Momo

The neighbours were out for a walk in the park and were approached by a tiny kitten. So small it was having difficulty walking through the grass. It came right up to them and made lots of mewling noises. They waited around for a while to see if there were any others, but he appeared to be the only one. It didn’t take long before they decided to take him home.

Since they already had a cat called Mimi, Anand decided this one should be called Momo.

The vet told them that he was about four weeks old, and from a feral litter. Surprised that no other members of the litter approached them, the vet said that often with a litter of barn cats, if there are a dozen, 11 will have nothing to do with people, and one will be downright friendly towards humans.

While it was perhaps really foolish of him to approach people so brazenly, on the other hand, it was perhaps an amazingly smart survival strategy. He would now go on to have a really good life. Certainly compared to any of his litter mates living along the cliff would have.

From a tiny little fuzzball that looked small in my hand, he’s grown into an amazing character. His fur is absolutely the softest I or anyone else has ever felt.

He’s got lots of it, and most impressive is his mane, a ruff that encircles his neck.

Funny thing though is that come spring, you can hold him down and without any protest, pull big tufts of hair from his coat. His most striking feature is a long tail that would make a lemur envious. It can move in about three directions at once.

He’s incredibly floppy, and will jump up on your chest, and without any preliminary prancing around or kneading, will just flop down and go instantly to sleep.

I’ve found him lying on the floor, on his back, front legs pointed in one direction, back legs in another, sound asleep.

Couple that with really neat markings, a very distinctive meow, and a really nice personality, you've got a winner cat.

Mimi hates him, but that’s because walking around the house she risks an ambush at every turn. He takes any and every opportunity to pounce on her. He’s not being mean or trying to establish who’s boss, he’s just desperate to play with someone.

Funniest thing is that he may have been a feral stray, but I suspect if you took him to a cat show, he’d win every award.