By Victoria Cumings
Never mind boring old NYC celebrities — meet Uncle Sidney, Jr., and Wee Thomas, a couple of Upper West Side celebriKITTIES! These amber beauties stand out from the crowd in so many ways, and can boast of an avid local following in their neighborhood around West 114th Street.
What is it that makes the pair legendary? Well, for a start, their gaggle of fans and visitors. The kitties love to put on a show preening themselves by the windowsill in their gracious ground floor apartment on Riverside Drive; Wee Thomas especially, with his long honey-hued fur, drawing ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ from onlookers. Children on their way to a nearby school enjoy peeping through the geraniums to see who’s there each morning, sometimes having hushed conversations with the cats through the mesh screen.
Whilst Wee Thomas is strutting his stuff by the window, Uncle Sidney, Jr., is also a never-ending source of entertainment. Unbelievable as it may seem, he enjoys eating cruciferous and other vegetables. Arrive at dinner time and you’ll find him munching on a broccoli floret, chunk of cauliflower, corn-on-the-cob, even a raw mushroom! His favorite is cooked asparagus, and if it’s sitting on a dinner plate, look out — Uncle Sidney, Jr., won’t hesitate to snatch and run. No doubt he’s already busy plotting some vegetable thievery for Thanksgiving.
Wee Thomas’s unique name comes from a Martin McDonagh play, The Lieutenant of Inishmore. As with many celebrities, however, he has an alias, and is otherwise fittingly known as ‘Phloughpheigh’ (pronounced Fluffy). He’s also adopted the pseudonym Colonel Mustard, apropos in light of his deep golden-colored fur. Uncle Sidney, Jr., a handsome gent with wonderfully expressive eyes, is named after a beloved great uncle.
As with many of the rich and famous, though living in the lap of luxury now, both kitties come from humble beginnings. Uncle Sidney, Jr., was found a few years ago as a fit-in-your-pocket-sized homeless kitten wandering around Avenue B on a hot summer night. Phloughpheigh was rescued not long after, lost and wandering around a Walmart parking lot in Jersey City.
Both enjoy their home life immensely, with plenty of places to hide out, including a claw foot tub! Wee Thomas is fond of decorating, and has been known to stay up all night rearranging his toys (as well as, much to his pet mom’s annoyance, other objects in the apartment). Uncle Sidney, Jr., having once tried to escape, quickly saw the outside world can be pretty harsh and was relieved to be returned by neighbors to the safety of his apartment to watch TV (his favorite show is ‘Breaking Bad’) and eat vegetables to his heart’s content.
Now around 9 years old, both Uncle Sidney, Jr. and Wee Thomas have healthy, sturdy bodies, maintained by their frequent jumping onto and back down from tables in the apartment. The boys also get exercise from chasing and tossing around catnip toys, of which they have plenty. Apart from that, their cardio consists mainly of walking from the food bowl to the bed (likely not too dissimilar to plenty of other UWS residents!).
At the end of the day, once the stage door is closed and the fans have gone home, it’s time for some rest. Although alleged to not particularly like each other, the pair’s snuggling prowess, and fondness for sitting close together, quite evidently proves otherwise.
Uncle Sidney, Jr., and Wee Thomas – paw pals for life . . .
Your article is a total pleasure to read! Thank you!
They are lovely and nice to hear that they were both rescued. Now they are enjoying a pampered life and I’m sure they bring much joy to their owners. Had never seen a cat eating asparagus before. Meowvelous!
Upvoted, yes, so glad they were rescued! It must be a joy for a school child to have a cat to talk to on the way to school. Friendships across species just blow one away. Rock on, Uncle Sidney and Wee Thomas!
More great UWS cats! Love to see so many rescue cats, and wonder if we should add vegetables to Freyja’s diet.
Really cute article – keep this column going!
The words were good and the photos were grrrreat!
Love them both! So handsome! thank you for sharing, and so glad they have such a good home.
So glad you introduced this column…as a feline parent, I have a special place in my heart for cats. Dogs are great too, so I also love Pupper Westside! Love the bathtub photo…these two are special.
Wonderful writing! This column is a keeper!
Wonderful felines, wonderful column! Thank you!
Loved this!! Thank you!
Vegan loving cats! only on the Uws folks..Great piece!
I wish my cats ate vegetables, cause I don’t like them. Great article.
Do they like turnips as well?
Delightful–thank you!