The largest cat rescue charity in the UK, Cats Protection, carried out a survey recently on (not surprisingly) cats and their owners.

It was the biggest survey of its kind ever undertaken and involved more than 10,000 respondents.

A large number, but dwarfed by the sheer number of cats in the UK which is thought to exceed 10 million, with almost a quarter of all households owning one.

Some of the survey’s findings are more weighty than others - with the list of most popular cats’ names being lower down on the impact scale.

For the record, though, the top three female names are Bella, Poppy and Molly and the top three male names are Bobby, Charlie and Alfie.

The survey highlights that cats are complex creatures with a number of requirements, and that there’s always more owners can do to better understand their feline friends - what they are trying to tell us and how we can respond to better meet their health and welfare needs.

For example, although cats often appear to be the epitome of calm and coolness, this can be a front because cats are masters at disguising illness, injury and stress.

Despite their owners’ best intentions, the survey showed that 45% of cats exhibited signs of stressed behaviour.

This can be a sign that something is wrong, even that the cat is in pain, and so an owner needs to try to find out what’s causing the stress and visit a vet if problems persist.

The survey listed indicators of stress and how often they occur, including:

l My cat bites/scratches me or other people (12%)

l My cat hides for long periods of time (11%)

l My cat regularly fights with other cats (11%)

l My cat defecates or urinates outside the litter tray (9%)

l My cat runs away from me (9%).

The survey showed that obesity is a growing problem in cats, with 32% of respondents describing their pets as being overweight.

You should be able to feel your cat’s ribs easily when you stroke their body lightly, and you should clearly see a waistline when you look at them from above.

The survey also asked about injuries or accidents that respondents’ cats may have sustained, with one in four having had a major incident.

Around 11% of these were caused by fights with other cats, and 7% from encounters with other animals.

Road traffic accidents were stated as a cause of injury for just 3%, perhaps demonstrating the fact that very few cats survive such an accident (and drivers need to stop if they think they have hit a cat to ensure it is taken to a vet straight away).

Sadly, shockingly even, a sizeable number of owners reported injury as a result of cruelty: 1.7% stated that their cat had been poisoned, and a further 1.6% said that their cat had been shot by an air gun.

For all cat ownership can have its challenges, there are far, far more rewards.

Lovely two-year-old Spaghetti (not a name that appears in the top 10!) would like to prove how rewarding she can be as a pet, now that she’s finished her maternal duties.

She came to us as a stray and promptly gave birth to five healthy kittens the same day.

She was a wonderful mum and now it’s her turn to be the centre of attention.

She’s quite timid but is becoming more and more trusting, and so a quiet home would suit her best, ideally one without young children or boisterous pets.