Your Newly Adopted Cat
- 1. Tips for the First 30 Days of Cat Adoption
- 2. Bringing Home A New Cat
- 3. Do I Need to Litter Train My New Cat?
- 4. 9 Ways to Welcome Home your New Cat
- 5. How to Throw a Kitten Shower
- 6. How to Choose a Scratching Post
- 7. New Cat Introductions
- 8. Tips for Introducing Two Cats
- 9. More Tips for Introducing Two Cats
- 10. A Paean to the Cat
A Paean to the Cat
Monika McDole
June is Adopt a Shelter Cat month, and in honor of the noble feline and all the he's and she's of the species that I've loved in my life, today's essay is about the wonderful, marvelous, absolutely spiffy, Cat.
I love cats. Cats are the only animals in the world who can totally validate your self-esteem one minute, and leave you emotionally bruised the next. They're like every human's relationship nightmare bound up in one, furry, be-whiskered package.
There's nothing like a cat to ensure that you aren't co-dependent. Cats are wonderfully supportive, affectionate, clever, insightful, mystical creatures -- if they feel like it. If not, bug off, or feel the wrath of the mini-jungle cat.
But overall, I much prefer the company of cats to the company of dogs. Dogs (bless their sloppy hearts) are sycophants of the highest order. Yes-men everywhere could take a page from the dog's book. Cats are much more genuine and subtle. Kind of like the aristocrats of old, they make you want them to like you, to notice you, to legitimize your existence with a regal nod of the head or squeeze of the eyelid. You feel so good if your cat purrs on your lap, or rubs noses with you, or curls up quietly next to you in bed. It makes you happy because it doesn't happen all the time. As a matter of fact, more likely than not, this spurt of attention will have been preceded by a long period wherein your cat didn't so much look at you when you came in the room; he looked through you. No one can make you feel like a nonentity better than a cat can.
And like any good aristocrat, a cat can inspire you to go through great privations without even obviously encouraging you in that direction. For instance, as I write this, I am sitting in an extremely uncomfortable chair that I dragged in from another room; my fiance is sitting at his computer on a battered old swivel-stool with no back and squeaky wheels, and the one, the sole, comfortable executive, infinitely adjustable, ergonomically correct chair we own is currently hosting a napping Montague, the black mackerel tabby who is the King of my Heart.
One of the endearing things about cats, of course, is that they start out as kittens. Excuse me for a minute while I wax rhapsodic, but I really have to say that there is nothing in this world that is cuter than a little, itty-bitty kitten. There just isn't. Humans look like drunk, angry grubs as babies; horses look like they're 75% leg, and as far as I'm concerned, that just leaves kittens in the race. Puppies are terribly cute, too, but they're really hard to housebreak, which knocks them out of the running in my estimation. A kitten, well, just point it to a litter box (with sides low enough for it to climb into) and poof, they're trained. As a matter of fact, they'll probably thank you for introducing them to a new plaything (the elan and hauteur of a grown cat is markedly absent in kittens). Anyone who doesn't fall down laughing at the sight of a kitten madly mining down through the Tidy Cat with single-minded dedication and steely resolve is probably dead, and certainly isn't worth keeping on your Christmas card list.
Cats are wonderfully droll humorists. I would say without reserve that some of the biggest laughs I've ever enjoyed in my life have come from one of my cats. Cats are the absolute masters of hilarious capers which then metamorphose into grand gestures of dignity and aplomb. For example, witness Lily, Mistress of the Couch, whizzing, ZIP!, past my office door, headed to the kitchen. Now count to 10 and, ZIP!, she races past the office door back to the bedroom. "Hmm," I think. "She must have gone for a quick lap around the house." But then, within a minute: ZIP!, a gray blur streaks past again.
And again, and again. ZIP!
ZIP!
What the heck? I get up, go to the doorway and look out.
There is Lily Lightwhiskers, calm as you please, laid out in perfect peace next to the couch. She looks at you with that butter-wouldn't-melt expression which for the merest instant shifts to a devilish, "Made ya look" grin, then melts back into tranquility and calm, the only proof that I wasn't hallucinating the whole thing being that her sides are heaving ... just a little.
And now, I feel compelled to point out the obvious, since this essay is, after all, in honor of the many wonderful cats languishing (sadly most of them more "scared stiff" than "languishing", admittedly) in shelters all over the world: Cats are great companions, but they are companions, not just pets who can be relied upon the fend for themselves when you get tired of feeding them, or allowed to breed because kittens are so cute, and the kids would love to have some to play with.
The truth of the matter is that there are more cats than good homes for them, thanks in large part to all those folks out there who think that they aren't contributing to the problem if they let Fluffy have "just" one litter. Don't kid yourself. I won't get graphic about it, but let me just tell you that most kittens who go to "good homes" (as in "Free to...") don't wind up living out their lives in a happy sun-filled reverie.
So even if you never do another thing on this earth for another being, spay and neuter your cats, please, please, please.
And cherish the kitties you have as the furry aristocrats that they are. If you're an animal lover with room for one more, adopt a kitty from your local shelter this weekend.
It may be the only time you get to entertain royalty in your home. Or better yet, have royalty entertain you.
And that's something you don't want to miss.
© 2002 Monika McDole
Monika welcomes your comments. She can be reached at mmcdole@heavyhorse.com
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