That is obviously an old photo of my furry friend. The trees aren't as green now, the skies are grey and I find myself yearning for baseball season.It's my favorite of him, since it has those "Thousand words" all over it that photos are supposed to have.
He sits at my feet as I do these posts - almost every time - and I'm never sure whether he sits here because he loves me so much or because eventually I'll open a can of Fancy Feast for him.
Maybe it's a little of both?
It's not like he's my muse or anything, but he does offer that comfort that living alone sometimes lacks. I find myself thinking about the other living creature here besides myself and it's a little odd sometimes. He depends on me more than any human would, for obvious reasons (opposable thumbs being one and lack of a valid drivers' license the other) but it's nice to be able to have a creature here that I know I'll have to feed, clean up after and pay attention to because he pays attention to me.
Cats aren't as aloof as people make them out to be. They are also more friendly than they are given credit for, and I never figured out the whole "cat person/dog person" deal, but it's real. I love dogs too, but condo life makes owning a dog more of a chore and not all that much fun for the dog. I find that if I pay attention to him (or any animal) they return the favor by paying attention to me. Maybe it's the cat's eyes? They aren't round and friendly like ours and a dog's, so maybe the human connection isn't there?
I see my dog-owning neighbors out at all hours and in all weather walking their friend and standing around in the rain and snow cleaning their friend's poop off the common area. Once a week, I bag up the cat's litter and send it to the landfill. He's happy to wander around my 700 square feet and my two, begging for scraps of chicken or waiting for the evening's can of Fancy Feast. When it rains or snows we both stare outside and we're happy we're indoor creatures.
I don't know whether it's a bigger pleasure for me or him, since he doesn't say much. I don't know what he thinks about when he cuddles up and sits with me on the sofa or jumps on the bed at 3:00am. He purrs, and I would too if I could.
I find myself hoping that he knows how happy he makes me, so I'll open a can of his favorite Trout Feast and watch him do his little dance around the bowl. He devours it like people do a Big Mac. It smells, but as we all know, there's no accounting for tastes.
I look at him and tell him, "You're a good boy," and he looks up. I hope he knows.
10 comments:
Kitty is a most beautiful purr ball and looks so happy in that photo. I clicked on it to bring it up full screen to see kitty in all his glory. He is a long haired kitty, no?
I don't understand life or it's purpose, but somehow knowing cats are our best friends help find it's purrpose, and knowing they are in our lives and feeling them purr and sharing their lives with us is a blessing. Unless they are only doing it because we have opposable thumbs and can open the Fancy Feast.
Beautiful article Anthony. Thank you for sharing your life with the very lucky Kitty. Or maybe it's the other way around.
Yes, he's a Domestic Long hair. I realize that every time I clean up hairballs!
He is, nonetheless, a treasure and I hope he realizes how much I love him.
this made me choke up anthony.
not very often you see a man express the love he has, let alone express it toward an animal.
i'm sure kitty knows how much you love him...he's a lucky lil' kitty and you're a lucky pet owner.
have you ever walked him outside? i use to see people walking thier cats on leashes and thought that was kind of cool...
i'm glad this was just a i love my cat post cause i was really worried when you didn't update that either you were in the OR having your thumb amputated or kitty passed with reading this post as it starts out.
i'm glad i was wrong.
WAIT! Do you still have both of your opposable thumbs?
I guess I'll have to post a pic of my cat now....Buddy. He's not as friendly though. You can pet him but that's about it. No holding him or jumping up in your lap...he's not down with the overt affection thing.
Nice thoughts. As cynical as it may seem, my experience tells me the attraction is the Fancy Feast. I used to tell my niece that cats are too smart to love us and dogs are too dumb to leave us.
In the end, all that really matters is how we love them. That I can relate to.
kimmy: Yes, both thumbs are still working and opposable. When the cat goes I'll have the appropriate obit, and then I'll probably disappear for a week or so.
FS5: Half-Naked cat Tuesday. I can see it now.
howard: It probably is the Fancy Feast. Dogs, in the end, are dependent on us. Science proved it in experiments with dogs and wolves. The wolves tried to problem-solve on their own, while the dogs immediately looked to the human to help them. That's nice, from our standpoint. I think the cats just need us to open the cans, then we can scram.
I liked this post too. I am a big animal lover too though we don't have any animals. I'm more like cats in personality but unfortunately i'm highly allergic to them. :/
It's great to hear other guys express emotions and feelings like this toward animals. I often would rather spend time with animals than people.
It's great that you have a such a good friend in him and he in you. I'm sure he enjoys being around you and not just the cat food. Maybe a little of both like you said.
Handsome B-I totally would rather spend my time with animals than people!
Oh my gosh yeah! I love hanging out with my dogs. When Jamie (aka my honey) has a day off, his day is planned around "layin' on the couch with my dogs!" and that's what they do-nothing but veg like broccoli. It's sweet.
Is that Jamie's softer side, after he's done blowing shit up? :)
Handsome and Kimmy-
I prefer animals to people too. Most people,
I love my cat. She is my best friend;
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