Famous Cat Lovers
Dr Albert Schweitzer
Dr Albert Schweitzer, Nobel Peace Prize Winner in 1952 became ambidextrous because of his cat Sizi. When Sizi would fall asleep on the doctor's arm, he began writing prescriptions with his other hand…'the origin doctors' illegible handwriting?
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln's cat, Tabby, was the first of several White House cats.
Alexander Dumas
Alexander Dumas, the author of The Three Musketeers, owned a cat called Mysouff. This cat was known for his extrasensory perception of time. Mysouff could perdict what time his master would finish work, even when his master was working late.
Amy Carter
Amy Carter, the daugher of Jimmy Carter, owned a number of cats including a Siamese cat with a peculiar name 'Misty Malarky Ying Yang'
Artists Renoir and Monet
The French artists Renoir and Monet loved cats and put them in several paintings.
Charles Dickens
Charles Dicken's cat give birth to a litter of cats. Dickens only allowed one of these kittens to remain with its mother. The kitten was known as the 'Master's Cat'. The kitten would snuff out Dicken's candle in order to gain his attention.
Dr Albert Schweitzer
Dr Albert Schweitzer, Nobel Peace Prize Winner in 1952 became ambidextrous because of his cat Sizi. When Sizi would fall asleep on the doctor's arm, he began writing prescriptions with his other hand…'the origin doctors' illegible handwriting?
Dr Samuel Johnson
Dr Samuel Johnson, the compiler of the first dictionary, had a pet cat named Hodge whom Johnson fed oysters and other luxurious treats.
Edgar Allan Poe and Mark Twain
Although Edgar Allan Poe used cats as symbols of the sinister in several of his stories, he himself owned and loved cats. His fellow writer, Mark Twain, was also a cat lover.
Edward Lear
Edward Lear was known for writing the famous limerick 'The Owl and the Pussy Cat'. Lear was devoted to his cat named Foss. When Foss died, he was buried in Lear's italian garden.
Ernest Hemingway – Owner of 30 Cats
One of Ernest Hemingway's most unusual cat was a six-toed cat given to him by a ship's captain.
Eyptian Sultan
A thirteenth century Egyptian sultan left his entire fortune to the needy cats of Cairo. For many years afterwards homeless cats received a free meal daily.
Famous Writers
Writers Paul Gallico, H.H. Munro, Walter de la Mare, Thomas Hardy, Edward Lear, Lewis Carroll, Beatrix Potter, and W.B. Yeats all owned and loved cats.
Florence Nightingale
Bismarck was a large persian cat owned by Florence Nightingale.
Horace Wadpole
Horace Wadpole the British essayist wrote lovingly about his cats.
Pope Leo XII
Micette was a grayish-red cat with black stripes. Micette was born in the Vatican and lived among the pope's.
Prophet Mohammed
The prophet Mohammed loved cats. The story is told that at one day when he was being called to pray he noticed his cat, Muezza sleeping on the folds of his sleeve rather than disturb the sleeping cat, Mohammed cut off the sleeve of his robe.
Rutherford B Hayes
The first Siamese cat brought to the United States was a gift to President Rutherford B. Hayes.
Sir Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton, the scientist who first described the principle of gravity, also invented the swinging cat door for the convenience of his many cats.
Sir Walter Scott
Walter Scott owned a cat called Hinse. This Tomcat was known to terrorize Scott's dog.
Sir Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Churchill commissioned a painting of his favourite orange tabby cat, Jock. Jock slept in his bed every night and was even taken to all the wartime cabinet meetings.
Swiss Artist Theophile Steinlen
Swiss artist Theophile steinlen's Paris home was known as 'catscorner' because of the large number of the former reproduced on a variety of articles.
T.S. Elliot
The Nobel Prize-winning British poet, playwright, and cat lover, T.S. Eliot, wrote an entire book of poems about cats. His Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats was set to music by Andrew Lloyd Weber and became the long-running musical, Cats.
The Poet Petrarch
The poet Petrarch was said to have been even more devoted to his cat than to the memory of his great love, Laura.
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt had a cat named Slippers, a grey/blue cat. Slippers had a disease, which resulted in him having more than 5 toes on his feet.
Vanna White
World-famous letter turner, Vanna White, owns two cats that she mentions frequently on Wheel of Fortune.
Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo, considered the greatest author in the history of French literature, wrote fondly in his diary about his cats.