First named pet in UK revealed as cat called Mite who lived in 13th-century Hampshire monastery

While now we are surrounded by cats with all manner of names, from Tiddles to Fluffy, once upon a time the mouser was viewed as property, not a pet.

However, a historian has now revealed that feline friends were viewed as part of the family as early as the 13th century, as the first ever British pet to have a name was a cat named Mite.

The cat lived in Beaulieu Abbey in Hampshire around the year 1270 and has been discovered, along with his name, in an illuminated manuscript from the time.

Ancient Egyptians were the first to have named their domesticated animals; Abuwtiyuw, the guard dog to a Pharaoh, is thought to have been named in 2280 BC.

Historian Jacky Colliss Harvey, author of The Animal’s Companion: People and their Pets, a 26,000-Year-Old Love Story, has worked with FirstVet to uncover what is believed to be the first British domesticated cat with a name.

Ms Collis Harvey said that the life expectancy of ancient cats increased as people began to view them as pets.

She explained: “Most cats living around Mite’s era would have had the same life-expectancy as street cats today - that is, about five to seven years. But as with today, what would have made the difference was an owner’s tender care.

"Some notable examples of long-living cats include the writer Samuel Johnson’s cat, Hodge, who is now immortalised by a statue outside Dr Johnson’s London home. Records show that this 18th- century cat lived long enough to have lost his teeth (corroborated by the fact that Johnson famously bought him oysters to eat when he could no longer chew).”

Later, other famous pets were named and loved by their owners in Britain. ‘Math’ was the beloved dog of King Richard II (1367-1400). Math is said to have deserted Richard II for his rival, Henry Bolingbroke - who would eventually go on to become King Henry IV.

‘Nosewise’, ‘Smylefeste’, ‘Trynket’, ‘Nameless’, ‘Clenche’, ‘Holdfast’, and ‘Crab’ were names mentioned in a 15th-century book on hunting, written by Edward, 2nd Duke of York between 1406 and 1413. ‘Crab’ was later used as the name of a dog in Shakespeare's 16th-century play, The Two Gentlemen of Verona.

‘Terri’ is the name of a small dog depicted in brass on the tomb of Sir John Cassey and his wife Alice in Deerhurst, Gloucestershire, around the year 1400.

David Prien, CEO and co-founder of FirstVet, said: “800 years on from Mite, naturally much has changed in regards to pet care. But the humanising aspect of naming an animal remains just as profound. While the age of the internet has resulted in vast documentation of the lives of pets, these rare but poignant historical examples of names demonstrate that, as now, animals were valued companions to humans.”