This is Dolce. Cat number three in birth order. Also known as Bubba, Mr Bubba and Bubba Lubba.

Bubba is my accidental cat. You know, like some people have an accidental child after celebrating a vasectomy….

He was brought to my house by one of my daughter’s suitors, much to my initial horror. I remember screeching “get that thing out of here, I already have two cats,” to which the trembling lad responded “but I paid $250 and they don’t give refunds.”

So I agreed to keep him for the night, until other arrangements could be made. By next morning, however, the little bubba had wound his way into my heart and was not going anywhere. At the time, he looked like this:

My daughter decided to call him Dolce, but he quickly became Bubba due to his tiny frame and wide-eyed stare. Sometimes we called also him The Flash because he could be spied scooting around the floorboards at unexpected moments.

As a young cat, Dolce grew to suit his fashion-industry moniker, with his glamorous fur hiding a waif-thin body underneath. I called him “butterfly bones” for a while, because he felt almost weightless when he took his customary sleeping position on my stomach during the night.

But now he is almost three years old and has developed fully into A MAN, weighing an incredible 5.7kg! And yes, he still sleeps on my stomach most nights….

Dolce was sold as a mixed breed, so we don’t know where he gets his exotic looks from. He’s definately an Asian cat of some kind, being the same blue colour as my two Russians (including the fine stripes on the lower legs), being very pointy (fine boned) and not very talkative.

Bubba, however, does not need to talk when he wants to me to know something. He’ll wait til I’m standing somewhere (like when I’m bruishing my teeth) and then reach up behind me, wrapping his front legs around my legs or clawing me in the arse. Either way, he always gets my attention!

Bubba brings joy to my life by being the most placid, beautiful and companionable cat I know. He also researches new and exciting sleeping positions, like this, just to keep me entertained:

Post script: Since writing this I’ve been told by a reader that Dolce is not a mixed breed at all, but a Nebelung.

Wikipedia says that Nebelung cats are lively, playful, affectionate, good-natured, and intelligent. Nebelungs are very good communicators and will remind their owners of problems. Many owners of the Nebelung cat say that they can act more like a dog at times, being extremely loyal to their owner and family. It enjoys sitting in a lap and being petted and will follow its favorite person devotedly from room to room. That sounds like my Bubba….