Your cat has already mastered life. This is awkward for you.

🐾 How to Be More Cat — the ultimate life upgrade (no whiskers required).
Stop envying your cat and start learning from them. This 9-module course...

Clever Cats: Smarter Than You? 🐱💡

🐾 Clowder Press presents Clever Cats by Ian Heath — a dangerously intelligent collection of illustrated cats who are almost certainly smarter than their...

Celebrate St Gertrude

Cats have their own patron saint, St Gertrude of Nivelles. Gertrude was a 7th-century nun, the abbess of Nivelles (in modern day Belgium).  Cats didn’t...

Clowder Press at The London Book Fair 2026

On behalf of the Clowder Press, Belvedere and I hope that you all had a very successful and productive Book Fair, and that your paws don’t ache too much.

You...

Pisces Cat Energy 🌊🐟

Dreamy, baffled and slightly chaotic — welcome to Pisces cat energy. 🌊  explained by Stella Hyde, feline astrologer at Clowder Press.
Inspired by...

Death of a Diplocat

Very sad news. Palmerston, Emeritus Chief Mouser of the British Foreign Office, and Feline Ambassador in Bermuda has died. He passed away  peacefully...

Sagittarius Cats: Certified Agents of Chaos

Cats of the Zodiac
Sagittarius is in the house — and possibly on the rafters. ♐️🐾

These feline fire signs live all nine lives simultaneously,...

Happy New Year 2026

Virgo got delayed - or rather stood up!

At Clowder Press, we know every zodiac sign has a feline twin—and the Virgo cat (August 24–September 22) may just be the tidiest of them all. Watch as...

From London to LA: Libra Cats Rule the Zodiac

♎🐾 Clowder Press presents the Libra Cat — the zodiac’s smoothest operator and undisputed master of the honey trap. From London to Los Angeles, these...

Fantasy Premier League - FC Clowder City returns

Fantasy Premier League 2025-6. We’re back!
Yes, FC Clowder City is  back this season to repeat our field experiment exploring the impact of the feline...

Cats of the Zodiac: Leo

Break out the fizz. Leo’s back!  Self-confidence,  self-belief and chutzpah in a luxury furry suit. The Zodiac King,   Obviously not all Leos are male,...

Bastille Cats: A (Slightly Late) Feline Revolution 🇫🇷🐾

Bastille Cats
Clowder Press,  a bit en retard, celebrates Bastille Day, France’s Fete Nationale and  jour de gloire.  It’s to commemorate the storming...

Natioal Kitten Day 2025

Get your pounce on! 

Celebrate National Kitten Day with Clowder Press. Kittens are essentially start-up cats , so of course we want to encourage...

Cat Rules: Ancient Wisdom for the Modern Cat

Ever since their days as Egyptian aristocrats, cats have been perfecting the fine art of getting exactly what they want—from prime lap real estate to...

Cancer Feline Zodiac #4

🌙🐾 Meet the Cancerian Cat — Clowder Press’s guide to the moody moon-beast of the feline Zodiac! 🐱✨ Affectionate, dreamy, and gloriously domestic... until...

Was Maurice Ravel Secretly a Cat?

Discover why France’s greatest composer may have been more feline than human! From his obsession with Siamese cats to signing letters with “I lick your...

Hols at Last

Get away time.  It’s been an exhausting year so I’m off.

. 
Please do be amused and educated by our Essential and Parafeline titles

Feline Zodiac #3 Gemini

Wake up from the warm fuzzy Taurus food coma. It’s Gemini time again. Irresistible, ruthless charm coupled with an insouciant ability to slide out from...

National Tabby Day

It is National Tabby Day once again, so let’s hear it for the mog with the spots and stripes.   

Tabby is not a breed but a coat pattern - and...

Feline Zodiac #2 Taurus

Last time Taurus came round, Consultant Astrologer Stella Hyde wrote this for us:  

Life with a sweet, affectionate and often beautiful Taurus...

Les Purrs du Mal

It was Charles Baudelaire’s birthday on April 9. He would have been 204. Although it’s a bit late, the Clowder Press is celebrating him as one of literature’s...

Gestalt and Clowder Press

There are certain truths we come to learn slowly—over time, and often with the quiet guidance of something soft-footed and inscrutable.  Today I’d like...

Clowder Effect Series 1

The Clowder Effect and the Gestalt Influence. Series 1

Something about...The Clowder Effect
Why one cat is never one cat.  
Influence. A...

FC Clowder City - April

Gameweek 31 has come and gone, and was uniformly agreed to be disastrous by most FPL punters, so we are quietly pleased, as are our sponsors, The Clowder...

FC Clowder City Springs Forward

FC Clowder City, sponsored by the Clowder Press, is the only FPL team whose players are selected their cat factor.  

How are we doing?
Well,...

Go With The Flow

The Clowder Press congratulates Flow, directed by Latvian film maker Gints Zilbalodis, in winning this year’s Oscar for Best Animated Feature, as well...

Respect Your Cat Day

Yes, yes, we know that every day is Respect Your Cat Day, but March 28 is the official designated Day, which I suspect was introduced by cats to remind...

Clowder Clowder

Belvedere tells me that there is still some confusion over the name Clowder Press. This is rather surprising, considering that feline domination is almost...

Feline Zodiac #1 Aries Cat

I’m the Firestarter. The Spring equinox has sprung, it’s the beginning of the zodiacal year, and here comes Aries once more.  Hard hats on. This in from...

Clowder’s Favorite Saint

March 17, is the saint’s day of Gertrude of Nivelles, patron (matron?) saint of cats. At least that’s what cats let her think. Gertrude was a 7th-century...

Clowder Essential with Clowder Press

You will of course find the word essential in your dictionary of choice, so I need not explain. The Clowder Press comprises two lists: Clowder Essential runs...

Clowder Parafeline with Clowder Press

How does Parafeline work?

You won’t find the word parafeline in the dictionary yet, but Belvedere and I feel it is only a matter of time. That...

Maurice Ravel and Clowder's Creative Cats

Today is the birthday of Maurice Ravel, top French composer and noted ailurophile  He’d be 150,  that’s around 35 in cat years. He has featured in a...

FC Clowder City - March Report

Roger and I are co managers of FC Clowder City, as you all know, the Fantasy Premier League team owned by the Clowder Press who are contemplating adding...

Grand Theft Manek-neko

Hundreds of cats have been stolen from a Gordon Ramsey restaurant.  Not actual cats, you understand, but maneki-neko, the beckoning cat figurines from...

How Many Cats?

Clowder Press is very grateful to the World Animal Foundation for alerting them to a statistical solecism on our website. We claimed that there are over...

It’s National Cat Day!

Today is National Cat Day in Italy,  Brazil  and Poland. On behalf of Clowder Press,  Belvedere and I wish all gatti, gatos and koty a very splendid...

Happy Valentine’s Day

Belvedere and I wish you all a happy and impassioned Valentine’s Day. St Valentine didn’t appear to be a cat man, but we will celebrate anyway. Roger...

Palmerston gets the cream

Congratulations from all of us at Clowder Press to Palmerston,  Chief Feline Officer of the UK Foreign Office from 2016 until his retirement in 2020. 

Insight:...

Tuxedo Cat Appreciation Day

It’s Tuxedo Cat Appreciation Day once more. We covered this in the post of 29 January 2024, so you will know that today is not to be confused with Tuxie...

Clowder City Rules

Well. Happy New Year and so forth.
Our team, FC Clowder City, comprised entirely of players who have a strong feline connection, is now through GameWeek...

Happy New Year 2025

He’s what we’ve been up to all year...

Christmas 2024

Belvedere and I,  and Roger, wish you all a very splendid Christmas from the Clowder Press, where Cats Rule.

FC Clowder City

As you will know from our post on 28 October, Clowder Press have asked us, as Brand Ambassadors, to synergise with Fantasy Premier League, a football...

Cats of the Zodiac 8-Scorpio

Readers, I grovel. I have the heart and soul of an unset jelly. 
Zodiacally speaking we are three quarters of the way through Scorpio, and I haven’t...

Superstar Saka SIgning Sensation

As promised, an update on FC Clowder City, the team Roger and I are building for our foray into Fantasy Premier League.  We are field testing the efficacy...

Catty Scarlatti

It was Domenico Scarlatti’s birthday on 27 October. He would have been 339 years old. An absolute baroque star and pioneering king of the keyboards (harpsichord...

FC Clowder City

Can the feline factor influence the beautiful game?
During the Euros this summer we ran an experiment to see if we could predict the outcome using...

Félicette Astrocat

I have to report a shaming oversight.
It was 61 years ago today, 18 October, that Félicette became the first (and so far only) astrocat. I am mortified...

Cats of the Zodiac 7 - Libra

After a few weeks of being harangued for your own good by Virgo, please welcome Libra, oozing charm, their weapon of choice, to seduce with comfort and...

Old T.S. Possum

Happy Birthday Old Possum, born 26 September, 1888 in St Louis, Missouri. One of the most significant figures in modernist literature, he was a poet,...

Faulkner’s Clowder

Happy Birthday William Faulkner, novelist, poet and screenwriter, born 25 September 1897 in New Albany, Mississippi. Nobel Laureate and two-time Pulitzer...

Correction: Two Lions

Typical. The minute I publish our helpful naming suggestions, the Starmers unleash the new asset. Here he is. Fluffy, white and adorable, as anticipated....

‘A Very Fine Cat Indeed’

Samuel Johnson, the Sage of Lichfield, was born on 18 September (or 7 September if you are using the old system. It is very confusing, the result of...

Three Lions in Downing Street

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and family are now established in Number 10, along with JoJo, the family cat. Larry and JoJo have been circling each...

Cats of the Zodiac 6 - Virgo

Virgo, the Clean Up Queen
Leo has left the building. We know this because  cat hairs smother every soft surface, playfully eviscerated catnip toys...

Tuxedo Junction

It’s Tuxie Appreciation Day, 9 September.I know. It seems only yesterday that we were appreciating the Cary Grants of the cat world on Tuxedo Cat Appreciation...

White Cat Day

White Cat Day is celebrated on 5 September.If you are anywhere near a white cat, Belvedere and I advise you in the strongest possible terms to start...

Agent Orange

Celebrate ten years of Ginger Cat Appreciation Day, which happens on the first day of every September. Software engineer Chris Roy set up GCAD in 2014...

Fly Me to the Meown

Belvedere and I (and Roger) have just caught Fly me to the Moon, a very entertaining movie directed by Greg Berlanti about a handsome black cat’s pivotal...

Black Cat Appreciation Day

It’s Black Cat Appreciation Day 17 August.
Do not confuse this with National Black Cat Day, which is celebrated on 27 October.  
As you can see,...

The OTHER Cat of Science

Put the Schrödinger feline back in the box. I give you Mačak. Thanks to Mačak we have alternating current (AC), wifi, wireless comms, smartphones, the...

Now you see it...

Enigmatic street artist Banksy has been sparking joy in the UK – well, London mainly – with a series of delightful silhouettes of animals having fun:...

THE Cat of Science

Happy Birthday to Erwin Schrödinger, Nobel laureate and pioneer of quantum mechanics, born in Vienna 12 August 1887. 
Why is Schrödinger’s work so...

International Cat Day

Please excuse the tardy post, Belvedere and I (and Roger) have been celebrating International Cat Day (8 August) and things got a little raucous.International...

JD Vance, oh dear

Belvedere is urging me to comment on the egregious remarks made by JD Vance. Donald Trurmp’s running mate, apparently of his own free will. He once called...

Cats of the Zodiac 5 - Leo

Enter Their Majesty. It’s Leo time. Red carpets, fanfares and foie gras all round!  After all that Cancerian moony moodiness, it is a great relief to...

Under New Management

England went out against Spain (no dishonour) and the manager, Gareth Southgate, has resigned, despite his considerable achievements. England are the...

Arriba La Roja

Well done Selección Española de Fútbol.The official name of the conquistadors who took the Henry Delaunay Trophy, see image, at the final of the Euros....

Hats off to Larry

The UK have just held a General Election. For professional reasons, Belvedere and I must eschew expressing any political opinion, so we could not possibly...

EURO 24 5July Update

Well here we are at the quarter finals. It’s been a tedious trudge through mostly unconvincing group games and frankly excruciating knockouts. Will it...

Meet Roger

As you will know,  it has recently been Bring Your Cat to Work Day (see post Monday 24 June.) 
Belvedere and I have been mulling on this, as we didn’t...

Cats of the Zodiac 4 - Cancer

Here come the Moon Cats. After the hyperactive hurly burly of Gemini, Cancerian cats make a soothing, restful change. (Take a look at The Feline Zodiac). Think...

Cat World Domination Day

It is now twelve years since the Day was inaugurated on 24 June 2012. It has been an unqualified success. As Belvedere points out, many times, cats have...

Take your Cat to Work Day

Isn’t this an inspired idea? It’s something Belvedere and I can really get behind.  It’s only been a thing since 2021, when it was set up by enterprising...

Mrkgnao!

This was the yowl heard though the streets of Dublin on 16 June, as fans of James Joyce, cats, and James Joyce AND cats celebrated Bloomsday. It is all...

UEFA Euro 2024

You may not think so to look at me, but I am a great fan of the beautiful game. Belvedere is betrothed to the eggy ball, but retains a passing interest. And...

Cats of the Zodiac 3 - Gemini

Gemini May 21 to June 21That beautiful bovine Taurus interlude that lulled you into a 25/7 sleep pattern is well over.  It’s Gemini time. Lock up all...

Jellicle Joy

It’s 43 years since Cats the musical opened in the New London Theatre in Covent Garden. That’s 304 in cat years.  It was a huge success, running uninterrupted...

D DAY CAT

Thomas Oscar RN. It’s the 80th anniversary of D-Day on 6 June. In 1944, it saw the launch of Operation Overlord, the largest amphibious invasion in military...

Florence Nightingale and Mr Bismarck

No not that one. Belvedere has kindly pointed out that if it WERE that one, the heading would have to be Prince von Bismarck.  He is a stickler for protocol. Technically,...

Audrey and Orangey

Audrey Hepburn, luminous film star, fabulous fashion icon, and all-round class act, would have been 105 this month, on 4 May. The force was certainly...

The Laureate of Nonsense

The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea     In a beautiful pea-green boat,They took some honey, and plenty of money,   Wrapped up in a five-pound note.The...

Cat the Great and the Cats

Although born German, Catherine the Great became the Empress of All the Russias, ruling from 1762 until her death in  1796. Her long reign saw the expansion...

Cats of the Zodiac 2 - Taurus

It’s Taurus Time.
Actually it was 10 days ago, but things slid.
Our astrologer Stella Hyde was very generous about it because, as she points out,...

National Tabby Day

They’ve got stripes! They’ve got spots! They’ve got Ms on their heads! They are smart, capable, resilient, adaptable and the most ubiquitous mogs on...

Van Cats Victorious

Great news from Turkey! The Van cat population is surging. Van cats are a naturally occuring breed from the Van Province in eastern Turkey.  It’s home...

Birthday Bard

William Shakespeare was born 23 April 1564 and very poetically died on the same date 52 years later. You couldn’t make it up, although he could, as it...

Cool Cat, Hot Temper

This week, jazz buffs celebrate Charles Mingus, born in Nogales, Arizona on 22 April 1922. Virtuoso double bassist, keyboard player, bandleader, composer...

Show some Tortitude

Show some Tortitude
Tortitude is what tortoiseshell cats have.
This is what Tortie (or Torty ) Cat Appreciation Day (celebrated on 17 April.) Is...

National Haiku Poetry Day

National Haiku Poetry DayThis week saw the annual celebration of Japan’s celebrated poetic style, the haiku (on 17 April – a significant number, as you...

Iron Man, Cat Man

Happy Birthday week to Robert Downey Jr.Born on 4 April, 1965, Robert Downey Jnr (pause for swoon) is one of Hollywood’s highest paid and rated actors. RDJ...

We are Siamese, if you please

Siamese Cat Day is celebrated every year on 6 April. If you are lucky enough to have a Siamese cat, step up the praise and pampering. Don’t worry that...

Cats of the Zodiac 1 - Aries

As Aries headbutts Pisces out of the way, we welcome the zodiacal New Year, which starts round about the Spring Equinox (20 March this year). Aries is...

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

It’s Respect Your Cat Day on Thursday 28 March.Belvedere, along with many other cat commentators, harrumphs that this is a ridiculously egregious notion,...

One Cool Cat

It’s Steve McQueen’s birthday on Saturday March 24.  (Steve McQueen the actor, not Steve McQueen the artist and film maker, who is equally cool in a...

World Poetry Day

World Poetry Day, instigated in 1999 by UNESCO, falls on Thursday, March 21. Many poets were and are cat lovers, and many wrote specific poems about...

The Fourth Plinth Winner - Not the Cat

Disappointing news, ailurophiles. The verdict is in, and the winner of the coveted position on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, London, has been...

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig Ort!

Happy St Patrick’s Day for Sunday, 17 March  to all Irish cats and cats of Ireland , all 355,00 of you.  
This Feast Day for the patron saint is celebrated...

St Gertrude of Nivelles

Cats have their very own patron saint.  
It’s true. Gertrude of Nivelles is the holy cat lady of all felines everywhere, regardless of breed or colour....

Albert Einstein

Congratulations to Oppenheimer, which has just swept up seven Oscars, thanks to Christopher Nolan’s directoral prowess and Cillian Murphy’s outstanding...

Cat and Mouse Act

This week sees International Women’s Day on 8 Msrch
This poster, created in 1914 as an advertisement for The Suffragette newspaper, is a timely reminder...

Maurice Ravel

Joyeux Anniversaire to Maurice Ravel, BOTD in 1875.  
Regarded as France’s greatest living composer the during his lifetime, Ravel cuts an enigmatic...

The Fourth Plinth

Cats and cat lovers assemble – and more importantly, vote. The ballot to choose the new occupant of Trafalgar Square’s famous Fourth Plinth is open....

National Cat Day in Russia

Greetings glorious koshki. koty and kotyata of Russia. Today we celebrate you.Russia is home to some 23 million cats. Over half the population claim...

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant Hapus

Happy St David’s day to all you cats of Cymru from the Clowder Press. There are at least 620,000 of you and counting. Most of you probably speak Welsh,...

All the Single Ladies

All the Single Ladies. Today’s the day. It’s Leap Year, it’s February 29, and now’s the time for  women to propose to the man of their choice.  Also...

Neko no Hi!

It’s National Cat Day in Japan on February 22. The date for this annual feline celebration was chosen in 1978 by the Executive Cat Day Committee , after...

Do the Right Thing

It’s a big year for German philosopher Immanuel Kant. This month sees the 220th anniversary of his death, and in April we will celebrate his tercentenary.  
Kant...

Cats of the Zodiac 12 - Pisces

Time to splashdown into Pisces, the watery sign at the end of the zodiac. Aquarian enigma gives way to Piscean entropy. Pisces is the sign of dissolution,...

Presidential Cats

It’s the third Monday in February, and so Presidents Day in USA. It started out as a celebration of the two most famous presidents George Washington...

Happy Birthday Ed Sheeran

Today is the birthday of supertalented singer-songwriter and megastar, Ed Sheeran. He has sold 150 million records and has had 14 Number One hits with...

World Cat Day

Today, February 17,  it is World Cat Day in USA. The day was chosen to commemorate the mighty Socks Rodham Clinton, who died on this day in 2009 What...

For all Cat Lovers

Happy Valentine’s Day to all cat lovers and lovers of cats everywhere.  We are marking the occasion with one of Ian Heath’s  gorgeous  illustrations...

Cats up Trees

We have been avidly following the news about a heroic chap in New Jersey who rescues cats that, for reasons, get themselves stuck up trees. Steve Murrow,...

Argylle

Well, this is a bit embarrassing.
The movie Argylle, a spoof spy caper for a family audience, was premiered in the UK on February 2. It stars Chip...

Bukowski on Cats

Belvedere is a big Bukowski fan. He tells me that the ‘laureate of American lowlife’, Charles Bukowski (1920-1994), the mean, tough, hard-drinking, womanising...

Kitted Out on the Cat Walk

Belvedere, who is a shameless frockist, is extremely diverted by the news from the Catwalk. Of course, we have been here before, and leopard print has...

Wolfie the Cat

On 27 January it was the birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, infant phenomenon, child prodigy and cosmic musical genius. He was born in Vienna in 1756...