cats
The cat that tamed Dom
I don’t like cats. I don’t like their reptilian stealth, or the way their heads are set low and poke…
Martin has worn down my defences
Provence My older, adopted sister came to stay. She suffers from peripheral neuropathy secondary to diabetes and is registered disabled.…
The sad history of the Hawaiian crow
Sophie Osborn describes how this sociable, inquisitive, loud-cackling bird became extinct in the wild – and her own efforts to save the California Condor from the same fate
Letters: the problem with Ozempic
At your service Sir: National service is a contentious issue with many people including the Armed Forces themselves (‘Identity crisis’,…
Letters: save our churches!
Free the C of E Sir: Patrick Kidd’s article on the shortcomings of today’s Church of England maintains the importance of the…
Confessions of a catnapper
As Christopher Snowdon recently pointed out, the past few governments have had a habit of passing laws that are either…
The naming of cats
It took a long time for cats to gain the same serious status as dogs, but by the 18th century they were starting to have personalities, says Kathryn Hughes
A choice of this year’s gift books
Sporting trivia, the language of cats and the comic genius of Barry Cryer feature among the best of the year’s stocking-fillers
Carbon pawprint
Having a pet is worse for the planet than flying
Top cat
If there’s one thing the internet knows, it’s that cats sell. The Scottish painter Elizabeth Blackadder, who died in 2021…
Letters
Why we allowed it Sir: In her article ‘Why didn’t more people resist lockdown?’ (3 September), Lionel Shriver partially answers…
Wain’s world
Before Tom Kitten, before Felix the Cat, before Thomas ‘Tom’ Cat, Sylvester James Pussycat Sr, Top Cat and Fat Freddy’s…
Letters
Nothing to fear Sir: Many of us await the day when we can travel abroad for much-anticipated holidays — but…
Diary
Did Nicola Sturgeon lie to the Scottish parliament? A Holyrood committee into the now infamous Alex Salmond affair has been…
‘People confuse sadness with darkness’
An interview with the American novelist Mary Gaitskill
Return of the Christmas Elves
We have a fine crop of Christmas gift books this year, so good that some of them actually qualify as…
Oxford circus
If you’re looking for a sign of the academic times, you could do worse than consider the image, published in…
Dear Mary
Q. We invited two friends to supper in London. As they came in they said they should order their taxi…
Letters
Left-behind boys Sir: Christopher Snowdon’s perceptive and informative article (‘The lost boys’, 18 July) reflects perfectly my own experiences in…
She was just a damn cat – and I loved her
I’ve never dug a grave before. But that was how I spent my Sunday afternoon. Three feet is awfully deep…
Catastrophe
At the outset of lockdown I gave you my list of top mustn’t-watch films — that is, the ones that…
Doggie style
This week I’d like to point you in the direction of the British Film Institute and its free online archive…
View from the back end
From Enoch Powell to Danny La Rue: Hilary Spurling looks back on her time in charge of the arts and books pages in the 1960s
Letters
Enemies on the left Sir: James Forsyth’s article ‘Labour must change to win’ (25 January) describes how little appetite the…
I’m at risk of becoming a cat person
Just before Christmas our cat Runty died and I wasn’t in any rush to find a replacement. I like cats…
