Time To Get Real

To Have A Cat

Some people don't see the point of having a cat. After all, cats don't fetch, they ignore commands, and they aren't big enough to chase off intruders, so what's the point of having one at all?

I've always liked cats for some reason. Ever since I've been old to talk, I've always liked cats. I briefly had an orange tabby affectionately named Heathcliff when I was a baby, and I suppose it was the memory of soft orange fur under my cubby little hands that contributed to my ever-present love of the animal.

Which brings me to the present. Why have a cat? Is it useful? What's the point of "owning" something you can't completely control.

It's for that very reason that I prefer cats over dogs. I got my present cat, Figgy, from an animal shelter not to long ago. She's a smoke-colored tuxedo cat, which means she either looks black and white, or gray and white depending on the light. I have to say, she's a mixture of contradictions. She's totally fearless when hunting her plushy orange carrot, but shies away from the stuffed chicken toy because of it's large eyes. She'll approach newcomers in my home, but shies away from them when they get too loud. If I sit down too quickly in my chair, she runs, but will eventually come back to flick her tail silently against my ankle. She hates to be held, but will climb up on my sofa and and sit at eye level, demanding with chortles why I haven't petted her yet. When she's curious about something I'm doing, she watches me from her hiding place and waits until I call out for her.

And yet, I don't have any doubt that she loves me. I suppose to other people love is defined by the fawning obedience and worship of a dog, but I can understand the same emotion in a cat. Cats love by accepting others into their space, in their own time. Force a cat to do your bidding, and you're only welcoming scratches, hisses, and/or the cat running away to hide. It took me awhile to gain Figgy's trust. She had been in the animal shelter for 90% of her life, and she spent the first three months in my home hiding underneath my recliner. Eventually, she figured out I was okay, and before I knew it, she was begging for "rub-bies" and for me to throw her toy so she could retrieve it.

I don't have a problem with dogs, but there's something special about earning the trust of an independant cat. I suppose that's what I like about them. Dogs show their bellies to show submission. Cats show their bellies to show trust, from one predator to another. I'll choose trust over submission any day.