Maddy Prior
In the haunted house in Hamilton we had a flat cat that I called Maddy Prior. She was a tortoiseshell/tabby and was a strange wee girl – she had a love/hate relationship with the goat, Demelza and the house had a vibe that made her uneasy. When Kristine and I moved to the country we took them both. Maddy loved the countryside and went on long runs over the paddocks – she made the place a home. After that all ended she moved in with a good friend of mine and I know she lived happily to a ripe old age.
Magneto
When Angus was first born we lived in a big warehouse on Wakefield St. – it was the size of a football pitch. Bryan Staff had had it before us and put in a mezzanine bedroom area that you could curtain off to try to stave off the cold. One morning we woke to find a black cat had had her litter in Ang’s cot by the foot of our bed – he was surrounded by all these wee kittens. The mother disappeared and we 
found homes for all of them except Magneto, who we kept. He was another unusual black and white and a good climber – a rooftop cat. Bloody hopeless around mice though – he would just watch them troop past on their way to the kitchen area and didn’t seem to have a clue. We took him with us when we
moved to Valhalla on the Terrace and he was even worse with the rats. He was very good with kids though and had a nice nature. He got hit by a car.
Pat the Cat
He was called Conan when we first got him as a kitten and though he was part wild; the name didn’t really suit him. The opposite of Magneto, Pat was a hunter a small but staunch tabby and got in a few fights in Holloway Rd. There was a cat lady who lived next door and her main tom was a big mean old ginger – Pat’s arch enemy. He was a real family cat and would follow us down to Polehill gully to watch us play cricket. He was
there all through my kids’ primary school years and was a really good friend to us all. By the time we moved into Wigan St he had caught some sort of feline aids and we had to have him put down.
Rhonda
She came via Les when she was very small and she fell in love with me straight away. Perfect Batman mask black and white – she followed me 
everywhere. 13 Wigan St was a massive workshop with a flat on top and I built a practice room with a control room next to it. I lined the walls and ceilings with carpet scraps and Rhonda would perform tricks – climbing up the walls at great speed or dangling by her claws from the ceiling. I built a little shelf for her high up so she could oversee band practice. When I was carving the Strange Angels she was on my foot most of the time getting covered in wood chips and she slept on my leg most nights. She too became a rooftop cat and she was a serious hunter. When my world fell apart Rhonda stuck by me and we moved into a tiny bedsit together overlooking the city.
