Hodge the Cat

This feline was one of Samuel Johnson’s (1709 – 1784) pets, immortalised in a characteristically whimsical passage in James Boswell’s ‘Life of Johnson’.
The cat Hodge along with Dr. Johnson’s second favorite cat, Lily are the subjects of a book by Yvonne Skargon (Johnson is also given authorial credit) entitled, Lily and Hodge and Dr. Johnson. The book consists of quotations from Johnson’s Dictionary, accompanied by Skargon’s woodcarving illustrations of the two cats.
Hodge the cat! Looking as well-​fed as his owner, Samuel Johnson.
Indeed, the feline was one of Samuel Johnson’s (1709 – 1784) pets, immortalised in a characteristically whimsical passage in James Boswell’s ‘Life of Johnson’.
Nor would it be just, under this head, to omit the fondness which he showed for animals which he had taken under his protection. I never shall forget the indulgence with which he treated Hodge, his cat: for whom he himself used to go out and buy oysters, lest the servants having that trouble should take a dislike to the poor creature. I am, unluckily, one of those who have an antipathy to a cat, so that I am uneasy when in the room with one; and I own, I frequently suffered a good deal from the presence of this same Hodge. I recollect him one day scrambling up Dr. Johnson’s breast, apparently with much satisfaction, while my friend smiling and half-​whistling, rubbed down his back, and pulled him by the tail; and when I observed he was a fine cat, saying, ‘Why yes, Sir, but I have had cats whom I liked better than this;’ and then as if perceiving Hodge to be out of countenance, adding, ‘but he is a very fine cat, a very fine cat indeed.
Number 17 Gough Square, London, was the home of Dr Samuel Johnson which he shared with his much loved cat, Hodge. Not many cats have a statue erected in their honour, but opposite the house, which is now a museum, stands a charming bronze of this famous eighteenth century feline. It was sculpted by Jon Bickley, a former zookeeper.