Favorite Literary Felines

So who are you favorite felines--domestic house cats and big cats--in literature? Mine are Chester from the Bunnicula books--he's brainy and sarcastic and his best friend is a dog. He didn't get along too well with Bunnicula at first but I think he was feeling anxious about his place in the family. It had been just him and Harold for so long and now there was a rabbit. He did much better when his family got a puppy.

I also have a soft spot for Harry Cat from The Cricket in Times Square series. He lived with a mouse, they took in a puppy, and found it a good home when it became apparent the puppy was going to outgrow their home.

There's Crookshanks from Harry Potter. I think I'd like him more if Crookshanks hadn't been so open about wanting to eat Ginny's pet pygmy puff, Arnold, but I still like him. I wish JKR would tell us how he spent the DH year. Did he go off to Australia with Hermione's parents? Did he spent it in Ginny's care?

What other cat is there but the Cheshire Cat from Alice In Wonderland? There was funny stuff being smoked and he made Alice quite giddy after all....

There's a children's book called Witch Cat by Joan Carris that I used to love when I was little. I reread it recently and the language was a little too "beginning reader" to hold up well, but the cat, Rosetta, was awesome.

You can bow down and worship me now. Or Simba. Or Shere Khan. "We R Siamese, if you don't plz." Baboomboomb.

A few days ago I read Catch as Cat Can by Rita Mae and Sneaky Pie Brown (part of a mystery series featuring two cats and a corgi as characters who can talk to each other and other animals) and the two cats, Mrs. Murphy and Pewter (and the corgi Tucker, too), were the only characters I never wanted to smack at any point. In fact, they were very charming and funny! I wish the book had been all about them.

It's more of a "demon from hell in a cats body" than cat, really, but my favourite feline ever must be Behemoth from Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita". He eats pickled mushrooms straight from the jar, plays chess, likes Dostoevsky, shoots people and saves burnt manuscripts. Best cat ever.

To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Connie Willis, features a wonderful cat named Princess Arjumand. (Also, an equally wonderful dog, a bulldog named Cyril.) They're real animals, they don't talk or anything, but they're absolutely deilghtful and charming.

Ser Pounce! Also, Balerion. I wonder if GRRM really did plot out that cat's life, or it was just a coincidence. Anyone know?

Greebo, from the Discworld.

If comics count as literature, then Mezgraf. But only really for the look.

If comics count, then I'm voting for Hobbes, the tuna fish sandwich-loving tiger.