More than a feline: one woman in mourning for the king of cool cats

THIS is about a dead cat. No more. No less. In the great scheme of things, it couldn’t be less important. Just a dead cat.

This cat was named after Dean Martin because it was so cool a cat. It lay about looking languidly elegant, and when it went from A to B, you had the feeling that it expected cameras to be about, filming its sinuous progress.

Dino was always well-groomed, as you’d expect from a cat born in a wardrobe. He wore his silky black suit with an air of casual conviction. This put him in sharp contrast to Scruffy, his big white twin brother, who, from kittenhood, never saw anything dirty without wanting to cuddle up to it. Scruffy always looks like a derelict, homeless and slightly baffled sheep. Dino, on the other hand, was camera-ready at all times.