Meditation on Cats

Cats. Felines. Fleabags. I've never been much of a "cat-person", per-se. I love animals (all except the eight-legged varieties), and cats are included. I love dogs more, because dogs are loyal and loving and are always happy to see you. Cats can be loving, and they can be happy to see you - when it's time to eat, or play, or do something that benefits them (except take a bath). Dogs know when you're down, and they try to cheer you up. A dog can be a balm for your soul. Cats really don't give a damn, in my experience.

Well, anyway, when I went over to Mel's aunt's place, there were two dogs - Bonnie and Inkspot - and one cat - Tom. Bonnie was a beagle-basset hound mix, I think, and Inkspot was the male version of my Scrappy, had she lived to be that old. Both dogs were happy outside, but Tom, Mel told me, had been pining for her aunt. Her aunt, she told me, would hold Tom in her lap and pet him, and he'd just purr away contentedly, but Mel, her roommate, and her friend were all allergic to cats, so they couldn't hold him. Well, when I found him, I pet him for a minute to get him used to me and then I scooped him up. I have never had a cat be more at home in my arms than Tom was - he was more content to be held than my Socks ever was (even if that was ages ago). The five of us girls sat down after dinner and watched Dan in Real Life (great movie- made me want to cry at times - but a great movie). Tom curled up in my lap and kneaded my belly while I stroked his fur for most of the movie. Then he went to sleep, and I could see him fall in and out of REM sleep because his feet and tail stub (his tail, tragically, had to be amputated after an accident years ago) would twitch and shudder like most cats do when they dream. When the movie was almost over, Tom got up and ate dinner, but it was so nice to hold him for that hour - hour and a half! I find I really do love cats - even if dogs are better.

Today at work, Hope, whose hobby involved catching stray cats, spaying and neutering them, and then finding them good homes, listened to me talk about Tom, and then said she had a kitten that was just like Tom and that she hadn't yet found a home for her yet. Do tell...I thought. I'm seriously contemplating getting a cat - it will be someone to talk to at the very least, and if it's a loving cat, then it will be someone to cuddle with when I go to sleep. I'm not sure if I can afford one now, but eventually...it would be nice.

Hope is very thorough when she gives her cats to other people - she asked me all sorts of questions. The one that stuck out was a little weird. She said I was at the age where I'd find a boyfriend and could very well wind up pregnant. Would I get rid of the cat if I ever got pregnant? Mon Dieu! Me...pregnant? Right. I mean - don't get me wrong - I want children of my own someday when (if ever) I get married, and I'm very much looking forward to being pregnant - but not now. I'm getting ready to turn 22. In a year, I'd be as old as my mother was when she married my father. In two years, I'd be the same age my mother was when she had me. Could I be ready to have my own child in two years? I rather doubt it. I'm still resigning myself to the fact that if I do want to get married and have children someday, I have to get out there and start dating, something I really am not looking forward to. The whole dating thing just seems rather pointless in my case, which is one of the few reasons I'm glad still kinda young - I've got a few years before crunch time, so I don't have to date until I'm ready, or I absolutely have to, whichever comes first. So, my answer to Hope was that I would never get rid of a cat just because I got pregnant, and if for any reason I did need to give up the cat, I'd give it to a good home or right back to Hope.

Then she asked if I'd ever let my boyfriend be mean to my cat. No, absolutely not. I think animals and small children are perfect judges of character, and if my cat (hypothetically speaking) hated the guy I was dating, I think I'd call it quits (as long as it was a nice kitty to begin with). That seemed to satisfy Hope, and she asked me to let her know if I would ever be interested in one of her kittens. So, there ends my meditation on cats.