Continuous canal cruiser adopts kitten

A CAT AND HER KITTENS that were abandoned on the towpath were rescued by the RSPCA with a kitten then adopted by a continuous cruiser.

The cats had been abandoned in a bin bag and left on the towpath, Janet Friend reports.

Became a companion

This was featured in Narrow Escapes, and happened 15 years ago, with the boater, Andy Hamblin taking the male kitten, he named Hugo, onto his narrowboat to live and who quickly became a companion.

At first he ran his engine in short burst so it did not frighten Hugo, but he soon became used to it.  Then he built a cat-flap and so he settled on the boat as his home with Andy becoming fond of the cat, their now being together for the 15 years. Photograph by Andy Hamblin.

Andy tends to mostly cruise the Shropshire Union Canal where people get to know Hugo and make a fuss of the affectionate animal, with Andy telling Narrow Escapes:

It was so sad

“When I saw Hugo’s story, it was so sad I knew I had to adopt him. I fell in love with Hugo. “He was just a kitten when I adopted him and ever since that day he has been by my side.

“I work as an artist and I work from home so we have been together every day, he’s my little buddy.

“He’s such a soft, loving cat and he wants fuss all the time. He’s very affectionate!”

Where Andy stops for a couple of weeks he has become a local celebrity with passers-by stopping to take a picture of him coming out of his cat flap or sunbathing on top of the boat.