zoom call. She is a huge fan of cheese, yoghurt and any kind of cream. Peanut will contort herself into all kinds of yogic positions to steal the leftover dessert from your bowl, even though she knows she isn’t allowed. She’s the purriest, most affectionate ball of fluff you could ever hope to meet.
Peanut being cool
Peanut, age 6
Catface and Peanut get on as well as two such different cats could. They share sleeping places, though they never cuddle, and will happily share treats and snuggles with me.
I lived alone during Lockdown #1 and I found their warm, cosy attentions very comforting. Head-bumps from The Big Cat and snuffly purrs from Peanut kept me sane when human contact was banned. Everyone who meets them loves them and find their unique personalities fascinating. They are the reason that some of the local children think I’m a witch and the inspiration for the name of my theatre company, Hellcat.
I will forever be grateful familiars and I cannot wait to take them on more of life’s adventures with me. Thank you Catface and Peanut.
About Aimee Shields
Aimee Shields is a petite 30 year old actor, director and writer from the North East who graduated from Italia Conti Academy in 2012 with a BA (Hons) in Acting. Now based in Yorkshire, where she work as a facilitator when not performing, she has bases in Sunderland, Manchester and London. She has extensive stage experience with a particular interest in political theatre and Shakespeare. Her background in dance means that she can still move pretty well for her age and many years in choirs and bands have given her a confident Mezzo-Soprano voice. She’s very keen to do more V/O, digital and screen work as well as theatre. Credits include RSC Youth Ensemble, Up Ere Productions, Jorvik Theatre and The Georgian Theatre Royal.
If you’re interested in collaborating on some feminist, working class plays, check out her production company, Hellcat Theatre.
Twitter: @Aimee_J_Shields, @Hellcattheatre
CV: To contact Aimee or hire her, click here for a PDF of her acting CV!
Meowtastic!
We at Lucky Pineapple Films love cats. We love them so much, we have our own cat themed store, The Cattiest Cat Shop. To celebrate our love of cats, we invited people to share their own cat stories. When we moved the website over to a new shop, we didn’t want to lose them. Voila! Here the amazing cat stories are forever preserved on the Lucky Pineapple Films website.
