Yes, mea culpa, I really did tweet some pictures of my cat wearing a hoodie* earlier. But please, rest assured, no lasting damage was done to the cat (well ok, apart from to her dignity) in the two minutes I managed to get her to keep the bloody thing on.

And for those wanting an explanation of why on earth I would even think of dressing my cat up: here’s why.

First off, here she is in happier days, when she had a bit more fur and a bit more meat on her bones, trying even then to find ways to keep warm:

The cooker

Or the kettle?

Now here she is last winter, feeling very sorry for herself and suffering from a horrible and near fatal upper respiratory tract infection (and yes, her jabs are all up to date):

Unfortunately, this is a scene that has already been repeated this winter, and she’s by no means out of the the woods yet.

Tipsy is a 14 year old Cornish Rex. She’s old, she’s nearly bald, and she really really feels the cold. Most of the time she sleeps curled up to a hot water bottle and a microwavable heat pad, with our Siamese cat curled up with her for added warmth and comfort. The problem is though, that on some days that’s all she wants to do, because getting up and moving around means moving away from her various heat sources.

So, when a friend sent me this video, of these gorgeous Sphynx cats in jumpers, I thought I’d finally found the solution:

A very talented friend of a friend offered to have a go at knitting one. She found the hoodie pattern on the Internet, set to work, and it arrived in today’s post.

Suffice to say, Tipsy hated it.

Ah well, it was worth a try. But it looks like it’s back to the drawing board again.

*Just to be clear. I do not support dressing up pets for fun, fashion, or whatever other ridiculous excuses people use. Elderly pets who need to be kept warm are an entirely matter however.