The Old Maid card game was often illustrated with a dour woman and her cat, the “friend of the friendless”, as it was described at the time. Here is the co-creator of Batman, Bob Kane, explaining his creation of Cat Woman: “I felt that women were feline creatures and men were more like dogs. I don't read huge amounts of poetry these days but if I do I like it to really be memorable and special.

It just wasn’t representative of any of the cat ladies I personally knew, who are all independent, cool, career-driven women who really love their cats,” she said. But perhaps the moment the crazy cat lady motif truly jumped the shark was with the song Buttload of Cats on an episode of the television series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend earlier this year.Once a dowdy, eccentric figure with at least a dozen cats shedding hair on every available surface, today she’s a hip-at-any-age woman who knows an unassailable truth: Cats are awesome!

What a book , I loved this book so much it had me if fits of laughter but at the same time it was such an emotional read. Although, in recent pop culture, cat lady has evolved into shorthand for a lonely, sad, sexless woman. While not the typical ‘cat lady’ you probably have in mind, this collection of poems tells the story of an old woman in Rome who can talk to cats and with their help, tries to grant a dying man’s wish. After a promising career in medicine and law, she experiences burnout, starts drinking and gets a cat. It’s a quick read if that’s something you look for, made easier by the rhyming lines, but it’s also really enjoyable.

She tells Bast and the kits that kindly Cardinal Mezzaluna, who makes sure the cats get fed, had a mission for the Cat Lady, which also shows that he accepts her abilities. All that said, this would make a cute gift for a cat person who doesn't hold as strong a stance as me. Even before witch-hunts, cats had a bad rep in the western world – with associations with heretical sects and the devil.