Tiddles, also known as the Paddington Station cat (1970–1983), was a tabby-and-white cat who spent most of his life in the ladies' room at Paddington Station, in London. Constantly fed choice meats, including tidbits from his admirers, he became famously fat.
On a cold morning in 1970, Tiddles was adopted as a six-week-old stray kitten by June Watson, an attendant in the ladies' room at Paddington Station.[1][2][3][4][5][6] Women began to come to visit him there.[7] In addition to fan letters, Christmas presents and a Christmas tree,[6] Tiddles received food from many of his admirers, which was stored in his personal refrigerator; some posted food to him.[1][8] As a result of his high-fat, high-calorie diet of delicacies such as chicken livers, kidneys, rabbit, and steak, the frequent tidbits from admirers, and lack of exercise, Tiddles became very fat.[2][9][10] By 1982, he weighed 30 pounds (14 kg) and won the title of 'London Fat Cat Champion'.[2][11] He was one of the most famous fat cats[3][5] (making his name ironic, as he was "anything but 'tiddly'").[12] He was filmed by a Canadian camera crew, featured in foreign magazines,[3] and in 1993, painted by Frances Broomfield.[13]
Attempts to reduce his weight did not work because his fans continued to overfeed him. He eventually weighed 32 pounds (15 kg)[14] and "resemble[d] a beach ball with fur."[11] Tiddles was euthanised in 1983 after veterinarians found fluid around his lungs.[9]
^ abSam Stall, 100 Cats who Changed Civilization: History's Most Influential Felines, Philadelphia: Quirk, 2007, ISBN 9781594741630 , pp. 136–37, p. 136.
^ abcAnthony Lambert, Lambert's Railway Miscellany, London: Ebert, 2010, ISBN 9780091937713, p. 13.
^ abcGerald L. Wood, Guinness Book of Pet Records, Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives, 1984 /Sterling, 1985, ISBN 9780851122755, pp. 75–76.
^"The Paddington Cat", in Philip Wood (ed.), A Passion for Cats, The Cats Protection League, Newton Abbot / North Pomfret, Vermont: David & Charles, 1987, ISBN 9780715389713, p. 92.
^ abMichael Zullo, Cat Astrology: The Complete Guide to Feline Horoscopes, rev. ed. Kansas City, Missouri: Andrews McMeel, 2001, ISBN 9780740718687, p. 22.
^ abJoan Palmer, All About Cats, London: Ward Lock, 1986, ISBN 9780706362978, pp. 23–24.
^Jayne R. Smith, "Innocent Abroad: The English Teacher in England", The English Journal 72.3, March 1983, pp. 80–85, p. 81 (online at JSTOR, subscription required), recommending visiting him when passing through London and giving his weight as 28 lb.
^"Fat Animals", The Week, 8 September 2010 (with picture).
^ abSarah Hartwell, Overweight and Obese Cats, MessyBeast.com cat resource archive, updated 2011, retrieved 24 September 2012 (with picture).
^Amanda O'Neill, Cat Biz: A Compendium of Amazing Facts and Anecdotes from the Cat World, Dorking: Interpet, 2006; Hauppauge, New York: Barron's, 2007, ISBN 9780764134678, p. 88.
^ abStall, p. 137.
^Adrian Room, The Naming of Animals: An Appellative Reference to Domestic, Work, and Show Animals, Real and Fictional, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1993, ISBN 9780899507958, p. 130.
^Tiddles, 1993 (oil and tempera on panel), reproduced from a postcard at Patrick Roberts, "Tiddles of Paddington Station, London", Working Felines: Rail Station Cats 2, Purr 'n' Fur, 2009, retrieved 15 December 2015.
^"Rising concern over feline obesity", Cat Watch, 1 January 2006 (Online at Highbeam).
ISBN 9780899507958, p. 130. Tiddles, 1993 (oil and tempera on panel), reproduced from a postcard at Patrick Roberts, "Tiddles of Paddington Station, London"...
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Look up tiddler in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Tiddler may refer to: A small fish, especially the three-spined stickleback Tiddler, the basic component...
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amongst others. Ker voiced the characters of Kevin Kangaroo, Wal Wombat, Tiddles Tiger Snake, Ranger West and also voiced the narrator for some of the read-along...
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character. Mum- Boris' mother, also a vampire. Gran- Boris' grandma, a witch. Tiddles- One of their pets, a Smilodon (or Sabretooth Cat). Fiendish- Their other...
adult entertainment show Eurotrash. Wayne The Zebra. Voiced by Bobby Ball. Tiddles The Destroyer. A mean fighting cat, long known to the gang, who despises...
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The "Ying Tong Song" (also known by its refrain, which is variously either "Ying tong diddle I po" or "Ying tong yiddle I po" rather than the oft-quoted...
artist. July 2016: Katsumi Watanabe and Shinchiro Ito June 29, 2022: Louise “Tiddle” Thomas March 30, 2023: Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift was presented with...
1927–1931 Rock-A-Bye Baby 1922–1926 Roses of Yesterday 1927–1931 Rum Tum Tiddle 1912–1916 Run Home and Tell Your Mother 1907–1911 Russian Lullaby 1927 Sadie...
This is an old English game, variously spelt Tiddley-Wink, Tiddly-Wink and Tiddle-a-Wink. It is the Block Game with the additional rule that playing a double...
Ball" "Bowling for Carwash" "The Knee-Knocking Tree" "The Best Friend" "The Tiddle Me Wink" "The Makeover" "The Miracle" "The Love Bug" "The Wobbly Wood" "The...
ejected. Advert: Zsponge Downtown Moggy (parody of Downton Abbey) Countess Tiddles Visits Lord Meowthan for lunch. Diddypops (parody of Top of the Pops) (Song:...
now protects the old glass. The churchyard includes a stone memorial to Tiddles, the church cat who fell off the church roof. There is also a stone grotesque...