Meet Simba, The Crazy Cat Who Loves Bubble Baths

Simba the cat/Caters

Cats may famously loathe water, but there’s one adorable moggy who will happily spend hours soaking in a bubble bath.

Simba, a crazy ginger cat from Essex, spends up to an hour in the tub at least twice a week.

His owner Helen Mason, 24, from Witham, Essex, was astonished when her kitten started pouncing into her leftover bathwater – and after placing him into a bubble bath following an operation, she realised her peculiar pet loved nothing more than relaxing in the tub.

Since then Simba, now two-years-old, enjoys a long soak on his own, spending up to an hour relaxing amongst the bubbles.

Simba the cat/Caters

Understandably, Helen was initially a little bemused by her pet’s new hobby.

“It was bizarre seeing him so happy sitting in the bath just like any child would,” she said. "The first time I put him in there to clean him I quickly noticed that he loved being washed in the bath.

"Before he used to sit and watch us in there but I never thought he’d want to get into the soapy water himself.

"It was such a shock at first because he’d never done it before, since then we’ve struggled to get him out of the tub.”

Helen said she can no longer leave any water in the bath, as Simba will just jump in.

"Now he has a couple of baths a week to himself and pounces in our leftover water whenever he can.

"I don’t mind him doing it but I’m trying to curb his love of baths because he is a cat and I know it’s not normal but he seems so happy in there it’s hard not to let him jump in.”

Owner Helen Mason with Simba after bath time/Caters

But this wasn’t the only unusual thing the mum-of-one noticed about her cat.

Simba also goes out for walks on a lead and when off the lead, he’ll happily chase after dogs in their local park.

“Every time we left the house Simba would follow us whether we were going to the shops or even further,” recalled Helen. "The first time he did it we laughed and just thought it was a phase that he would grow out of.

"But one day he was walking alongside us he ran in front of a car and was nearly hit, so I decided that if he was going to walk with us he had to go on a lead for his own safety.

"Before we put him on a lead he would run after the dogs trying to play with them – it was like he thought he was a dog.

"It’s really funny to watch him chase after other pets as all he wants to do is play.”

Simba the cat/Caters

Helen says she often suffers verbal abuse for taking her cat out on a lead.

She said: “In our local village people will often point and laugh at us for taking Simba for a walk.

"I understand it’s quite weird to see a lady walking around with a cat on a lead but it’s for Simba’s own good.

"I don’t want him to come to any harm or to get hurt playing with other pets so we have no other choice.

"When we got Simba I knew he was a bit of a character and not your average cat but I never imagined he’d be like this.”

Bathtime for Simba/Caters