Crazy Cat Lady Part 2 - Professor McTufty

Housemate and I spotted Professor McTufty on my second day in the house. After reassuring ourselves that he was actually a cat and not a lion we knew we had to try and get him onside.

It was going to be a big ask, he was incredibly regal looking and clearly spends a lot of time looking after himself. You don’t get fur like that by accident you know. He was also a little bit jittery, if he did appear it wasn’t for long, you usually just saw a big ginger streak running across the top of the sheds.

I went away for a weekend and came back to a message from Housemate...

The unthinkable had happened. She had tamed Professor McTufty.

Turns out The Prof (as he’s affectionately called) is yet another big softie – both figuratively and literally.

And he has the biggest freaking paws I’ve ever seen. They’re like the size of a dog’s.

He’s also a master at the roll. You know that thing that cats do where they fall on the ground and roll themselves about, begging to be scratched and tickled and stroked? The Prof is all about the roll. Unfortunately he has managed to roll himself off the shed, resulting in a rather undignified and un-Professor-like scramble to regain his position. Most embarrassing.

The Prof doesn’t visit quite as often as Eddie does but when he is about you can hear him long before you see him thanks to his rather magnificent collar and bell.

Needless to say, Maggie doesn’t like him.

We have also recently discovered that The Prof has a brother. At first we were concerned there was a glitch in The Matrix, having seen The Prof go past us once, only to see him reappear and walk past in the same direction 10 seconds later. However it turns out that The Prof’s doppelganger is not as large, tufty or has as much white on him. He’s slightly less stately than his broseph and we have called him Doctor McTufty. He’s clear not at Professor level. However he’s much more shy and as yet he has managed to evade the camera lens.

I always get rather excited when Professor McTufty pops in to say hello. I feel like he doesn’t do this with every house on the block. He’s kind of like some of the Professors I had at uni – you hardly ever saw them, but when you managed to get 5 minutes with them you always left feeling vaguely satisfied, even if all your questions hadn’t been answered, you’d been granted an audience at least. When Prof and Dr McTufty come stalking along the top of the sheds I feel a little honoured by their presence.