Cats at Work: Leanne McGregor on furry friends

Leanne McGregor is both a cat person AND a book person, who works as managing editor at Allen & Unwin New Zealand. What better person to pen a book on cats with jobs? Fun, full of puns and with furry friends on every page, Cats with Jobs will make a great gift for those in your lives that adore their cats and enjoy the way stories of fabulous working cats. It had only been in my house for half an hour before it was snatched up to be read and admired.

Kia ora Leanne, this is just the sort of comfort read I like at this time of year. Can you tell us a little more about your initial concept for Cats with Jobs and how it developed?

I’m one of those people who lights up when they see a cat and wants to hear your cat stories. And as the office cat lady at a publishing company, I figure I have a responsibility to bring cat-themed ideas to the table. We’ve published two beauties called Bookshop Dogs and Good Dogs; surely now it is time for the cats to shine.

The ‘jobs’ part came to mind because I’d been following Daisy the Waitakere Hospital Cat on social media. She does great mahi in the wards, making patients and staff smile. It got me thinking about other places where cats might be ‘working’ and the idea grew from there.

I took the concept to an office brainstorm, thinking that if it was a goer we could shoulder-tap an author to write it. Somehow that person ended up being me.

How did you find the cats’ stories? It would take a very long time to visit each one!

It was much easier than I expected to find hardworking cats. I built up a wishlist, starting with the ones that have a public profile already, such as Dirty Frank in Queenstown and celebrity cat Mittens, who now lives in Auckland but is world famous in Wellington. Then I brainstormed jobs and workplaces where you might find a cat. My google history was full of stuff like ‘pub cat’, ‘cat actor’ and ‘pet food taste tester?’ The New Zealand Police proved to be a surprisingly rich source of material — there are three active police cats in the book, plus an ex-cop who’s pivoted into another field.

I had about 70 cats on my list at one point, and then it was a matter of reaching out to their colleagues and families to see if they were willing to be interviewed for the book. There were some I didn’t manage to connect with, and some I left for next time because of logistics (so many Auckland cats, we wouldn’t have been able to fit all the pawprints on the map!).

Visiting all the stars of the book would have been a dream, but the budget didn’t stretch that far in a cost-of-living crisis. I got to have a sitdown with Mpal from the Manurewa Pool and Leisure Centre, and shadow Ollie on his shift at Mitre 10 Lincoln Road. Most of the interviews were done via video call, phone call or email — but I’m hoping I’ll get to meet more of the cats over time.

Who are you hoping will read the book?

I hope it finds an audience among cat fans like me, or anyone who wants a break from the doom and gloom to have their heart lifted a little. These cats are little legends who deserve to be celebrated. The book can be read from cover to cover, but it’s also easy to dip in and out of if you’ve got other demands on your attention or you just want to look at cool cat photos. And there are cats from all around the motu, so most people will find there’s at least one in or near your region that you can take some local pride in. It’s a very Kiwi book. Only one of the cats has since moved overseas (Fiddy the florist).

What jobs do your own cats have or have had?

When I was a teenager and still living with my parents, I had a cat called Westie, and her job was tormenting my father. He’s not a cat person but for my sake he tolerated having her around. They waged a torrid war over his vege garden. I remember a particular day when he’d tried to keep her out of the room he was in, and she kept finding ways to sneak back in. On the third round, she somehow got up on the roof and squeezed through a gap in a really high window — something she’d never done before. I think he was grudgingly impressed by her.

Most recently I had Boots in my life for 14 years, until December last year when kidney failure finally got him. I say in the book’s dedication that his only job was ‘being the best boy’ and that’s true. But I did sometimes wonder if he had a side hustle going on with the lovely local vet, as we were back and forth to that place all the time.

Is it too unfair to ask whether you have a soft spot for any particular cat in Cats with Jobs?

I love them all, but I have to admit to a soft spot for Ross, who’s the park ranger at Pukekura Park in New Plymouth. Perhaps it’s because he reminds me of Boots: he’s only got one eye and he’s carrying a few battle scars, but he’s a scallywag and a charmer. I haven’t met Ross but it’s on my bucket list. Earlier this year, my bestie and I decided to pick a spot for a long weekend and make it somewhere we hadn’t been before. I’m not saying I pushed for New Plymouth because of Ross, but I’m not denying it either.

I know you shepherd plenty of other titles into the world, but this is your first book. Did the writing process for this one make you want to write others? Perhaps a series?

I’ve learned to never say never, but finding myself writing a book was unexpected. The first part of the process came easy — researching, tracking the cats down and hearing their stories — but when it came to the writing, I was a nervous nelly. I worried about every aspect, from failing to spot what made each cat special to using too many puns or getting ripped to shreds by a cat book critic (they must be out there). In the end, the trick was pretending that I was writing it only for myself and that no one was going to see it. That helped me shut out the inner critic and find the fun.

It’s given me even more appreciation for the writers I work with, and the courage it takes to put your work out there in the public arena, and I’m sure it’s made me a better editor.

I’m not sure yet if I’ll do it again, but there’s certainly enough material for a Volume II. I’ve also had friends outside New Zealand suggest an international series. Wouldn’t that be the ultimate — travelling the world to meet cats!

And lucky last - what’s on your summer reading stack, specifically books from Aotearoa?

Obviously, I’ll be snapping up a copy of Mark Vette’s new book, Cat Zen: A Comprehensive Guide to Raising Gentle and Resilient Cats. The psychology of cats fascinates me. What are they thinking? We’ll never know for sure, but if there’s a way to communicate better with them, I’m here for it.

Also on the towering stack of TBR is 1985 by Dominic Hoey, which has been recommended to me approximately one hundred times (the eighties are my jam), and The Paradise Generation by Sanna Thompson, which faced stiff competition to win the YA category at this year’s NZCYA Awards. And I’m late to the party with this one, but I’ve been saving up Carl Shuker’s The Royal Free to read over the holidays. The main character is a copy editor — sign me up now.

Cats with Jobs by Leanne McGregor. Published by Allen & Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand. RRP $27.99. Available now.