They need to know that you’re always aware of them and their world, and if you give them enough reassurance of it, they need less of it. They learn that you’re as always curious of them as they are of you.
That’s a beautiful way of expressing our interaction with cats. It’s what, to me, makes them such wonderful companions.
Part of the appeal of pets is that we are very different creatures, yet we can find, and enjoy, common ground in friendship.
The more intelligent and interactive the pet, the more we reap the benefits of this shared, but separate, take on mutual events.
Like all pets, cats fulfill some of their duties just by being there, a living link to another point of view, another perspective on our shared time, another heart to touch.
Cats are home companions.
Their drives for territory handling, social responsibilities, and emotional connections are what makes them fit so sweetly into what we do when we are at home.
In their original, wild, environment, cats developed strategies for hunting which involved a lot of observing activity, and figuring out how to insert themselves in that activity, in a way that benefits them.
This is how they can seamlessly become a part of our life at home; by adapting these same skills to integrate themselves into our routines.
One of the disparagements of cats I always hear is that they are not the ball-chasing, walk-taking, let’s-go-for-a-ride companions dogs are. Well, duh.
If that’s what we want, dogs are better suited to the various tasks these kinds of activities require. It’s really a straw man argument, isn’t it? We might as well complain that horses are not as easy to care for as houseplants.
We don’t ride houseplants. We don’t get a cat with the expectation of a Frisbee partner.
Dogs can perform similar tasks as cats do; someone who has just as much interest in our daily routines, someone to notice when we come and go, someone who loves to do things with us. But the way they express those tasks is very different between dogs and cats. Dogs don’t just love to go for a run, chase a ball for hours, and hike mountains. They need to.
Lapdogs came about so people could have a dog companion whose energy needs could be met with less effort on the part of their human. Small dogs have the same exercise needs as big dogs. They can simply be met in a smaller space.
As someone who spends much of their time reading and writing, I have found I can spend more time with a pet when that pet is happy doing the same things I like to do. This tendency is only increased with my current situation; living in a climate with a lot of cold weather, having a human companion who doesn’t get out much at the moment, and enjoying the benefits, and disadvantages, of a third floor apartment.
My preferred activities do not make me a second-tier person. Why would choosing a companion animal to match them make cats a second-tier pet?
There are a great many people who have complained to me that their current living arrangement does not allow them to get a dog; time constraints that preclude regular walking, space constraints that makes a dog not fit, or simply that their landlord does not allow dogs. Even people who do have dogs often ask me what to do about the dog ripping up the sofa when left alone, or that they have to rush home or find a mess, or that it’s difficult to fit in the dog’s exercise needs.
These are all people whose pet needs could be better met with a cat or cats; and yet they scorn the suggestion.
I love dogs! When my time and space permitted, I had dogs! But dogs are not always the best pet for a given situation. What I regret is that some people who enjoy the animal-human link that pets provide feel that the only way to have that link is to have a dog. They want it so much that they attempt to fit dogs into a situation that dogs do not fit. To the detriment of both parties.
That is part of this blog’s mission. Not only to help people who already get cats. To help people who don’t realize that their pet-want could be met with cats. To encourage these people to get cats.
For the benefit of both parties.
Got here from a Link or Search?
There’s more ways to get our cat to be affectionate in The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See all of my CAT AFFECTION posts.
U r really a pet specialist!
sandhi’s last blog post..Can you read this?