The first time he ventured out of the garden Hector was killed instantly by a car. We were heartbroken. He was such a character and the way the two kittens interacted was a joy.  When we had brought Hector’s body back into the garden, we laid him down on the lawn and Percy spent a considerable amount of time attending to his brother’s lifeless body. What sort of ritual was this? What sort of trauma was Percy experiencing? It is difficult not to attribute human-like feelings to an animal at times like that. Whatever the truth, Percy’s world had changed – and to a lesser extent so had ours. We were now his only family. As she recovered from surgery, Fiona had time to lavish care, attention and love on Percy. Consequently, Percy is very relaxed around people. As one distinguished visitor (Craig!) commented: you can tell Percy has only ever experienced love. I think that’s probably right!

Percy became a constant presence in our lives through the pandemic – growing more confident, and more affectionate by the day. He also found his voice! Like his brother Hector, Percy is now well able to demand attention and affection. Of course, sometimes he just wants some food or a drink. And sometimes he wants to play. When I reflect on this friendship with Percy it raises some interesting questions: to what extent do cats experience emotions? Why does Percy want to be with us? Why does Percy seem to want affection? Why does he want to play? And then there are the more mysterious sensibilities that Percy and other cats and animals seem to possess like knowing when death is near, or a person is about to have an epileptic seizure. The older I get, the more I find myself being thankful to God for the comfort and friendship of pets like Percy. “O, brave new world that has such cats in ’t!”