I am a self-professed ‘Crazy Cat Lady’, and I am proud.

Meow. Purrr. Smooch. Yes, I am a self-professed ‘Crazy Cat Lady’, and I am proud.

As with most stereotypes, the ‘Crazy Cat Lady’ brings up some pretty negative connotations. Visualisations of a middle-aged spinster, living alone with her hundreds of cats. She is a self-chosen recluse, choosing cats for company rather than people and she is caved in by her relentless hoarding of cat keepsakes and cat collector items. The ‘Crazy Cat Lady’ doesn’t leave her home much and there are grave fears from those who do know her that she may be found weeks, months or years after she has naturally passed away, half eaten by the feline friends she left behind.

The ‘Crazy Cat Lady’ wears ‘cat fashion’- clothing, scarves, brooches, big dangly cat earrings and of course a coat of cat hair that clings to her dark clothing. She takes a lot of photos and videos of her cats or just cats in general, she probably had ‘Catbook’ back in the day(the cat equivalent of Facebook, yes that was a real thing), she may or may not smell of cat pee.

But if you believed this description as accurate, I am here to tell you, you’re wrong (well at least most of the time).

As a ‘Crazy Cat Lady’ I would like to introduce myself.

Hi, I am Shona.

I am in my 30s, I have two human children of my own, I am happily married (not to a cat), I leave my house almost every day (some days I like to just watch Netflix in my track pants like any normal person), I hold a job and do not spend all of my income on my cats, I own a lint roller to roll off any visible cat hair, I wear perfume (my favourite Giorgio Armani, Si or Chanel, Coco Mademoiselle) so therefore do not smell like cat pee (not that I do without perfume). Although I do love a cat accessory I do limit them for special occasions. I have had many cats over the years growing up (as a ‘Crazy Cat Lady’ and the daughter of one, they find a way to gravitate toward you) but as an adult I have kept my maximum at a conservative two.

As a ‘Crazy Cat Lady’, the truth is I do love cats. For me, they are family not just pets. I have lived with furry brothers and sisters (AKA cats) for the majority of my life. When I moved into my own house with my boyfriend (now husband) we added to our family by adopting my furry son (yes, a cat). Not long after that, we added to our family with another furry child, a black and white, long haired girl from a local animal shelter. Lego and Tonka are an integral part of our family, they bring compassion, love, laughter, loyalty, friendship and memories, just like any other family member does. To me this is completely normal, and I am not ashamed for my self-professed cat loving ‘catitude’.

While I am sharing my cat love, I would like to be 100% honest and declare, my cats did have Catbook (Ed Sheeran has an Instagram account for his cats and who can question Ed’s coolness?) I have framed photos of my cats around the house, on my desk at work… and on the background of my phone. I love looking at Cats of Instagram and other feline friendly social media channels. I judge a person on whether they like cats or not. If they declare they aren’t a cat person I usually put them in the not to befriend zone (because how can you hate an entire species of animal? It just makes no sense to me.) My favourite online store is ‘Meowingtons’… yep you read that correctly, an entire store dedicated to cat accessories for you to wear, for the home, stationary, whatever your cat heart requires.

But the main thing that makes me a ‘Crazy Cat Lady’ is the fact that I love cats and appreciate them for the completely amazing, fascinating and unique animals that they are.

Awesome cat fact number 1,998,654 - Do you know there are cat therapy cats who offer emotional support to people in nursing homes, schools, hospices? Cats are proven to help sufferers of depression and also people with certain phobias.

Sorry, I digressed. I am passionate about their welfare, their innate cat abilities that offer communities, families and people so many undeniable benefits. I am active in sharing cat knowledge on a personal and wider level through animal welfare associations and I love nothing more than changing someone’s perception of cat ladies and cats in general.

So, you can picture that caricature ‘Crazy Cat Lady’ if you like but the reality is, a ‘Crazy Cat Lady’ is a woman or a man, a girl or boy; she or he can be young or old, any race, religion or creed, she or he can live anywhere, they may have human children, or they may not, they may be married or single, they are writers, they are doctors, they work at the local shop. ‘Crazy Cat Ladies’ are as diverse as the cats they love. But they the one thing they have in common is that they are undeniably ‘pawsome’ (pun totally intended)!