Welcome to the Wednesday Cats of Catster! Every week, we share a story from one of our cat-loving Catsters. This week is about Wes and his fiercely cuddly Russian Blue, Raphael.

Recently, Steph and I managed to grab tickets to see Gary Oldman (of Slow Horses fame) in a one-man play. Specifically, ‘Krapp’s Last Tape’ by Samuel Beckett. In our excitement, we decided that although Raphy wouldn’t be able to join us at the show (when they finally turn ‘Cats’ into a cat-friendly musical, we’ll be the first in line), there was no reason why he shouldn’t get to experience as much of the weekend as we could manage anyway.

So, one modest extra “pet” payment to the hotel and we were away.

Raphy is quite a confident and comfortable traveler now, by virtue of our working on it from when he was young. However, we always need to be careful that we aren’t complacent, and so every opportunity for us to build his confidence in adventuring and exploring is an exciting one.

On the morning of travel day, we always try to get him fed and on as early as possible so that he can adjust to the idea that he is going away that day, and it won’t come as a surprise to him when we finally bundle out the door.

Once the case was packed and we were ready to leave, I sat with Raphy, cuddling him by the door for 20 minutes or so. We factored this time in just to make sure that he didn’t feel too stressed about what was going on. As with any cat doing something exciting, a little cuddle goes a long way for reassurance.

By the time we made it onto the train and were reading our books, Raphy was fully comfortable. He was gazing out the window and watching the sheep and the grass and the trees roll on by, closing his eyes gently and then opening them again with every twist and turn of the tracks. It’s safe to say he really is a railway cat these days.

The challenge when travelling with a cat is that not every location will let them in—and we’re often too scared to break the rules. We were very lucky then to find an old hotel in York that would accommodate our little furry friends. In fact, the hotel had existed since 1878.

As soon as we arrived in the room, we left Raphy in his carrier for a few minutes to check everything was safe and to allow him to adjust to any strange smells and sounds. But as soon as it was opened, he was off – nose in the air, feet plodding gracefully around the room. Within 30 minutes, it seemed that every single surface at cat height had received a full and thorough “Raphy-rub.”

Unfortunately, we didn’t have space to bring the NomNom, so he was left to dine on a saucer. What a mistake that was! He made a total mess everywhere, with the bowl being pushed this way and food sloshing over the side that way.

By the time we went to bed, he was cuddling up with us exactly like he does at home. One moment resting on me, and then about 15 seconds later resting on Steph, and then coming back and starting again. Like a game of hot-cat-potato! As an aside, I always wonder why he does that. Does anyone else find their cat doing this? In some ways, it seems like he can’t quite get comfortable, but then it also seems like he is simply trying to distribute his love as evenly as possible. Let me know what you think!

After a lovely sleep, we couldn’t keep him cooped up in the room the whole time, and so the next day the training continued – this time at afternoon tea! Initially, Raphy really freaked out when he came down and tried to wriggle out of his harness. I was worried and thought that perhaps we should take him back straight away, but Steph mentioned that he was likely just a little confused, and if we sat calmly with him, he might enjoy it. Of course, she was correct. Within minutes, he was on the windowsill watching the world go by, and then turning around to watch the hustle and bustle of the tearoom. In fact, he relaxed so much that we were able to feed him.

As we went to bed that night, and he hopped from one chest to the next, it struck me; when we got Raphy, I never would have thought that one day he’d be on a weekend holiday, eating lunch while we have afternoon tea. How lucky we are to get to guide them through their first time living life, as they guide us through ours.