I have never lived with a cat before. Thus, I don’t know how much of the following is idiosyncratic to this particular cat, or typical behaviour of the species; I suspect it’s mostly bloody typical.
- There are two important times of day for a cat: morning food time and evening food time. Morning food time begins when the human awakes and ends when actually fed. Evening food time begins as soon as morning food time ends, and ends when actually fed. Then evening food time begins again and continues until the human goes to sleep or, absentmindedly, feeds the cat again (whereupon, I imagine, a third evening food time would immediately begin).
- Cats like to be friendly and companionable, except when you are not about to put food in their bowl.
- If you spend a great deal of effort getting a roaring fire going in the fireplace, then leave to fetch a rewarding cup of tea, the cat will have appeared in whichever spot you intended to use to enjoy the fireplace and have your cup of tea. It will be asleep, but not so asleep that it cannot produce claws.
- If a cat puts a mouse on the floor before you, it means ‘you’re the boss’. If it keeps the dead mouse in its mouth and glares at you while blood drips on to the floor, it means ‘you’re next’.
- If it’s howling wind and rain outside, the cat will want to be let out the door to see for itself. Then it must be let back in immediately. The cat door is at the other end of the house and thus of no use at all in any way.
- Cats really don’t understand why we do anything we do, which is a good prompt to remind ourselves that, usually, neither do we.
I am enjoying living with a cat.
There is much to learn from our masters.
Yup, that sounds like cats alright.
Sometimes morning foodtime begins when the cat awakes, not the human. Even if that is at 5.30 am. Even if the human is reeeeeeaaally tired. The way to wake the human is to take a plastic bag under the bed and *RUSTLE* it loudly. Refuse to give it up until the lazy humans get up and feed you and/or kick you out of the room.
Now you have a true blog. 😉 (It isn’t a proper blog until you talk about a cat in it, although it would be better if you’d posted a photograph as well.)
I took my cat to the vet this morning. For once, rarely, she didn’t have anything wrong with her, she just needed to be vaccinated. No thermometers either. (If you haven’t lived with a cat before you’ll not know the peculiarly goggled eyed expression of a cat when its temperature is being taken.)
Steph
If I could offer one item of advice, from someone who has lived with cats for my entire life.
You’re the boss. Seriously. Cats will try to get away with murder, and will continue to do so if it brings them rewards. But if they find they can’t get away with something, they’ll normally forget about it quickly.
So; leave it alone in the kitchen, if it’s not feeding time. Move it, if it’s taken your seat. If it’s got a cat door, don’t open a door for it.
It’ll be a short-term pest about these things, but as long as it’s safety, warmth and food supply are still provided it won’t hold a grudge.
In short, treat a cat like the cat treats you: with equal parts contempt and adoration, and strangely enough you’ll have a friend for life!
i have never really enjoyed the company of cats. they look supercute, especially in photographs. but they actually scare me a little. i catsat a cat one summer that i swear hated me. it used to bring me presents. but, like you pointed out, it wasn’t a “here, i brought you something purdy” type way but more of a “here, this is to show you that i can and will kill” kind of way. sometimes it would bring me half dead birds and leave them on my pillow while i was still in bed. i am glad, though, that you are enjoying your cat.
I grew up with cats in the family home. They are great pets, as long as they know who’s boss. 🙂
Unfortunately I developed an allergy to cats 10 years ago or so, and can’t have one in the house (unless I want to have an asthma attack while sneezing non-stop, trying to see through my weepy eyes). Appealing huh?
Cats rule! We’ve just been borrowing Ziggy the rodentremover to deal with our mice. One fatality, two extradorinary renditions and one that maybe got away but is probably dead under a couch or something – in two days thats pretty impressive! Yay cats!
I still have to get around to kidnapping one of the cats that hang out around my house. I miss having a cat around.
I agree with Scott re: cats.
Just don’t try to treat a woman that way.
In my experience, the best way to treat a cat that wants to be let out or let in (and I live with two cats who would rather stand and miaow than walk 2 feet to an open egress) is to point and laugh and walk away. Same when it wants to eat.
One certain cat I’m living with likes to jump out my window, and miaows for me to open it. So one day I let it up on the windowsill, left the window shut, and closed the curtains around it. It had a devil of a time working out how to walk to the end of the windowsill and get out, and now does not bug me in that manner anymore.
“I still have to get around to kidnapping one of the cats that hang out around my house. I miss having a cat around.”
I suspect that Mike’s cats would be only too happy if you made away with Alex.