Wednesday Picture: The Fat Cat of Southwark

As you may know, we love a good street cat story (you may remember the one about the Banksy-esque stencil of Brixton’s Hitler cat, a while back).

Following our feature last week on the dramatic changes afoot in London Bridge (and your chance, until 8 July, to help shape what happens there) a reader got in touch to tell us about her some of her gripes and loves about the area. And topping the list of loves was her favourite local resident: the Fat Cat of Southwark. And it was too good a tail, ahem, to pass by.

Said reader was Charlotte Duckworth, co-founder of Decorum, a social media/content agency that regularly holds workshops at the stylish Citizen M Hotel on Southwark Street – the feline’s favourite haunt. “The Fat Cat of Southwark is a famous local celebrity.” Charlotte emailed. “She’s basically the friendliest cat ever and so everyone in the area knows her – she even has her own Facebook fan page.” The renowned puss even, as you can see above, made it onto a Google Streetview map of SE1 0SU – the Blue Fin Building.

But who is this charismatic cat? And what has she done to warrant such public adoration? Jennie Filer, a Streatham resident who works inside the Blue Fin Building is the founder of the famous feline’s fan page. “I’m a bit of a sucker for cats,” she explains, “and will usually stop whatever I’m doing if I see one and make a fuss of it. I first became aware of this one just by walking around at lunchtimes, or on the way to Waterloo. I was first struck by FC’s size – well, duh! –  but also how friendly she is.

“She has a sweet nature, but at the same time a bit of a cheek, too – if you bend down to stroke her, and you’re carrying any sort of bag, she’ll be in there, paws-first, foraging for food. I was once kneeling down, filming her on my iPhone and she tried to see if my iPhone was edible. And through talking to people in my office, I realised most of us has spotted her at some time or another.”

Jennie, who’s a magazine sub-editor for Pick Me Up! and Chat magazines (and so probably no stranger to tales of giant cats), has been surprised that the page she set up in 2010 has become so popular – it now has 500+ followers. “I started the page  just as a giggle for my workmates,” she explains, “and it’s insane how much the page has grown. But with so many people living, working and socialising in the area I think she’s just become well-known through word of mouth: someone will remark on this huge cat they saw on the way to work, their mate will say, ‘Oh yeah, she’s on Facebook…’ and there you go. It’s lovely to see what affection people have for her – and how she brings out the weirdly creative side of people… there are all sorts of memes and drawings on the group’s page.”

Indeed, the Fat Cat has a T-shirt range in her honour, left (which you can buy from Joe’s Daddy Tees) and she has also inspired a cartoon – above, right – in her local paper, the Southwark News.

She’s even become known further afield than SE1: “One lady from the US was planning a trip to London,” continues Jenny, “and she actually asked for the street names where Fat Cat has been spotted, so she could find her and say hello. Mad!”

So what is Fat Cat’s background – does this charming hobo have a home… a name… or is she cunningly living on her wits – and scavenging skills – to make it by as a street cat? “She has a home, yes,” says Jennie. “The first I knew of this – and her real name – was when a young girl posted on the page saying: ‘OMG COCO HAS FACEBOOK!’ And various members of the family who own her now post on the page, including updates about her health – because, as much as we affectionately joke about her size, Coco’s weight is a worry for her owners. She’s on a vet-supervised diet, but unfortunately this is undermined by the people feeding her on the street.”

In fact, Coco’s family went as far as to ask Jennie’s Facebook group to help them with publicising a poster campaign, politely asking people not to feed her.

It’s been a year or so since Jennie last encountered Fat Cat in the street, “But thanks to her lovely 500-odd fans, who post pictures and comments in the group, I believe she’s still with us and still in the area,” says Jennie, “but not winning any swimwear competitions… just yet.”

Words: Kate Burt. Photos courtesy of The Fat Cat of Southwark Facebook Fans. Find them here.