Dog or cat?

This Monday, August 8, we celebrate International Cat Day, an opportunity to make a revelation... Hergé, father of Tintin and his faithful four-legged friend Snowy, actually preferred cats.

Indeed, the talented illustrator had a particular passion for little kittens. Fascinated by the mysterious charms of this feline, he owned one himself, a pretty Siamese cat. It had been given to him by his friend Philippe Gérard, and it was his collaborator, Paul Jamin, who humorously christened it Thaïke: "little Thai" in Brussels dialect.

This race seduced Hergé by its Asian reserve and its independence. Thaïke certainly inspired the Moulinsart cat, adopted by Captain Haddock.

Fortunately, Hergé offered a happy ending as Snowy made peace with the latter in the last panel of the album The Calculus Affair.