Alfie the Doorstep Cat: The Story Behind the Story

All the cats that Rachel Wells has had the honour of knowing throughout her life became intertwined to form Alfie the Doorstep Cat's personality.

It is extraordinary to think I have written eight books about Alfie. He’s become such a huge part of my life - I even named my female cat after him! He might be fictional but he has become part of my family and I am so grateful for him.

Sometimes it’s hard to remember a time before Alfie. I wasn’t in a great place, personally. I had just divorced, moved house and my son was starting school so there was a lot going on.

So what to write about? As a jaded divorced single mother romance was the last thing on my mind. So the obvious answer was to write about my other love - cats.

When the idea of a cat fiction was discussed, I knew that I wanted to use all the cats I had the honour of knowing throughout my life to create a very special cat - and Alfie The Doorstep Cat was born.

I had Gilbert, who loved to be taken for walks on a lead when I was really young. He was a cat who enjoyed being with me so much and I remember taking him to the beach - something I used in ‘Alfie The Holiday Cat’ actually because you don’t see many cats on the beach!

My second childhood cat was Tigger. Tigger was supposed to be a farm kitten, but he kept coming to our house and he would sit on our windowsill asking to come in. My mum would call the farmers wife and they would come and get him. He was supposed to live outside with his family of farm cats to keep the rodent population down. Clearly he didn’t want the job, because he came back to our house day after day until in the end I begged for us to keep him. I think the farmer’s wife was so fed up of collecting him, she agreed and he lived to a ripe old age with us.

When I was in London, I had a flatmate and a cat turned up. We had no idea where he’d come from, no collar, none of the neighbours knew who he was and no one claimed him. These experiences made me think of how cats often choose their owners.

A good friend also told me of when she was young, there was a cat who visited lots of houses in her street and the eventually discovered that it had different names with different families. I loved the idea of a doorstep cat. Alfie, a doorstep cat, who carefully chose his homes, and his family, because he is one clever cat.

And by the way, I might not have felt like writing about love but Alfie is full of love, different kinds of love, so there you go… Writing Alfie helped me at a difficult time. It gave me a lot of strength, a lot of happiness, and that is why Alfie is such a special cat.

But then all cats are incredibly special.

Rachel

P.S. Please note - there are seven Alfie the Cat books published in the UK - and the new book will be accessible on It’s A Cat’s Life in due course, so please stay posted!

Alfie’s Club

Thank you to everyone who shared their favourite pet photos with us via Alfie’s Club. We will be featuring one pet every fortnight.

For our first Alfie’s Club special mention we have the super fluffy Fiamma with baby blue eyes - so beautiful! We looked up the meaning of Fiamma “a feminine name of Italian origin reserved for the tiny tot with a fiery soul”. Purrfect name indeed!

If you would like to send us your pet photo details on what to send and how are can be found on via this link Alfie’s Club

Featuring in the Next It’s A Cat’s Life: Cat Signs - the Virgo Cat by Astrologer Jessica Adams

If your cat was born or adopted between the dates of August 23 - September 22 please send their image and name through to Alfie’s Club along with their date of birth/adoption date. We may feature them alongside Cat Signs - The Virgo Cat.