Truth about cats...

I love my cat. A statement that would be a bit odd coming from me a decade ago because I never had a love for cats.

I was (and still am) a dog person. The child-like innocence of dogs has always won me over. You come home and the dog is just in stitches that you CAME HOME ("Oh BOY! Oh boy o boy o boy o boy o boy o boy o boy!!!! You came HOME!"). Then you realize that you forgot to take out the trash on the way to work, so you grab it, go outside for the maximum of 2 minutes, return and still there to greet you "OH! You came BACK! AGAIN! Oh boy o boy o boy o boy..." Now, one could argue that this child-like devotion could be more of the lines of utter stupidity, but one thing is for certain, dogs are lovable.

Now cats... they are truly pets of different nature. Typically if you come home, they aren't really happy to see you. In fact, they are kinda pissed because you AWOKE them from their 17th nap of the day. But no matter human, you can be forgiven providing that you fetch food NOW and then clean up the litter box area to pristine condition. A great example of how a cat typically greets you/thinks is from the Whiskas Hubert commercial series.

So my opinion about cats wasn't very high, that is until 5 years ago when I decided to adopt a kitten. I live in an apartment walk-up. Pet friendly, so I could have a dog. But there's no backyard and honestly dogs need more space to run around than a one bedroom flat. But at the time, I was going through a lonely phase and my mom suggested that I'd do one of two things: get a counselor or a cat. Didn't take much reasoning that a cat would be less expensive in the long run. So one snowy February afternoon I found myself at the local Humane Society holding a calico kitten and instantly fell in love. That is until the drive home. I think the poor cat had some sort of traumatic experience with transportation, she screamed her lungs out violently. Half way home I thought about turning around the car to go back to the shelter. But then I had a moment of enlightenment: loud cat, deaf woman. Easy answer: click aids off. From then on I knew it was a match made in heaven. As soon as the car shut off, the kitten calmed down and the rest is history.

Now did my previous assumptions about owning a cat proved to be true? Oh yes. In fact, I liken my cat to a wife at times. If I come home late from work or out partying (yes, I do party at times 'til the next morn), I get this "AND WHEEEEERE HAVE YOU'VE BEEN??!" meow as soon as I come through the door. However, I've noted that even if I go straight to the fridge and fill her food bowl up, she won't touch it until I've picked her up and have at least a 5 minute nuzzle/hug session in which she purrs continuously throughout. Yes, she's mostly glad that I came home to feed her, but there's also the reason that I came home to nuzzle.

There are other loving nuisances that my cat and I have shared over the years. I'll share more in future posts. One current is the fact that my cat enjoys to STARE at me behind my laptop screen while I write. It's kinda annoying. And of late she's now fascinated with the screen. Now imagine trying to write an academic thesis while you have this going on.