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Reflections on the Nature of a Family Cat.
James Apps
http://jamesapps-motorcyclistandcatlover.blogspot.com/
In the years since as a child I first "owned" a cat I have learned much about the relationships between these delightful pets and their humans. As most parents do when a child asks for a pet they look at what they have to do to look after and at the same time encourage their child to take responsibility for its welfare. A dog needs walking and although delightful as a puppy will need a lot more time and effort as it grows into a dog. With three boys to look after and a father who preferred cats to dogs the choice was a kitten from a favourite aunt whose cat had a litter.
Timmy, a marmalade cat was then introduced to the family. From the beginning he was tolerant of our indifferent handling that included dressing him up, carting him around clutched under a stubby child's arm, dragged around in a washing basket, rolled over and tickled, hugged tightly and generally molested. Nevertheless Timmy took this all in his stride and became the family pet and favored nobody in particular and never once was he known to scratch or bite any of us. In fact he went out of his way, so it seemed, to put up with all the rough handling knowing perhaps he would be rescued by an adult if things got too rough.
If he did protest it was with retracted claws and a hard whack that let us know he wasn't happy. Usually he managed to escape from whatever situation we had put him in and, with instruction from our parents, we learned to give him his space.
Observations of cats since then are that if a cat wants to it will avoid such rough treatment or be willing to tolerate even being dragged along by the tail if the person doing it is a young child. Those cats who want to avoid such treatment and cannot will lash out and protest although few will do so to a baby. Certainly in our family Timmy became very protective of the youngest member of our family, in particular our newly born sister.
When our sister was born she was often put outside in her pram watched over by us, our grandmother and mother, and the cat. Timmy was often found in the pram with the baby sleeping curled up acting as a foot rest for the sleeping child. To us this was normal cat behavoir; it was 1950 and things were different from today with all the usual follow up and an acceptance of a way of looking after infants that included the adage "we have to eat a peck of dirt before we die".
Timmy was not merely making himself comfortable but took on the role of protector of the child or kitten and it was amusing to watch the cootchy-cootchy-coo brigade suddenly back away shocked and startled when a ball of ginger fur with sharp claws and bared teeth exploded from the bedding to spit and swear at the intruder growling angrily with his tail waving daring them to come closer.
Quite unnerving.
The day the Insurance man came to collect his dues and made the mistake of doing the cootchy-coo bit and got scratched for his trouble we sided with the cat. The Insurance man backed down.
But not so the District Nurse who saw the cat there when she came to see Mother and child and shrieked. Today I would have used the phrase "methinks the lady protests too much" but then we were all shocked by her reaction. She demanded the cat be instantly removed'. When invited to do it for herself Timmy went into his defence of the kitten mode and she also backed away threatening to do something about it'. I lifted the Timmy from the pram and carried him inside nestling happily against my chest and purring. Incident over.
This story of Timmy, who unfortunately was knocked down in the road, is an illustration of the relationship between one cat and its human carers that needs a little explanation.
Timmy was brought into the household of three young children and from the beginning was included in all the games by them and was always treated as a part of the family not just as the cat'. He was placid and affectionate by nature except when defending his territory. He was kept in at night and did most of his sleeping then according to the season. He was properly housetrained and given a routine to follow as far as feeding was concerned which seemed to keep him happy.
To stop the nuisance of spraying and fighting and of course his amorous adventures he was neutered which controlled the tendency to kill kittens, which I later discovered happens with some tom cats. The neutering also accentuated his friendliness and tolerance.
And of course the household was happy and with a family of youngsters treating him as one of them he was happy too. Yet with all that Timmy remained what he was, a cat, and still managed to hunt, to do things that cats only want to do and keep himself aloof and mysterious, appearing when he wanted to be there his integrity complete as a cat's should be.
As I look back on that first rewarding encounter with Timmy I realised how much he taught me and the affect he had on my relations with the cats I have had the privilege to know.
James Apps is a cat lover and a motorcyclist who combines his love of both with the practice of Aikido. He is an accredited instructor in Ki and Aikido and is affliated to the North Shore Aikido of Auckland New Zealand. To read more about him and what he does as a writer, poet and painter check out his blog http://jamesapps-motorcyclistandcatlover.blogspot.com/ or http://www.freewebs.com/catsurfer and feel free to leave a message and follow the links.
Article submitted Thursday, May 29, 2008
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