Englishman James Bowen had an unsettled upbringing. While in school, he was sniffing glue and eventually was diagnosed with ADHD, schizophrenia and manic depression.
After living in Australia for a while, he returned to England  in 1997.

He was 18 years old and when living with his half-sister didn’t work out, he began a life of either living on the street or in shelters. James’ life revolved around his heroin addiction
and busking on the streets of London.

In early 2007, James tried to drag himself up by enrolling in a Methadone programme.  He was living in sheltered accommodation and one day returned home to find a ginger tom cat in his building.
Figuring it belonged to one of the other residents, he didn’t pay too much attention. The next day, the cat was still there.  James asked around and found no answers as to the animal’s ownership.
On closer inspection, he discovered a wound on the cat’s leg and decided to take it to the vet and get it treated.  And so James adopted the cat, who he named Bob.

Since then, Bob has led James into a public life.  Together they have become celebrities.  It began when Bob started following James everywhere.  He joined James busking on the street and James’ income rapidly increased.

He began to attract more and more attention.  Tourists would visit his spot just to see the cat, who was happy to dress up and sit still.

They went everywhere together…on foot…

And on public transport.

                                                                                     

You Tube videos appeared and newspapers got hold of the story.  This led to a publishing agreement and James started writing
about his experiences with Bob on the streets of London.  Apart from “A Street Cat Named Bob” and “The World According To Bob”,
a number of books for children have also been written.  Sold worldwide, James’s life has improved.

 Together they have become celebrities.

 And their teamwork is certainly causing a stir.

The books have been translated into numerous languages.  More than a million have been sold.
There’s also news that a movie will be made about the two of them.
Still living in London, James still loves busking and a healthy looking Bob goes too, efficiently taking care of the publicity.

A lovely good news story!

Our friends from Australia have hit another home run…thank you Mark for sending this to us.  Now we have a new book to purchase also.