I'm a crazy cat lady and I'm proud of it

Comedian Lou Sanders on the life-affirming love a pet can give, and how Taylor Swift has finally made cat ownership cool

- HANNAH BRITT

Comedian Lou Sanders is a cat person - and very proud of it too. She’s in good company, as research reveals there are around 10.2 million owned cats in the UK, meaning one in four households have one.

"I'm obsessed with my cats and not afraid to show it," says Lou, 46, who starred in comedy series Last One Laughing and has recently been named an ambassador for leading family connection app Life360.

"I'm a mad cat lady, but it's a phrase that needs rebranding. In fact, Taylor Swift has helped begin the rebrand."

Swift has three cats: Meredith Grey and Olivia Benson, both Scottish folds, and Benjamin Button, a ragdoll.

Lou, who lives in Margate, has two: Bobert, a three-legged feline who lost a leg in a road accident, and Baby.

"I don't think it helps my mad cat lady persona that I called one of them 'Baby'," she says.

"I go outside to call them in, and people must think, 'She keeps losing that baby!'"

There's a method in the cat madness, though. Science shows owning a cat helps to lower blood pressure, decreases stress hormones like cortisol, and promotes relaxation through physical contact. Spending even a short amount of time with a cat can improve mood and their presence offers companionship and distraction from worries.

"It's the unconditional love that they give you," agrees Lou, who won the eighth series of Taskmaster.

"I was thinking the other day, if I murdered someone my cats would still love me."

The stigma around women and cats needs to change, she says.