Our Bond with Cats with Sarah Chauncey, Sassafras Patterdale, and Rachel Wells

The recording of this much-loved panel at Bark! Fest is out now, with these three wonderful authors: Sarah Chauncey on PS I Love You More Than Tuna, Sassafras Patterdale on Claw This Journal, and Rachel Wells on Alfie the Christmas Cat.

By Zazie Todd, PhD

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Our Bond with Cats with Sarah Chauncey, Sassafras Patterdale, and Rachel Wells at Bark! Fest

Bark! Fest, the book festival for animal lovers, took place in September 2024. I organized it to celebrate the launch of my new book, Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, which is out now and available wherever books are sold. We heard from some incredible authors of books about animals.

This is the recording of Our Bond with Cats with Sarah Chauncey, Sassafras Patterdale, and Rachel Wells.

You can watch the panel on Youtube or below, listen wherever you get your podcasts (Apple, Spotify) or below, or keep reading to do both of those things and read a transcript of the highlights. 

Get the books

All of the Bark! Fest books are available wherever books are sold, including from Bookshop (which supports independent bookstores), UK Bookshop, and my Amazon store. 

The conversation with Sarah Chauncey, Sassafras Patterdale, and Rachel Wells

Reflect on what cats mean to us and the many ways they influence our lives with these 3 feline authors. 

Sarah Chauncey’s heartfelt P.S. I Love You More Than Tuna is a touching celebration of our bond with our cats, illustrated by Francis Tremblay. Claw This Journal: An Activity Book for Cats and Their Humans by Sassafras Patterdale (Lowrey) is packed with crafts, training, and activities and a deep understanding of cats’ emotional wellbeing. In the latest in the Sunday Times bestselling series, Alfie the cat is preparing for a purrfect festive show when things go wrong, in Alfie the Christmas Cat by Rachel Wells. 

We talked about:

• The story of how PS I Love You More Than Tuna came about (and the Easter eggs in the book)
• How this book is designed to be given away, and how giving became part of Sarah's process
• The role that a Muse Medallion from the Cat Writer's Association for an article by Sassafras played in making Claw This Journal come about
• The range of activities in the book (and which ones are Sassafras's favourites)
• Why Rachel started writing the Alfie the Cat series, and the themes behind Alfie the Christmas Cat
• What it's like to sustain a feline character and their supporting cast over so many books
• And you can listen to each author do a reading

Learn more about the authors:

Sarah Chauncey: https://www.sarahchauncey.com/

Sassafras Patterdale: https://sassafraspatterdale.com/

Rachel Wells: https://itsacatslifebyrachelwells.substack.com/

The conversation is co-hosted by Zazie Todd and Kristi Benson. 

Highlights of the conversation with Sarah Chauncey

Z: Sarah, you've got a story behind this book. Can you tell us how the book came about?

S:  Yeah. In 2016, my cat Hedda, I eventually made the decision to have her euthanized. And I was not part of the cat world. And it was devastating, of course. And a few days later, a friend of mine, who I actually had known as a colleague's husband, sent me a sketch, and he's from Quebec.

So the note said, our love makes you strong to keep you going forward. That is what love is about, no? And then it was from Hedda. It was, P.S. I love you more than Tuna.

And in that moment, I had this vision of a gift book to be given to people, like a sympathy card but more, to be given to people who were grieving a cat. In that moment, it was not clear that it was going to be cats versus other animals.

And then over the next two days, it just kind of poured out. And then at one point, he pulled away because he had a lot of work. But then the next summer, I was asked to foster a feral cat. And I suddenly had a thousand Instagram followers who loved cats, so I thought I'd test the idea out with them. That's the story.

Z: Yeah. And so I wanted to ask you a bit more about your process in writing it, because you said it just kind of poured out, and there's only a relatively short amount of text in here, so you actually had to be quite precise.

So did you do some planning? When you came back to work on it again, did you do much planning and editing at that point, or how did that happen in both stages? 

S: So the day after I got Francis's little sketch, I just sat down and it was, I was at the point, and I think all of us know this feeling of really wanting. I wanted affirmation from Hedda that she felt I had given her a good life. And of course, I couldn't really get that. 

And I sat down and I brainstormed, and it just felt like almost like she was coming through me. I brainstormed like, a hundred different moments that humans have with their cats. And I sent it to a bunch of friends and I said, can you let me know what resonates and what doesn't?

And I said, just give me five lines that are your favorite and your least favorite. And so I narrowed it down. And then when I wound up having all the followers on Instagram, or at least at the time, it seemed like, wow,

I asked them if they would read it. And so I sent it out to about 70 more people. And every line is designed either to evoke laughter, tears, or just that poignant oooh. 

Z: Yeah, yeah. And the text works really well with the pictures as well. So what was it like working with an illustrator for it?

S: You know, generally in publishing they say don't bring your own illustrator, but for me, that was the point of the book, was to have Francis be the illustrator. He was an artist, not your typical illustrator who draws the same image over and over.

So I think for him, it was quite a challenge because eventually we had to get like 45 images done in a month. And he had never quite worked at that pace.

And I also hadn't realized how conceptual some of my lines were. He's like, I don't know how to draw this. Tell me what to draw. It's like, that's a good point. He was great. I was sick the entire time we were working on it. I was not pleasant to work with. So he really did a great job. And it really came together. 

Z: And I know that Francis included some personal touches in the book too. So can you tell us about those?

S: I only have the galley here. So on the cover this is Francis' handwriting, and he also designed the cover so that was kind of a nice touch. We had sort of gone back and forth about the cover and we weren't thrilled. 

So anyway, this on the very opening page is actually the paw print that the vet sent of Hedda. And so it just means a lot to me to have her little paw print in there. scrolling to. 

So this is a line that says, I loved the smell of you. And the original drawing was an open toed, frilly, kind of 1960s woman slipper. And I really wanted, as with this image, which is the shower image, for the characters to be as universal as possible, to be not gender specific, not race specific. So I asked him to change the slipper into a shoe and make it a little more neutral.

It turned out, you know, books are printed on white paper. I really wanted to have a racially ambiguous person so that everybody could see themselves in it. But because the book is printed on white paper and it's a black and white monochrome book, we decided to stick with white, or some people have said East Asian. But I think we did pretty well in not making it really gender specific. 

This is based on a photo of Ariel when she was about six months old. And then this is my favorite. One of my favorite images. Okay, where am I? But just because you can't see me doesn't mean I'm not here.

And then speaking of Ariel, at the very end, there is a line that says that talks about adopting again. And he drew a little. What's supposed to be a tortie for Ariel. So those are little Easter eggs.

Z: Yeah. For your current cat. That's lovely. Thank you for showing us those. And I think one of the amazing things about this book is how it helps people with their grief.

And the grief on losing a pet is something that we often talk about as being disenfranchised. A lot of people who don't have pets don't really understand it, although I think that's changing. And one of the things I did, as soon as I'd read this book, I got some copies and gave them away to friends who had lost their cats.

And I think a lot of people do that. So it is a gift book. But can you also tell us about how giving is a wider part, is part of your writing process?

S: It was part of the process for this book in that in 2011, I discovered a book called 29 Gifts, how a month of giving can change your life. I did what they suggested, which is to give something away each day. And it doesn't have to be tangible. It can be patience.

And it really was transformative. And it brought me so much joy, which I did not expect, because I grew up in a family where it's like, you know, you got to do stuff for other people and not never for yourself, which I totally disagree with.

And this 29 gifts really did change my life. So when I had the vision for Tuna, I wanted it to benefit not only the person who was grieving, but also the giver of the book, because it, you know, we don't have cultural rituals. You know, they're starting to be more. But we really don't have a lot of rituals around grieving the loss of any pet.

And I wanted this to become the ritual because it gives the friend or family member or colleague a tangible way to say, look, I get it, and I'm sorry.

And it comforts the person, too. So I liked that kind of win win.

Highlights of the conversation with Sassafras Patterdale

K: So Sassafras, the Claw This Journal, which I love. And I love that you can write in it. Like, I love that it prompts you to write in it. And I love that with the similar book that you made for dogs too, it's so interactive. There's something about writing.

So Claw This Journal follows the success of your previous book, Chew this Journal. And I know you won a Muse medallion from the Cat Writers Association. How did that help this book come about?

S: Yeah, so there was a cover, actually, it was the cover feature story for an issue of Catster magazine, when Catster was still around, that I had written that was about tricks for cats. And it was very well received and it won that particular article won a Muse medallion. And after that happened, it was the same year that my two dog trick books, including Chew This Journal, had been released. 

And when the cat article won a Muse Medallion, the publisher came to me and they were like, but what if we did a cat book?

Could we do a whole cat book? Is there enough enrichment activities, tricks, things that we could do? And I was like, absolutely. So it was very much a result of being able to demonstrate in the world that there was interest in cat activities. And the publisher saw the success of that article and that that was the book.

K: Perfect. So why do you think cat guardians should think about enrichment more? It's a big thing in the dog world, but why do cat people need to think about this?

S: Yeah, it's a huge thing in the dog world. And I'm hoping that we're getting to a place that we're starting to think about it more with cats as well, because it's so important to be able to provide cats with an exciting, interesting, sensory rich environment to live in.

And it's part of helping our cats to bond with us, to have more fun, to just in general have more engagement in their environment.

K: I love that there's so many things in the book that you can just kind of slot into your life. Like, things that I think you, as a cat person, you wouldn't necessarily think, oh, my cat likes running water. Like, I could turn the tap on for them. I love how it's just part of everyday life, but really making things better for the cat.

So can you give us some examples of the range of activities that are in the book?

S: Yeah. So I really wanted there to be a variety of activities that could work for people who, to your point, were like, I've never thought about this. I'm probably not going to go out and, like, retool my entire, like, home environment to like, create some sort of, you know, massive enrichment jungle gem for my cat.

So I wanted to include activities that people could do with things they already had around the house. So using, you know, the tap water, using delivery boxes or cereal boxes to create a sensory scent game for their cats. So things like that all the way to design and build a patio or let's do crafts together.

I really tried to create a range of activities to meet different readers.

K: Nice. Just this morning, I saw a reel on Facebook, someone was making a charcuterie board. She's like, Saturday night, I'm in with my cats. I'm making them a charcuterie board. And it was all about how they make the movement all attractive. I was like, right on, charcuterie board.

Can you tell us more about your favorite activities in the book?

S: Oh, yeah. You know, I think that my favorite activities really are rooted in thinking about sensory enrichment for cats. So how do you know? How are they experiencing the world? Like, touch, smell, things like that. 

So one thing that I really enjoy, creating a natural sensory box. So going outside and bringing in dried leaves or things like that that you're finding outside and putting them in a box and letting your cat spot them. 

Or creating a fishing game. That's a messy one, but, you know, in a bathroom on a kitchen floor and having a sort of a tub that you can put some amount of water in and waterproof cat toys and letting your cat fish them out. I think it's very, very fun.

K: I love that. Yeah. So if someone wants to improve their bond with their cat, what kind of advice would you give them?

I think my biggest advice is to really look at the cat that you have in front of you. That's something that I talk a lot about in the book. What does your cat enjoy? What does your cat find enriching or playful or, you know, what are they interested in? And then find ways to bring more of that into your cat's life.

K: I love it. Before we started the session, we were talking about how my cat Apricat likes to rip sticky notes down from my computer screen. So I think if I were going to write a top 10 list for him... And keyboards. What is it about keyboards?

S: They make such a satisfying little clicky, clacky noise. It's really fun.

Highlights of the conversation with Rachel Wells

Z: So Alfie the Christmas Cat is actually part of a long series of books now. It follows along from a few other Alfie the Cat books. Can you go back to when this started and tell us how the first Alfie the Cat book came about?

R: Yes, of course. And first off, I'd like to apologize for being on here and saying the Christmas word because I know it's September, so I do feel quite bad about that because I'm not ready to talk about Christmas. But anyway, it's just that it's the latest in the series.

I started writing the Alfie the Doorstep Cat series... Gosh, you know, about 10 years ago. I've always been a cat lover, and I've always written fiction, so it was sort of a marriage of the two. Plus the fact that before that I'd been writing maybe mainly sort of like contemporary romance and I was going through a divorce And I hated men at the time. Or I hated that one anyway. 

So, a cat seemed like a safer bet for me. You know, I've always wanted to write about the cats I've had in my life, throughout my life, from when I was born. And so Alfie, the doorstep cat, seemed to be a sort of embodiment of all of that.

Z: Brilliant. And so in the book, we have to talk about Christmas, because Alfie has to save Christmas. So without giving us any spoilers, what can you tell us about what this particular Alfie book is about?

R: Yeah, so throughout the series, Alfie's always sort of fixing problems and solving problems. That's the kind of cat he is. And in this one, he has to save Christmas.

To put a bit of context, the younger human beings in his life want to do a nativity show in the community to bring the community together and to raise money for a homeless charity. But somebody is out to sabotage it, and someone, which ends up being Alfie, has to discover who that is and save the show.

Z: And so Alfie is a very special cat. Now you actually have a cat called Alfie? 

R: I do. 

Z: But you said before that the fictional cat Alfie is an amalgamation of cats that you've known in your life. So how have those real cats influenced the fictional Alfie?

R: I think my bond with cats throughout my life has always been really strong, but each cat I've had has had a very distinct personality as we were just talking about.

But, for example, there's the element in Alfie of the cat who chose us. We had a kitten that kept coming to our house, and it turned out he was a farm kitten or supposed to be a farm kitten, didn't want to be a farm kitten, wanted to be pampered.

And so he kept coming back and we kept having to take him back to the farm. And in the end, I begged, begged, begged my parents to persuade the farmer's wife to let us keep him. And we did, and we had him for over 18 years. That was Tigger. 

So that was sort of, that whole premise of cats choosing their humans, choosing their homes, choosing their environments.

And, I mean, cats are smart, and if you listen to them and if you look for the signs, you know, they really do sort of. I don't know, I find them very inspiring in everyday life.

And that's another thing that all the cats I've had have had. I've had cats who were really affectionate, those who were very aloof. And I've managed to put all those characters somewhere into the books and that's been really lovely for me, for my journey.

Z: Mm. I think that's really lovely. And I think it helps make Alfie seem so real as well. And one of the things I love about Alfie is that he cares. Like, he really cares.

And many people feel that their own cat helps them in some ways. And obviously in this book, Alfie actually goes and saves Christmas. So do you think that helping theme is part of what makes the Alfie book so relatable? And also, can you tell us something about the themes of the book in relation to that as well?

R: Yeah, I mean, the thing is, throughout the series, they've always been about sort of helping how cats can help humans, because, you know, when we have a pet, we give them everything, but actually they give us even more than everything. That's sort of the premise that I base that on. 

And throughout the series, it's always been about kindness, being kind and helping, and looking at loneliness, looking at issues that we really face and sort of using a cat's cat's view.

And by the way, this is fiction, so if I sound crazy, I have a get out of crazy clause, which is its fiction. But so all those are themes that carry on.

Alfie is very kind, but he's also quite arrogant, in a lovely way. He thinks he's great and he does have a few comments. He gets into scrapes, you know. He nearly drowned once because he was so mesmerized by his own reflection.

So it's not just all hearts and flowers, but it's the journey of this cat that does really change people's lives, as I believe all our cats and dogs do.

So, you know, and there is a dog actually that comes into the book, which is in the Christmas book, came in a bit later. So it's not just cat centric, but it is very cat.

Z: It is very cat. And I think that's perfect for those of us who love cats and so not crazy at all, because everyone who loves cats kind of feels that way about them anyway.

And Alfie's actually been delighting readers for a long time. So what is it like to sustain a character like Alfie and also, you know, some of his supporting cast over so many books?

R: I think the problem that we have, and I'm getting to now. seven, eight books into the series, is that there's some characters that have always been in the books. But obviously to have new stories, you have to introduce new characters. So one of the sort of dangers is that you end up with like a million characters. And it's just a book filled with names, and everyone's like, I don't know who anyone is. So that's been one of my main challenges.

Another challenge I faced was I really wanted to deal with issues that we've talked about today, like grief. And so I used the loss of a cat in one of the stories, and lots of people have never forgiven me for that. So that was an interesting learning curve, but it was a way of saying, you know, our cats miss their companions if we lose a pet as well as us, you know, I wanted to sort of do it from that point of view.

Don't do that. I still get hate mail. 

So the challenges are always keeping a new story, keeping it fresh. But Alfie has become so much larger than life in my. You know, in my life. It's almost like he is real. So he sort of almost comes up with his own stories.

Z: I can imagine that. And it's funny because yesterday we had a session with crime and mystery writers, and one of those books starts with some dogs being poisoned. And the author said, the very first thing he said was, none of the dogs die. The dogs are all okay.

R: Yeah, and I think that's an important message and it relates to Sarah's book as well, that grief is real. And the grief is there for the cats as well. At least for some cats, anyway.

I mean, this is the other thing. I grew up with cats and dogs, and when we lost one, it was painful for the family, but it was very painful for their companion, their animal companion as well. And I don't think that ever gets considered. It does not ever get considered.

But that's something that I think we need to raise awareness of. So that. That's what I did there.

The interview highlights have been lightly edited for content and style.

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