We meet four cat owners who go the extra mile to make their cats truly part of Christmas...
There’s nothing like Christmas dinner, where all the family get around the table, pull crackers, and then tuck into turkey and all the trimmings. And for one family there’s a very pet-icular guest who likes nothing better than sitting at his own place: Ozzy the cat.
As well as getting his own delicious dinner at the table, the handsome British Shorthair is given his own presents to unwrap and has a special cat-friendly Christmas cracker!
“He’s a very spoiled cat all year round,” said owner Rachel Smith, from Preston. “So why would Christmas be any different? Whenever we have a roast dinner, he would be pestering us for some, so for Christmas we decided to include him properly. He loves the meat but isn’t too fussed about the sprouts — like a lot of us!”
The Smiths open their presents on Christmas morning and under the tree there will always be something for Ozzy — a packet of his favourite treats. Rachel, a journalist, said: “We wrap the Dreamies up, and as soon as we give them to him, he runs away and gets to work busting through the paper. We have to take them off him then, before he eats the lot!”
The six-year-old will then sit at his beautifully-set place alongside his “human brothers” — Will, 20, and Jim, 16, — and Rachel’s mum, Maureen.
“He’s always really interested in his cracker; they are specially made for cats, they don’t bang and they usually have a couple of toys like a ball and a catnip mouse inside — and he will give the toys a good inspection while we are serving up dinner.”
This year, the family will be dishing up roast chicken on Christmas Day and Ozzy will be having his portion. Then the furry feline sits quietly at his seat, lapping up his meal and then later joins the family in front of the TV for a good Christmas nap.
“Ozzy is part of our family and we love making a fuss of him,” said Rachel, 45. “He’s a very sweet natured boy and a great fan of Christmas – especially the dinner!”
Saving precious lives
Spare a thought on Christmas Day for those who work with animals. While everyone else is enjoying the festivities, they are at work giving their all, as they do every other day of the year.
“Cats don't know it is Christmas so they get the same emergencies as they normally would,” explained PDSA vet Olivia Anderson-Nathan. “I've treated everything from cat bite abscesses and injuries caused by falling, to severe stomach infections, heart disease, and kidney failure, all on Christmas Day.”
The 31-year-old said that the 25 December was as unpredictable as any other day of the year at the charity's pet hospital on Shamrock Street, Glasgow. The vets tend to defer things that aren't potentially life-threatening emergencies until after the holiday, so they can prioritise pets who really need their care. Olivia said: "We have staff who care for and treat pets staying at the hospital on Christmas Day, the same as we would on any bank holiday or at the weekend. Our out-of-hours service means pets who need emergency care can be treated whenever they need it, 24/7, 365 days a year.
“Of course, we only keep in pets who need to be with us for treatment or monitoring that can't be done at home. We'd much rather return them to their families for Christmas if we can!”
Olivia’s colleagues take it in turns to work 25 December so that no-one is covering it every year, and they make things festive with a Secret Santa for staff, Christmas tunes, and decorating the non-clinical parts of the building, including putting up a tree.
A typical Christmas shift for Olivia would involve getting up early, leaving her wife to have a lie-in, and starting work at 9am before seeing pets throughout the day until 6pm. She said the hospital sees cats during the festive period turning up with seasonal problems: “We've had to remove tinsel that was blocking a cat's gastrointestinal tract, and I have treated cats who have torn into a massive roast dinner, complete with all the trimmings, and suffered from allium poisoning, because onions, garlic, and leeks are all toxic to them.”
Another issue over the holidays is the change in routine, perhaps with guests coming and going, which can lead to some cats developing feline cystitis through stress. “This causes pain while peeing and, particularly for male cats, can be life-threatening if they progress to being unable to pee at all,” said Olivia. “It's not uncommon to see a few cases of this difficult condition over the Christmas period. Often cats with blocked bladders will have to stay at the hospital for a few days.”
Sadly for Olivia, bad news doesn’t stop at Christmas and she has had to break upsetting news to owners. “It’s never easy, especially at Christmas. For many people, losing a pet or getting a terminal diagnosis for their four-legged friend at Christmas may be particularly heart-breaking.
“Whatever the time of year, I always have resources on hand, such as Blue Cross’s bereavement line, to signpost owners to, so that they have someone to talk to in times of need.”
In from the cold
Since 2018 Rachel and her partner, Lee Miles, have fostered about 30 cats and kittens for the Worcester and Mid Worcestershire Branch of the RSPCA. Coming up to Christmas this year she is looking after six abandoned kittens, as well as her own cats.
The accounts manager, from Bishampton in Worcestershire, said: “It’s nice to know that the rescue cats are in a home for Christmas and they are warm, well-fed and loved, and that they are not out in the cold, trying to fend for themselves.”
There won’t be any sitting around the table for Christmas Day dinner though, as the couple have turned their dining room into a special cat sanctuary for their foster cats. It’s packed full of comfy cat beds, toys of all shapes and sizes, a couple of cat trees with a view outside. The table itself is covered with a blanket to make a quiet den for when pregnant cats come to stay and are looking for somewhere to give birth.
“We will be having our Christmas lunch on trays as usual, and we will make sure that the cats don’t miss out on a special dinner,” said Rachel, 51. “In fact, every Sunday I get something nice for our cats — they might have a couple of little bits from our joint or some fish — and the foster cats love that too. Usually for Christmas it’s chicken as a treat, and the cats and kittens all lick their lips afterwards!”
The couple’s latest foster guests are very young kittens. Aged only five weeks, they were being given away locally on Facebook when they were rescued by one of Rachel's colleagues before coming to her. They were quite poorly, all of them very underweight and suffering from the painful eye condition conjunctivitis and riddled with ear mites.
“It looked like there were two litters of kittens that someone didn’t want,” said Rachel. “After they had been treated by the vet, they came to live with us and we have been feeding them up with special milk replacement and then getting them on to solids as well. In the run-up to Christmas, it’s been a joy having them in the house, running around exploring everything, and I have even caught Lee asleep on the sofa with all of them having a snooze on top of him!”
Now fit and healthy, the cuddly kittens — named Bea, Suki, Sammy, Mopsy, Molly, and Bumble — will be going to new homes when they’re old enough.
Last year, Rachel and Lee fostered an abandoned cat called Poppy over Christmas. “It was lovely that she was with us over the festive season and we could show her some love. She had had a tough start in life, probably having numerous litters of kittens and she was very wary of people,” said Rachel. “So very gradually we gained her trust. I always sleep in the cat room, at least once a week, so the cats can get used to being around people, and I think this is one of the things that helped her. She will spend this Christmas in a lovely new home and although she’s never going to be a lap cat, her new owner loves her and Poppy is really happy.”
Sadly, cats and kittens like Poppy are abandoned every day, including Christmas Day, and the RSPCA is bracing for a huge rise over this winter.
“Fostering cats is such a joy, all year round, but I think it really makes a difference at Christmas over the winter,” said Rachel. “Many rescue centres are full, and I think having cats and kittens in a home environment helps them to settle and to feel loved, which really is what the spirit of Christmas is all about.”
Rachel added: “Doing fostering is rewarding as you get to see cats and kittens thrive and then see them through to their next life. Seeing their photos with their new owners makes all the hard work worthwhile.”
Making Christmas better
Cats are brilliant at helping their owners through hard times — and that includes a Christmas disrupted by the dreaded Covid virus!
After a long year overshadowed by the pandemic, Abi and Andrew Giles were really looking forward to spending Christmas Day with their family in St Albans, Herts. The ongoing virus had meant that despite living nearby they had hardly seen each other.
Their cats, Poppy and Oliver, had helped see them through lockdowns and working from home — and then through a Covid Christmas! The black and white duo always put a smile on their faces, and kept them company when everyone was told to stay at home.
“The cats have been brilliant during the pandemic,” said teacher Abi. “Like a lot of people, I was really anxious about spreading the virus so we kept ourselves to ourselves, and Poppy and Oliver were little furry beacons of light in a difficult time.”
As the year went by and Covid restrictions eased, with friends and family getting vaccinated, the couple were really looking forward to sharing Christmas Day and Boxing Day with both their sets of parents. But then in mid-December Abi was struck down with a mild dose of the illness.
The 41-year-old said: “To try to stop each other getting Covid before Christmas we were in separate bedrooms, using the kitchen and bathroom at different times, and then eating with a 2m distance between us — and we split the cats up so that we both had one each to stroke. I had Poppy and Andrew had Oliver.”
But Andrew, a driving instructor, then got the virus and on Christmas Eve was testing positive – so their festive plans were scuppered.
“I think the cats actually really enjoyed our Covid Christmas,” said Abi. “They were happy to have us both at home, to have the leftovers, plus there was no rushing around or people and dogs coming and going, we had the heating on and were nice and cosy, and we both relaxed with them.”
Poppy, a rescue cat from Cats Protection Luton, is not generally a cuddly cat, but she has helped Abi get on top of her Covid anxiety, even sitting in with Abi on online counselling sessions: “She sat on my lap, which is really unusual for her, and after my first session, she gave me a little headbutt of encouragement.”
Now Abi and Andrew are planning a big family Christmas for this year — and special treats for Poppy and Oliver. Abi added: “Father Catmas will definitely visit them this year and bring them something nice – they deserve it.”