The Nine Reasons Why Writers Have Cats

Ever noticed that writers tend to have… lots of cats? Like not just one or two, but sometimes three or four? I could never quite figure out the obsession, until I adopted a few of my own (yes, I just said the word ‘few’, and yes, I may have more than one cat).

1) You will never again be alone, ever

cat back.gif

2) They are excellent paper shredders… and you will cheer them on even when it’s the sole copy of your manuscript. You are eating that paper so well my little darling munchkin poo

cta eating paper

3) Kittens. Just kittens. I mean, they do end up turning into cats at some point. But kittens

kitten.gif

4) Cats are the only thing on the planet more bonkers than writers. This is reassuring to said writers

cat cleaning

5) Feeling blue because you’ve just killed off one of your favourite characters? Never fear, the cat will help distract you (or make you scream in pain or whatever it is that the cat feels like doing to you at that moment in time)

cat vampire

6) Cats show us that even when we fail, there is still plenty to laugh about (windowsill = finding a publisher)

flying cat

7) You can rant and rave to your cat about the person you intend to kill (in your book) without any serious repercussions *cough agent cough*

cat plotting

8) Cats can make for great inspiration. Especially when they’re being creepy. And especially when you turn around. And they are there. Just staring

Intense cat

9) Google ‘author with cat’. That is all.

cat writing

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube| Goodreads

91 thoughts

  1. Both charming and hilarious. Here is another point why we have them: they are self-sufficient (mostly). Cats will take themselves to the bathroom and keep themselves entertained while you tackle the latest writing deadline/cram/what-was-I-thinking-plot-twist. lol
    They are fiercely independent and, for most of us, it is a confidence booster to be around people and pets that have the confidence we aspire to have in ourselves.

    Like

    Reply

  2. OMG, this is awesome Milly, I have two cats, and they ALWAYS seem to like to sit on my journal when I’m writing. If I’m not writing they’re stretched out on the floor in any room I’m in, except the bathroom, where they’re wrestling each other in the tub, or chewing on my shower curtain. In the kitchen, one of them will be at the sink meowing at me to turn the fawcet on for his daily bath, yes, one of my cats LOVES water, I think I should get a fountain. An indoor fountain, they’ll never wake me up for water again. They’ll just wake me up for other reasons. I love my cats….had them since they were 5wks old, long story. But they’ve both lived up to their names, Sheldon, (yes, named after Sheldon Cooper on BBT), he’s as aloof and annoying as hell. The Feline version of his human namesake. The other is his brother Shadow, we named him that because he’s all black, but he follows us EVERYWHERE, he truly shadows people. He’s the water lover, and loves the dog too, but loves to tease him. They’ll both be laying on the floor, Shadow will creep over (while still in a lying position) and bat him on the head and run. LOL, it’s so funny cause the dog looks at me like…”what’d I do?”. LOL. I look at him like….nothing, he did that because he can.

    Like

    Reply

  3. All true!
    I have a cat….just the one…called hector. He’s my best friend and worst critic. He also lets me know when I’ve been reading for too long by laying across my book and giving me that “feed me!” look. BUT his brothers and sisters (several of them) live next door so often I have 4 or 5 cats in the house at once all demanding my attention. I have become a crazy cat person!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. I have 2 cats currently trying to decide weather to make it 3 as per my last post would love for you to read and give me feedback ✌🏻🐱

    Like

    Reply

  9. Great Post! I wanted to share with everyone a T-shirt I recently designed for cat lovers. Here is the link:

    I hope you enjoy and don’t mind me posting this!

    Like

    Reply

  11. I have two, I want more but I’m old and for some reason if your old, a female, and have more then two cats your called “The old crazy cat lady” and yes I write poems and short stories. =^..^=

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  12. this is so true and so me!! i also adopted one cat from a shelter during my study and away from home. i just can’t live without a cat. and they also make the best companion ever.

    Like

    Reply
  13. Pingback: The Nine Reasons Why Writers Have Cats – duwinhjamzah
  18. Pingback: The Nine Reasons Why Writers Have Cats — The Cat’s Write – WARRIORS OF THE HEART

  28. Yes, love this! I’m such a cat person! have three of my own. Excited to get a puppy next year though! They’re much better companions generally. I prefer cats but most of the time they do their own thing.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  30. Love the staring eyes of the creepy cat. I don’t have a cat and I don’t think you’ve gone any closer to convincing me I should have one or a few, but I enjoyed the smiles from your article anyway, Milly. Thank you.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  31. Bwahahaha! I have four cats! I couldn’t live without owning at least two cats! And yes kittens. My youngest cat is two. I’d love to get a kitten again. There is nothing more entertaining than watching a kitten at play. Well actually, there is! Watching two+ kittens at play! My two year old still plays but the other ones don’t want to play with him much anymore. I get down on the floor and play with him daily but when I’m busy or tired he begs the others to play and their just not into it. They’ll chase a laser all over the place, but other than that they don’t play. I’m afraid he would hurt a kitten though. He’s a big muscular 17 lbs boy and he can play rough! For now i will just have to watch kittens playing on YouTube…

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  36. SO…what about those of us who are authors that do not have cats? I am an author and I don’t have one. Does that mean I am not really a writer because that would be heartbreaking….lol

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

        1. See? It all fits! As I said, in the beginning Hemingway didn’t like them either. And then he changed his mind. That’s what cats do. But you have to be exposed to cats to get into the right mood 😀 I’m only joking. I love cats, but I understand that some people don’t. I live in the area where most don’t, so I got used to that. Anyway… look at Hemingway’s photos 🙂 He’s always with cats in those pics where he’s older.

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

  41. My situation is a little different, but my closest cousin owns a cat, and she loves to have her picture taken doing ridiculous things, so we started a blog for her. So technically, the cat started me writing….

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  47. Love this post! My cat, Mimo, is 19 years old. He’s aging and has some health issues, and I know his passing is inevitable. It will change my writing habits, as he’s always here every morning. Somehow, I’ll find a way to adapt.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  50. I don’t have a cat. My husband doesn’t like them, but when my daughter was at home, she had three. (Husband put up with them for his beautiful daughter, of course.) Unfortunately, I wasn’t a writer then. I had a proper job, so I missed out on all the writerly fun, like the cat on the keyboard and eating your manuscript.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  56. My cats are family-at times I have had four, at the moment I have three delightful bundles of fun and playfulness. Cats are also incredible listeners when you want to read your work out loud- at least for a while. They steal your office chair and look so cute you get another. One of my cats always runs to greet me when I have been out. They make a home feel more like home.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  57. I have two cats, and in my opinion, the thing which raises them above dogs as pets is that they clean up after themselves. Yes, dogs will grovel to ‘master’, but who is picking up whose poo here? Exactly.
    Cats also make excellent fur-covered hot water bottles when they feel like it (great for warming a stationary writer). Cruelty-free fur, too, or at least free of cruelty to the fur. Whether cruelty is entirely out of the picture does rather depend on the disposition and mood of the cat.

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

    1. “Cats also make excellent fur-covered hot water bottles when they feel like it (great for warming a stationary writer).”

      What a good point! Not only do they warm like a hot water bottle, but studies show their purrs have healing effects on cats & the humans they’re near. So, they also have the healing/soothing qualities of a hot water bottle!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  65. I love cats! We adopted a dog and it’s simply not the same. However, we do love him and he is in his forever home… but he might get a little kitty brother or sister someday :-p

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

      1. I’m not counting. I am happy when I read your posts, and I think you’re doing something even more interesting when you’re not posting. I hope your winter (my summer) has been going well.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

Leave a Reply to Chris Hall Cancel reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s