Elegant felines are superior to needy mutts any day – just saying!

The detailed plans for the statue of Hugo the cat.

One of the country’s biggest pet retailers revealed recently that transactions for cat products are now nearly a third higher than those for dogs. It is Generation X – 18 to 34 year-olds – who are driving the change, with more than 41 per cent sharing their home with at least one cat.

As the proud owner of Star, a snow white cat born in Bathgate who now rules the roost in Viewforth, I can attest to a moggie’s superiority over a dog. Dogs are like lovable toddlers, demanding attention all the time – my poor sister can’t leave a room without her precious poodle Betty skipping behind her. Cats on the other hand are much more independent, occasionally deigning to show affection, but only if cat treats are involved.

A cat may want to share your bed, but that is so it can pounce on you at 3am, insisting on the first of its three breakfasts. But there is something ineffably beautiful about cats. Their grace and agility is unrivalled in the animal kingdom, and if your cat does decide to sit on your lap or allow you to stroke its belly, it is as if you have been granted the highest honour.

As an unrepentant cat-lover, I was delighted to learn that city planners have granted permission for a sculpture of the famous feline Hugo to be erected in the city’s West End, despite objections from a handful of locals. The complainers described Hugo, an Arabian Mau who was killed in a car accident in 2023, as “unpredictably aggressive”, with one resident even accusing Hugo of biting his neighbour in the stomach.

But the anti-Hugo lobby gave their game away when one wrote that cats are not nearly as emotionally intelligent as dogs. “Are cats really what we are erecting statues to in Edinburgh in 2025? Just saying,” they shrieked. A city full of elegant cats cast in bronze sounds far more attractive than one packed with mongrels of all shapes and sizes. Just saying.