As the French writer Jean Cocteau wrote," I love cats because I love my home and after a while they become its visible soul."

Well there must be a lot of soul at the Sam Kee Book Company in North Point, where as of this month, there are 29 felines in residence, brushing against the legs of customers poring over the books, sleeping on blankets in the cozy little nests that have been set about the place. If some customers happen to interrupt their contemplation of the mysteries only cats can fathom, the customer is likely to be repaid with a look of sheer feline superciliousness.

Some cats, more independent by nature, take to avoiding customers, by making literary works their stepping stones, leaping from one stack to the next, with such gracefulness to recall the French proverb, "the dog may be wonderful prose, but only the cat is poetry."

The owner of the bookstore, Carol Chan, believes the cats read the books at night, which is how she explains the cats are no bother.

Once in a while she trims the cats' nails and she has set climbing towers and kitty gyms, to give the lone rangers something other than book covers on which to sharpen their claws.

Chan says she has taken in more than 800 stray cats since the 1980s. Most but 29 have been given away to other cat lovers.

She remembers the first two strays she brought home. "They were newly born so that their eyes were not even open. I fed them with milk but they had diarrhea. Then I found out they could only drink skim milk. I gradually learnt to take care of them. Soon they grew up. That was the first time I realized even a little help can save lives, as long as you're willing to reach out to those in need."

Last July, a blind cat, Fok Jai, was stolen from the bookstore by a visitor. The news soon spread all over the Internet and media in the city. People were furious, and promised to help find the cat. Four days later, Fok Jai was returned.

Chan comes to the store every afternoon, and works until dawn, while she feeds the cats at midnight. More than 30 years of working together with her cats has made her so "jealous," as she watches how attentive they appear in every endeavor, whether it being playing, eating or sleeping.

Chan said she will not retire unless she is too old to move. Life in the bookstore continues with people reading while the cats are sleeping, and neither are discomfited.

agnes@chinadailyhk.com

"The reason cats climb is so that they can look down on almost every other animal - it's also the reason they hate birds." K.C. Buffington. photos by roy Liu / China Daily

"The problem with cats is that they get the exact same look on their face whether they see a moth or an axe-murderer." Paula Poundston.

"It doesn't do to be sentimental about cats; the best ones don't respect you for it." Susan Howatch

"One cat just leads to another." Ernest Hemingway

"The domestic cat seems to have greater confidence in itself than in anyone else." Lawrence N. Johnson

"A kitten is the most irresistible comedian in the world."  Agnes Repplier.

"Cats conspire to keep us at arm's length." Frank Perkins.

"The cat is the only animal which accepts the comforts but rejects the bondage of domesticity." Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon.

(HK Edition 01/11/2016 page10)