Why we've always been crazy about kitties: 6 shaggy cat stories from our archives

Which is how we came across this gallery of moggies big and small. It is astonishing how many stories we seem to have written about cats over the years. The ones we have here represent just a few of the best. And who knows, some of you may even remember some of these cats...

Midge

On October 12, 1981, we reported a story about Midge who, despite having reached the grand old age of 100, hadn't received a telegram from the Queen.

Midge, of course, was a cat - and she was actually 20 human years old. But calculating five cat years to every human year, we reckoned that made her a centenarian.

Midge, with owner Gertie Moss, in 1981

The tortoisehell had been rescued by the RSPCA from a cruel home when just three months old in 1961, then taken in by Gertie and Jack Moss of Murton Way, Osbaldwick. Twenty years later she was still going strong, as evidenced by this photo of her with Gertie, herself a mere 77 years old in 1981.

So what was the secret to Midge's long life? "A regular tin of salmon," Gertie told us.

Fluffy

Fluffy was once a champion mouser at the York Carriageworks in Holgate Road. She then came close to being put down, until Mrs Molly Hall of Dringhouses offered her a home following an article in the Evening Press.

Fluffy with owner Molly Hall in 1986

A couple of years later, in March 1986, we caught up with Molly and Fluffy again for this photo. Fluffy had made herself right at home, to the extent of rattling the letterbox to let her owner know whenever she wanted to go out or come in, Molly said. "She's settled in really well and is a lovely cat," Molly added.

The rescued kittens

When firefighters tackled a barn fire near Ripon in 1989, they found five kittens cowering on top of a stack of bales. Firefighters Paul Halstead and Dave Watson, who had cleared away tons of hay from the barn, were able to rescue them.

Firefighter Mike Brearley with some of the rescued kittens in 1989

A few days later, firefighter Mike Brearley posed with four of the kittens in a firefighter's hat. There was no sign of the kittens' mother, sadly, who may have been frightened away by the flames.

Sweep

Talking of rescues, in February 1990 a cat by the name of Sweep spent the night stuck on top of a chimney in Nether Poppleton before being rescued by firefighters from Acomb. Attention was only drawn to his plight when sweep began miaowing for help - the first time he's ever miaowed in his life.

Sweep in February 1990

He was soon safely returned to his owners Les and Di Warters, of Millfield Lane, and their other cat - who was, of course, named Sooty.

Basil

Top Cat was the headline to this lovely photograph from July 1986. And the puns kept coming. Basil the seven-week-old Abyssinian Blue was clearly developing a head for heights, we wrote. Fortunately, owner Anita Eagland, 13, didn't seem to mind. But then Basil was one of just 20 cats at the family home in Pocklington.

Basil with Anita Eagland in 1986

Anita's mum Margaret, we reported, was the largest breeder in Yorkshire of Abyssinians - said by some to date back to the Egyptian Pharoahs. Basil certainly had something of the sphinx about him...

Kathleen's cats

In 1984, cat-lover Kathleen Moyes, from the Beckfield Lane area of York, lost her ginger tom, Sandy. He wandered off and wasn't seen again.

Kathleen, however, had just taken in a stray, which had turned up at her door unannounced. And imagine her surprise when the stray suddenly gave birth, presenting Kathleen with a litter of six kittens.

Kathleen and Caron Moyes with some of their kittens in 1984

"So we've lost our own cat and now we have seven belonging to somebody else," she said. Kathleen and her daughter Caron posed with several of the kittens in the hope someone might come forward and claim them. We don't, sadly, know whether anyone did - or even whether Sandy ever came home again. Does anyone know?