Over a decade ago, a tiny kitten was wandering the streets without a home. His fur was thin, his paws dusty, and life was uncertain.
That little cat was Cedric — and his fate changed the day Anita Corrie Schellevis found him. She gently lifted him from the roadside and promised he would never be alone again.
A Kitten’s Rescue That Sparked an Unexpected Passion
What neither of them knew at the time was that Cedric’s story would grow into something truly extraordinary. He wouldn’t just become a beloved pet.
He would become an artist — one who would dedicate years to shaping a single creation inside his home.
From the beginning, Anita sensed there was something thoughtful about Cedric. He was calm, affectionate, and unusually respectful for a young cat.
Unlike other mischievous kittens, Cedric never knocked things over or tore at furniture. He seemed to understand the rules of the house instinctively.
But even the most well-behaved souls have their quirks, and Cedric’s soon revealed itself — in the form of a staircase banister that would become his lifelong canvas.
A Banister Becomes a Canvas
In 2012, when Cedric was still young and curious, he discovered the wooden post at the top of the stairs.
It wasn’t fancy or remarkable — just a simple, smooth banister that connected two levels of Anita’s cozy home. But to Cedric, it was perfect.
While most cats would have gone for scratching posts or carpets, Cedric ignored them completely.
Instead, he returned to that banister day after day, sinking his claws into the wood with quiet focus. He wasn’t destructive in the usual sense.
It was more deliberate — almost as if he was sculpting, not scratching.
At first, Anita tried to understand what drew him to that specific spot.
She laughed, knowing how careful he was with everything else. “He’s the best cat I’ve ever had,” she often told friends. And so, instead of scolding him, she let him be.
Over the years, Cedric’s favorite ritual continued. He scratched the post three or four times every day, especially when guests visited.
It became a kind of performance — his way of showing off his “art.” Visitors would watch, amused, as Cedric proudly worked on the same piece of wood he’d chosen all those years ago.
What had once been a smooth, glossy surface slowly turned into a textured sculpture of claw marks and ridges — a record of eleven years of devotion.
A Masterpiece in the Making
Today, that banister no longer looks like it once did.
The years have transformed it into something only Cedric could have created — a worn, beautifully uneven surface shaped by thousands of tiny scratches. Some might see it as damage.
But to Anita, it’s something far more meaningful.
“The post was Cedric’s from the very beginning,” she often says with a smile. She’s never thought of replacing it or sanding it down.
Instead, she admires it as a one-of-a-kind work of art — a creation that represents time, love, and the quiet habits of a cat who simply followed his instincts.
Cedric, now an older gentleman, still visits his masterpiece daily. He steps up to it with pride, dragging his claws down the wood as if signing his name on another part of his legacy.
His eyes shine when visitors notice. He knows it’s his work — a gift from a cat who found his voice in the grain of a wooden post.
After more than eleven years, the artwork remains unfinished. And perhaps that’s the beauty of it. Like all artists, Cedric may never truly be done.
His creation grows a little more each day, shaped by his love for his home and the human who saved him.
It’s easy to overlook such small acts, but in Cedric’s world, every scratch tells a story — of safety, belonging, and creativity born from love.
What began as a rescued kitten’s simple habit became a lifelong masterpiece that now stands proudly in the heart of Anita’s home.
And while she jokes about the splinters that sometimes catch her shoes, Anita wouldn’t change a thing. To her, those marks are more than scratches.
They’re the signature of the cat who turned a banister into art — and a house into a gallery of devotion.