Jonty O’Neill describes his cat Beans as a big fluff ball whose favourite pastime is climbing and causing havoc.
“She’s a little rat, but I still love her,” Mr O’Neill said.
“She’s destroyed the curtains; she likes to climb them.
“She likes to claw at the fly screen and climb up it.
“And she loves knocking things off the table.”
Beans is an adorable 15-month-old tortoiseshell cross cat.
She enjoys playing with toys with strings and dangling objects but takes even more pleasure in destroying them.
Beans is partial to a bit of affection every now and then, but only at her request.
“I’ll be sitting watching movies and she cuddles up with me,” Mr O’Neill said.
“She does love a cuddle. It’s just on her terms, no-one else’s.
“You have to let her come to you.”
And, of course, she loves attention — and knows how to get it.
“She wakes me up biting the lamp next to my bed,” Mr O’Neill said.
“I’ve gotten in the habit of feeding her when she gets up. When the alarm goes off, she knows she gets food, so she’s trying to get me out of bed.”
Trips to the vet are also popular.
“She gets a lot of attention at the vet,” he said.
“Beans likes to explore; she’ll jump off the table and start running around the room. It’s pretty cute.”
Mr O’Neill got her at the end of 2022 when she was only a month old and still tiny.
She was the runt of the litter out of about six kittens from Mr O’Neill’s work colleague’s cat.
“I got her from someone I work with. Her cat got out, came back and was pregnant,” he said.
“I got Beans out of it.”
Although Beans enjoys playfighting with other cats, she likes her home life as is.
“I’d love to get her a little friend, but I think she likes being alone,” Mr O’Neill said.
“She sleeps up next to my head and sleeps on the pillow sometimes. It’s really cute.
“I think she likes that it’s just the two of us.
“If I got another cat, I think she’d probably be a bit disappointed.”
When it comes to dogs, Beans isn’t so confident.
“She’s met a couple of dogs before,” Mr O’Neill said.
“She didn’t try to attack them or anything, but she was just a bit shy.”
Mr O’Neill may be a first-time cat owner, but Beans has made it pretty easy for him to become a devoted cat parent.
“I’ve never had a cat before,” he said.
“But Beans has definitely turned me into a cat person.
“She’s my baby.”