Mush, the cat who taught me about life, love and closing the cellar door

In July 2021, after a few beers on a summer evening, my flatmate, Lew, answered an internet ad. By 5pm the next day we had a kitten: a swirl of tortie-and-white fluff, with a small pink snoot and huge ears that made her look more bat than cat. We called her Mush, pronounced like 'smush'.

From the moment she arrived and hid behind the sofa in our south London flat, we were in love. Like many first-time parents in their 20s, Lew and I were fussy and overprotective; neither of us had ever been responsible for a living creature before. Holding her tiny body against my chest made me anxious and any little thing sent us running to the vet — a crusty eye, a single flea.

'She's in perfect physical condition,' the vet assured us during one of her many checkups. As a pandemic baby, Mush didn't socialise much during her first year and saw only me, Lew and my boyfriend, who was part of our bubble.

United Kingdom, south London

mush, kitten, tortie, south london, lew, flatmate, pandemic baby, vet, socialise, first-time parents