Hilarie Stelfox: Putting Christmas cat among the round robins

Dec 11 2010 by Hilarie Stelfox, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

CATS, I have found, are excellent listeners.

They are quite happy to take on board all my worries and woes in return for a tickle under the chin.

Equipped with a soothing purr and warm, snuggly bodies, they make perfect comforters in times of trouble.

If this all sounds a little over-sentimental then I would say don’t read A Friend Like Ben by Julia Romp, a book that has a cat wearing a Santa hat on the cover.

But if you like heart-warming tales of human/animal interaction then this is a satisfying true story and would make the perfect Christmas gift for a cat lover.

Julia Romp has a severely autistic son called George who was lost in his own world and rarely communicated.

Then one day a small black-and-white stray cat appeared in their garden and so began a remarkable relationship between boy and feline.

George named his new companion Ben and began to make up stories and adventures about the pair of them. Through Ben, George began to talk to his mother and those around him.

Julia’s initial reservations about keeping the cat vanished and for three years she watched, a little amazed, as George gradually learned to accept the world around him.

But then disaster struck and Ben disappeared, plunging the family into despair. Julia says her son began to retreat into himself once more and she knew she had to do something.

The book tells of her search across the country to retrieve Ben, a search that tested her powers of endurance and detection skills.

Since writing her story, Julia has launched a new career as a pet detective. I thought of her only this week when I saw one of those home-made posters stuck to a garden gate, bearing a hastily-printed picture of a black cat whose owners want him home for Christmas.

We lost one of our cats a few years ago and despite knocking on doors and advertising our loss we failed to find her.

I still wonder where she went and what she’s doing now – or, indeed, if she’s still alive.

But that’s cats for you – good listeners, and adventurers with a will of their own.

I MUST have been feeling a bit grouchy last week when I had a go at round robin writers.

As reader Lindsey Stevenson has pointed out, this very page often reads exactly like a round robin!

Although I do try hard not to brag, or moan about my ailments.

So apologies to all those who enjoy penning their annual missives to friends and families.

Keep on blogging but just be careful what you say. As I have discovered over the years, it’s the most casual, throw-away comment that gets you into trouble.