Full disclosure here: I love cats. Dogs are okay too. I like dogs. But I love cats. I don't know why. Maybe I have cat Kharma? Is there such a thing? I am the only one in my immediate family who ever liked cats, though an aunt and an aunt by marriage were both cat people, had cats, and through their visits and contact was still able to get a fairly regular cat-fix. The first cat I remember petting was a beautiful Siamese, still a kitten, belonging to a friend of my father's. I must have been six or seven years old when we were visiting. I was seated on the top step of his basement staircase and the little cat came over and I began to pet it. But I thought it was growling at me and I stopped but my Dad's friend assured me that it was purring and that it liked me. I don't know why but it struck me as odd that anything could like me but I felt honoured.
I think I came to prefer cats for one simple reason. They don't stink. They are also low maintenance pets. I think a little too low maintenance, actually. The common wisdom states that cats are more independent than dogs and therefore require less attention and less care. Well, two out of three ain't bad. They need more care than one would imagine. Only in the last two decades or so have people in my city stopped letting their dogs run around free, making themselves road kill, coyote bait and a downright nuisance to others, especially if they happen to be aggressive dogs. Now there is a call for cat owners to keep kitty indoors and for several good reasons. The cat is less likely to run off and get lost, get hit by a car, get eaten by a coyote and kill birds, especially endangered songbirds.
I had a cat for around three years in the eighties. We were like friends and I let her roam around outside. When I moved downtown I gave her to the neighbours since she was an outdoor cat. I have long enjoyed during my long solitary walks through attractive residential neighbourhoods stopping to pet and play with and have often developed lasting friendships with the local block cats. It would sadden me if they would have to be all locked indoors, but I still support this for their safety and the safety of the local bird population. My cat, Smokey, was herself an accomplished hunter and had a knack for killing local birds. My neighbour, a dog-lover, nick-named her "Killer." I was relieved to see that she seemed to stick only to starlings and English sparrows, introduced vermin species.
If my building allowed cats, and I didn't travel so much, and my apartment was a bit bigger, I might get one. But I would leash train it and take it for regular daily walks as if she were a dog. There is a popular myth that it is impossible to leash train a cat. It is possible and highly necessary because cats need fresh air and exercise. They also need more contact with their humans than people often realize. I would imagine that cats still need extra slack cut for them. A long retractile leash and a patient human willing to slow down and let kitty determine the pace as she explores her surroundings.
I do have one tragic story about a stray cat, tragic for both of us. I had just been evicted from my apartment because I couldn't pay the rent and was on the threshold of my nine and a half month adventure of homelessness and couch surfing. A beautiful black and white tuxedo cat appeared on my apartment patio. He refused to leave, a beautiful, affectionate and well-mannered feline. I had to bundle the poor cat into my duffel bag and walk two miles to the local animal shelter. I was heart broken and to this day I hope that either his owner traced him or he was adopted out to a good home, but I think not. Within two years I was living just down the street from the same animal shelter in a shared house. I thought of the poor cat almost every day.
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