With Help From Her Human, One Cat Blows

The Whistle On Fellow Felines And Calculating Canines

By Shannon Hicks

The World’s Oldest Cat Blows the Whistle (A Sizzling Expose!) represents a step by Richard R. Budman into a new world: that of writing.

After years of painting and exhibiting his very contemporary works of art, Mr Budman “collaborated” with his cat Ughy to come up with the recent release, told from the point of view of Ughy. Mr Budman and his wife, Susan, live in Sandy Hook, where they share their home with — in addition to the now-published feline — dogs Blossom, Hux-Lee, and Toolah. Ughy, a tabby with a bright orange tip on her tail and eight toes on her left front paw, calls Felix the Cat her mentor and is the self-proclaimed “oldest cat but also the youngest looking, longest living cat in the history of all felines.” She is also, says Mr Budman, “the star of the lot.”

The book seems to have two parts. The first offers a look at some well-known cats and dogs (“Ughy’s tight with a lot of animals,” said Mr Budman. “She’s not prejudiced.”) while the second moves into memoir territory, with Ughy relating fictionalized adventures from her life into the lives of cats like Jasper (who later became Tom, of Tom & Jerry fame).

There are plenty of reminders and stories of famous cats. Among them are the aforementioned Felix (“a role model because of his creativity and integrity”), The Cheshire Cat and Garfield, along with Scat the Cat, who played the leader of a jazz band in the 1970 film The Aristocats. Ughy also tips her hat to The Cat in the Hat, who “has probably done more to teach humans to read than any other cat, dog, or human on earth.”

Because some of some of her best friends are dogs, Ughy gives ink to FDR’s Scottish terrier Fala, Asta (of Thin Man fame, whom Ughy describes as “extremely self absorbed. He never met a mirror that he didn’t fall in love with.”) and Lassie, who is, since 1938, “the most respected dog on the world.”

 In small part, there is also a history lesson or two wound into the book. The World’s Oldest Cat brings up the popular Krazy Kat comic strip of the early 20th Century, the introduction by Ford Motor Company of the Edsel in 1958, the debut of Pluto in his first feature film (1930’s The Chain Gang), and the opening of Cats on London’s West End in May 1981.

In addition to reminding readers about things they may already know, Ughy and Mr Budman dispel at least one myth.

“Fala was born in 1940, FDR died in 1943. It’s a misperception that Fala was around for all four of FDR’s terms,” said Mr Budman.

Mr Budman — and Ughy, of course — also offer some subtle life advice in telling this story: Don’t accept anything on blind faith. Keep your head up and remember to look both ways before crossing the street. And of course, you can’t teach old dogs new tricks.

“I tried to weave a story through the memoir part of the book,” said Mr Budman, “pulling together Ughy’s story with familiar cats and dogs of history.”

The book’s illustrations are Mr Budman’s own doing. The cat and dog paintings that fill the pages of The World’s Oldest Cat Blows The Whistle came from the paintbrush and imagination of Mr Budman. They are some of the same surrealist paintings that have been featured everywhere from private collections in Los Angeles, the River Gate Convention Center during the World’s Fair in New Orleans and the gallery at Temple University to Housatonic Museum of Art in Bridgeport, Danbury Hospital’s Praxair Cancer Center, and even Bethel Arts Junction, where he had a solo exhibition for four weeks in 2005.

While the paintings in The World’s Oldest Cat Blows The Whistle are all of dogs and cats, Mr Budman’s oeuvre usually focuses on the human body. Nevertheless, there were plenty of images to choose from when it came time to illustrate his first book. And whether he is painting critters or humans, the work is bold, vibrant and colorful, punctuated with oranges, blues, and yellows.

Having said all that, however, the heavily illustrated book is not necessarily a children’s book.

“This is an adult book that has a lot of illustrations,” he pointed out.

The idea for The World’s Oldest Cat Blows The Whistle came to Mr Budman last year when he thought he was about to lose his feline friend to the great litter box in the sky.

The Budmans met Ughy when they moved from Danbury into their Sandy Hook home in 1989. She was waiting for them.

“When we moved into our house we already had four dogs and three cats… and Ughy was waiting for us,” said Mr Budman. “We tried to get rid of her, to shoo her away and discourage her from being around, but she wouldn’t leave. She refused to leave.

“So we took her in, and she’s still with us.”

Last summer, things were not looking great for the aging tabby cat.

“I was out on the deck, watching my old cat, sitting there having trouble breathing,” said Mr Budman. “I thought she was dying, and then I started thinking what she would say if she could tell her story. A 100-year-old cat, she must have traveled around and met everybody. She’s seen everything, she’s met everyone.”

From that idea came a project that did not end until Mr Budman found a publisher in AuthorHouse, a Bloomington, Ind.-based self publishing book store.

“The other cats have all died,” said Mr Budman, “but she’s still here. She’s healthier now than she has been in a long time, in fact.”

 Mr Budman is already well into the process of his next book, which will be a collaboration with his dog Hux-Lee (“He goes by Hux, actually, because Hux-Lee is really much too pretentious for him.”) What the two of them will uncover will, promises Mr Budman, “be controversial.”

Upcoming Programs

Mr Budman already has four public programs scheduled to help celebrate and promote his latest project (although there have been a few impromptu book signings when he visits friends at some of the local stores, and meets customers who are immediately interested when they hear about his book).

First up will be an appearance on a segment of Better Connecticut, which airs weekday mornings at 10 on Channel 3. Mr Budman is expecting to be interviewed by co-host Scot Haney on Friday, April 25.

On Saturday, May 3, Mr Budman, his book, and some of his artwork will be featured at Koenig’s Art Emporium in Southbury Plaza. That program will run from noon to 3 pm; call the store directly at 264-2860 for details.

Next will be the debut of Mr Budman’s book in his hometown, when he offers an Author’s Program at C.H. Booth Library on Thursday, May 22, at 7 pm.

Mr Budman has also promised to participate in the next fundraiser being presented by Ridgefield Operations for Animal Rescue (ROAR). That event, called “Woofs, Wines & Felines,” and planned for Saturday, June 7, will take place on the green in front of Cellar XV in Ridgefield. Details are still being finalized, but Mr Budman has donated paintings for silent or live auction in the past and plans to do the same for the upcoming affair.