Ingenious couple create a ‘fake lap’ to keep ‘intense and clingy’ cat that wants to sit on them all the time happy – using a pair of trousers, a duvet and a heat pad
- Rebecca and Alex May, from London, adopted their pet cat Ziggy three years ago
- Feline was shy at first, but she soon started craving attention from her owners
- Couple, who work from home, created a ‘fake lap’ to keep their kitty happy
Working from home can come with a lot of distractions – especially when your pets are feeling needy.
But now an enterprising couple have created a ‘fake lap’ to keep their clingy cat happy while they do their jobs.
Rebecca May, 29, and her husband Alex, 32, from London, found the best method to keep their attention-seeking pet content involved a pair of trousers stuffed with a duvet cover to look like legs, as well as trainers below, and adding a heating pad inside.
The couple adopted ten-year-old Ziggy from a London shelter three years ago, and although she was shy at first, she soon started demanding their affection.
Rebecca May, 29, and her husband Alex, 32, from London, have created a ‘fake lap’ (pictured) to keep their clingy cat Ziggy, 10, happy while they do their jobs
The couple found the best method to keep their attention-seeking pet content involved a pair of trousers stuffed with a duvet cover to look like legs, and a heating pad inside (pictured)
Rebecca told the Metro: ‘When she bonds with someone it’s just really intense. She absolutely has to sit on you.
‘She’s almost on you before you’ve even sat down – she’ll see that you’re near the sofa and her eyes go black, her ears go flat like you’re a target. Once you’re down, she’s there.’
This didn’t prove to be a problem until Rebecca, a freelance marketing consultant and her husband, a retouch artist, recently began working from home.
Ziggy’s behaviour soon became problematic as she would climb all over her owner’s desk and laptop, preventing her owners from working, interrupting conference calls, clawing at headset cords, and pawing keyboards.
The couple adopted ten-year-old Ziggy (pictured) from a London shelter three years ago, and although she was shy at first, she soon started demanding their affection
Rebecca explained that at first, the couple tried their hardest to ignore her, but a ‘very stressed’ Ziggy would ‘sit behind you and yell until she has your attention’.
She tried placing a cat bed on her desk so Ziggy could stay close, but it failed to impress the attention-seeking feline.
Rebecca suggested that the cat needs warmth ‘and to feel protected’, so she came up with the ingenious idea of creating the ‘fake lap’ for Ziggy to sit on.
Rebecca explained that at first, the couple tried their hardest to ignore her attention-seeking ways, but a ‘very stressed’ Ziggy (above) would ‘sit behind and yell until she has your attention’
The usually needy pet took to it immediately, allowing her owners to work uninterrupted.
She explained that they have only used the device a handful of times, as they’re ‘usually happy to entertain her’ but added that they had occasionally found the cushion handy.
However she did concede they could be ‘a bit creepy’ to keep them up all the time, so the couple keep the legs on a need-by basis.