The Cat’s Meat Man

Housecats became a phenomenon in the US and UK many decades before the phrase “Meow Mix” was a glimmer in Ralston-Purina’s eye. Enter the cat’s meat men: pushcart peddlers walking mile after mile through London, offering skewers of horsemeat and offal for sale. For The Public Domain Review, Kathryn Hughes takes you inside their (presumably nine) lives.

Within minutes of the cat’s meat man embarking on his circuit, the barrow would be surrounded by felines, some of whom had perfectly good homes to go to and others who did not but still hoped that a sliver of flesh might fall their way. Although there were plenty of grim jokes circulating about how cat’s meat men supplied the toughest meat they could get away with, the fact was that many of these rough diamonds were known for their tender hearts. It was not unusual to spot a cat’s meat man slipping scraps to the hopeful strays that wound around his ankles. He was their guardian, their special friend. Sometimes he could even bring about fairy-tale transformations: no less a lady than the Duchess of Bedford had recently adopted a stray that had been rescued by her local London cat’s meat man.