In 2007, recovering heroin addict, James Bowen returned to his sheltered accommodation in Tottenham to find a thin, mangy ginger tomcat on his doorstep. Despite limited resources, James began to feed the cat and nurse him back to health. After a fruitless search to find the cat’s owners, James decided to keep the cat he'd christened Bob.
Bob soon began following James across London to Covent Garden where James would spend all day busking for spare change. To ensure Bob’s safety, James made a makeshift lead and purchased a travel card for the feline commuter… Yes, Bob enjoys daily tube rides, curled up on James’ shoulders. Wrapped in a scarf, Bob now spends his days sitting faithfully by James, being petted by adoring strangers and listening to his owner sing.
The relationship lead to the final push James needed to end his drug dependency, “Bob came and asked me for help, and he needed me more than I needed to abuse my own body.”
Alongside the busking, James has a new job as a Big Issue seller and amazingly, received a book deal - the brilliantly titled, heart warming tale, ‘A Street Cat Named Bob.’
“We’re two injured souls looking for someone we can trust — and we trust each other.”
'A Street Cat Named Bob' by James Bowen, £6.99
