The Ship’s Cat

Feline Agony Angels

The Loneliness of the Ocean Sailor — 2021-07-08

The Loneliness of the Ocean Sailor

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Unrelinquished dream? Or lost Love…

Dear Nellie Cat

Did you ever in your life think that daylight would never come? Have you ever danced naked under a starry moonlit sky? Did you once whisper a prayer with your one hand raised high? Do you believe in sea monsters and fiery dragons, did you know that strange beasts live at the end of the world, where only murdering thieves and the incurably insane find their way to die. Did you ever see the meanest pirate fall in love, then wonder why? Or do you think it is me who is secretly unhinged, or suffering the scourge of an unsound mind. Do you believe that I am the one who is senseless, deranged or the most ridiculous man you might find.

Did I ever tell you why I stand shaking, then cry?

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King Murray’s Not A Happy Murray — 2021-06-16

King Murray’s Not A Happy Murray

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The Ship’s Cat - King Murray


There’s trouble on the street – Might There be a lynching...?

Dear Nellie Cat

You can fix this Nellie, I’m countin’ on you. You know me, I’m a reasonable cat, I just wanna be king, king of my street. I’ve worked hard all my life to be king, but it’s that damn cat Scratchy.

I don’t never cause no trouble, you know that, an’ I don’t expect no trouble back. I get to go thru all the doors on my street coz every owner knows who I am, I’m Murray, king of my street, I’m King Murray. Someone’s gotta be king an’ I’m easily the best cat to do it. That Scatchy, he’s no king, he just wants to be king when he’s got no right to be king. What makes him think he can be king when he don’t even look like a king, he ain’t got the walk an’ he can’t talk the talk. He ain’t no king an’ I don’t wan’ him to be king. There’s some cat talk on the street of a lynchin’, a hangin’, an’ that lynchin’ might be me Nellie.

I need your help Nellie, will you help me stay king? Will you help me be king and always be king? Can you help me hide from that Scratchy…?

King Murray

The Midlands, June 2021

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Hey! It’s Me! Your Ship’s Captain! — 2021-05-23

Hey! It’s Me! Your Ship’s Captain!

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Nellie Cat’s Captain ain’t a happy Captain…

Look here, Nellie Cat…

Where’s my ship’s cat? You supposed to be on this ship catchin’ vermin. That’s your job, you should’na be gallivantin’ around doin’ what you’re doin’, you should be here catchin’ this ship’s vermin’.

I got vermin runnin’ all over this ship, an’ I got no ship’s cat to catch em! An’ my missus, she’s missin’ her pet cat she talks to all day an’ now she’s taken to talkin’ to me. You got no right to be not doin’ your job an’ messin’ with that cat talk, along with them two Mexican cats you met down in the harbour. What d’you think you’re playin’ at eh? You think anyone’s gonna listen to a cat?

So get to fixin’ this Nellie Cat, get back here onboard this ship an’ get things sorted. You got no right to be sortin’ other cats when you’re supposed to be here catchin’ all this vermin…

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My Name’s Kenny… and I’m an Addict! — 2021-05-20

My Name’s Kenny… and I’m an Addict!

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Is there a way out for poor Kenny..?

Dear Nellie Cat

I’ve been told by my local dustbin cat that you’re the cat to turn to. Me, I’m a thieving cat… and I’m an addict.

These words took a lot for me to say and a long time for me to say them. For the last year I’ve tried to ignore my addiction, trying to convince myself it was something I could control. But things turned when I took to stealing, I stole my next-door friend’s play fish from right inside his owner’s house. Only then did I realise how the dreamworld I grew up in was gone, how I must find the courage to face the look of shame in my eyes. It’s that catnip Nellie, it sends me wild. It drives me insane.

Being a thief AND an addict made me finally see how far I’ve fallen, no cat should ever fall like I’ve fallen…

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Please Help! I Got No Insurance… — 2021-05-13

Please Help! I Got No Insurance…

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Do you know a good insurance man…?

Dear Nellie Cat

Oh Nellie, I’m beside myself with worry, I’ve just found out my owner didn’t pay the pet insurance.

I was lying on the veterinary’s table, she was fixing my girly glands and happened to mentioned to my owner it was gonna be expensive. I was gonna need an anaesthetic and an operation, and even be kept in the pet hospital a few days. I’m in so much pain Nellie, I was desperate for an operation, I need the operation to be myself again. Then my whole world collapsed.

Right in front of my eyes it all just collapsed, it just fell apart like that. My owner told the veterinary that he’d not paid the pet insurance. The veterinary stopped right there, she put down her cutting knife and told my owner that she had bills to pay too you know. My owner asked what bills – and the veterinary told him about her kid’s school fees and husband’s car payments, then she explained about their new house mortgage and their holiday. My owner told her he’d not had a holiday in twenty years.

What do I do Nellie? I’m gonna be a crippled cat with no pet insurance. Can you help me Nellie, can you help me find some all-inclusive comprehensive pet insurance…?

Nimbo from Newcastle

May 2021

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