Scat the Black Cat

Let me introduce you to the character behind Scat the Black Cat, a bright button-eyed loveable rogue! Always curious and happy to visit neighbour’s houses, he will swish his beautiful tail and rub against you hoping for tasty tidbits. At the end of a long day, we know a little black body with bright yellow eyes is always waiting in the car park for our car to pull up. Roly-polying on the ground, he meows his warm purry hello and skips along next to us as we walk the short distance home. He knows dinner will be served soon and waits patiently with his three brothers and older surrogate uncle, Tarzan.

The story of Scat was inspired by events involving a neighbour’s cat who constantly bullied our little black Scat. Every morning we would put out fresh food and water in Scat’s kennel. Scat and his brothers were forced to live outside for a while as my husband was severely allergic to them. We couldn’t bear getting rid of them and found a safe solution for co-existence between animals and man…kennels! Scat would meow at the door, complaining bitterly that his food had been eaten. At first we assumed he was very hungry and put out more food. Then one cold frosty morning, we noticed a fat ginger cat walk straight into Scat’s kennel, only leaving once his food bowl was empty. We nick-named him Bruiser and watched over the next few weeks as Scat tried to deal with the situation.

We had to find a safe way of feeding Scat without this ginger moggy polishing off the food. That’s when the idea for Scat’s story was born, using details of their behaviour towards each other during those cold wintry months. Strangely enough, when we tried chasing Bruiser away, we noticed Scat following him. They would amicably sit together under the hedgerow between the houses and doze off in the crisp wintry sun, awaiting the next meal.

In the story, Scat and Bruiser have to find a way of working together, giving the book’s young audience a chance to see that there are reasons behind a bully’s behaviour. Scat gives a voice to those that face bullying in different forms and how he deals with the situation.

The illustrations are based on the real Scat and Bruiser, taking in the houses and their little hedgerow borders or grassy landscapes. Whilst not the best illustrations I’ve done, hopefully the childish quality will encourage my young audience to draw their own versions of Scat and Bruiser, bringing them to life in their own way.

Catch Scat’s story from amazon.