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I’m Badpuss, a saggy old cloth cat.  I have a label which tells me that I am an original, Badpuss. At least I think that’s what it says. At 49 years old the pink writing on the label under my bottom is now blurry.

I was bought, brand new, as a Christmas present for a child who loved me very much. We would sit and watch television where a cloth cat who looked very similar to me, had adventures in a shop. But as she grew up, I moved from her pillow to her chest of drawers, then finally I was placed in a box at the back of the wardrobe where I spent many years. Decades in fact. 

A life laundry saw me starring on a table at a car boot last year where I was bought for 50p as a snuggle-cuddler for a very old, very fragile cat who would cuddle up to me and sleep her days away. 

This poor old cat got grubbier with age, as she lost the will to wash and the dirt on her fur and paws rubbed off onto me. She drooled too, as she was toothless, which soaked into my once glittery cloth. 

One day, long after the old cat had passed away, I was picked up with squeals of delight which echoed round the room as a lady remembered watching the delightful programmes on TV as a child. It sounded like it was called …. ‘Badpuss’! She took me home, cuddling me all the way.

She always wanted a Badpuss of her very own!  Before long, I had been plunged into lukewarm soapy water, pummelled, rubbed, rinsed then hung on the line in brilliant sunshine to dry. I scrubbed up wonderfully! And I smelt a lot fresher too, it was as if I was being given a new lease of life.

Next, I was given a glittery collar to match my pink and white stripes, along with a tag that proudly proclaims that my name is Badpuss, and details of my new owner.

At nearly fifty years old, I am now about to embark on a new adventure. My new owner, who now has her childhood hero, … me, with her, promises to take me everywhere she travels. All the years I was abandoned on a shelf in a dark wardrobe are over.  She will take me on cruise ships with her. I will be a good icebreaker, (especially in the Arctic!) as everyone seems to remember the character like me from their childhood television. I will be introduced to other passenger’s Teddie bears, invited to picnics, and have cocktails with the Captain.

And of course at night when I’m alone with my owner and she gives a good yawn, it will be time for this tatty old Badpuss to go to sleep, cuddled up with my new friend, because really, I am just a saggy old cloth cat, a bit tatty at the seams, but my new owner loves me…. very much!