09_19_2021

Gratitude for the Gift of Our Pets

                I am best known as a cat person, as I have had a particular affection for these lovely critters since I was a young child.  I am drawn to their unique character, how they can combine being very loving at times while at other times unabashedly displaying their ability to be independent.  I have had the great good fortune to have been able to have cats as part of my family throughout my adult life.

                I have come by most of my cats by visiting local rescue shelters and bringing home one or two.  I have figured out that what works for me when one of my babes crosses the “rainbow bridge.”  I respond to my grief from losing a loved companion by adopting another abandoned critter.  I have a friend that feels like she has to wait a couple of years to get another dog when her current one dies.

                I love the companionship that cats offer me to wait that long.  Besides, although it may be just my rationalization, I figure we’re both well served when I can give another cat a forever home and I am bestowed the gift of a furry critter.

                I’ve learned that what works best for me – and I think to some degree the cats – is to limit myself to 2-3 cats at a time.  That makes going to a shelter and seeing all of these critters contained in cages very difficult.  I remember taking a good friend with me at one point and providing her with the specific task of limiting me to just one adoption as I already had another cat at home. 

                I was doing pretty well as I tried to focus myself by looking for a cat of a specific color.  I realized I had never had a grey cat, so I thought that was a good way to limit my intake.  I found such a cat quickly, asked the staff if I could hold the cat to see how it reacted to people, and finding that it started purring immediately, I thought I was on my way to successfully getting through the experience with just one cat.

                While I was filling out the required paperwork in the receptionist area, my good friend went back in to look at the other cats.  She’s definitely a dog person, so she can look without fear of having her heart open up to take a cat home.    As I was about to finish all of the paperwork, my friend came running out of the area where the cats were being housed, and said I had to come back in with her.

                She pointed to the cage next to where my little grey cat had been housed, whom I named Pogo based on his ability to jump to amazing heights, and she said that the little black cat with a white tuxedo and white paws kept crying, saying “Take me too; Pogo and I are friends.”  So, I relented, and came home with two babes.  We named the little black and white cat, “Tucker,” based on his tuxedo chest.

                Some of my cats have found me.  I remember when I was in graduate school at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, I was driving home one rainy night after my evening class.  It was pouring rain, and as I inched along a three-lane main drag, I thought the slow down was the result of the weather.

                As I got closer to the cause of the slow down, I saw a grey-striped tiger kitten sitting on the white line separating us into lanes.  The poor little fellow was drenched, meowing his little head off, and without thinking, I put my blinker on and change lanes so that I could get close to him.  As I reached the spot on which he was sitting, I put my hazard lights on, opened my front door, and reached down and grabbed him.  I put him on my lap, and he immediately attached himself to my chest, snuggled, purred, and didn’t let go of me until I reached home about 25 minutes later.  I christened in Moe, and he, Pogo and Tucker all lived into their teenage years.  Indoor only cats are the way to go, as cats are not  equipped to deal with the hazards they encounter when left outside.

                Currently I have two lovely rescue cats.  When I adopted them from a shelter, they both had been found abandoned, wandering the streets in search of food and shelter.  The shelter had named one darling, Teddy.  He’s another black and white critter, with gorgeous markings, including white paws, a fluffy white tuxedo, and this darling little white mustache. 

                His buddy is caramel colored, and the shelter had named him Jack.  He has a bit of a stubbed tail that my vet thinks might be the result of frostbite as he was rescued in one of our extended New England blizzards.  Usually, I like to wait a couple of days or weeks to name my cats as I like to learn more about who they are and then give them a name that fits  with who they are.

                But given that these two rescue cats came with names that had been given to them at the shelter, and they had been there a while, I didn’t want to totally change their names.  If any of you have read The Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline, you’ll understand my reluctance to change my cats’ names.  Kline describes the process of orphans being put on a train headed west that stopped at local towns.  The children waiting to be adopted were required to stand in a line at the station, and then potential adopters went down the line and took a child they were interested it.  Siblings were split up in the process, and the adoptive parents often changed the child’s name.

                I found the name-changing process described in the book particularly heartbreaking as it was the only possession –  a name – that had been with the child since soon after birth.  So, to honor my new little friends by letting them keep their names, Teddy became Teddy-Tico (the Tico in honor of his occasional tendency to do crazy things – using the Italian word for lunatic – “lunatico,” I thought that “Tico”  was a loving and accepting way to accept who he is.”  I christened Jack as Cracker Jack, in part based on his coloring and also given his exceptional ability to let you know what he wants. 

                I think the presence of animals in your life is a special gift at any time but having my two furry companions during the more isolating times forced on us by the Pandemic has been an extravagant gift.  Any of my readers that have lived or are living with pets know how easily they become part of your family.  My little guys like a certain routine every day and working from home has allowed us to spend much more time together.

                One of the unique gifts about having a cat is the combination of their independence with their desire to be loved on their terms.   This combination leads to many unexpected moments of surprise and pleasure.  I often read on my couch each evening as a way of relaxing, and it’s such a nice surprise to see one of my little fellows come around the corner of the couch on their way up for lap time or snuggling alongside me.

                I have learned some important lessons about people from living with cats.  It took me some time to realize that each cat that I have cared for has had its own unique way of wanting to be loved.  Some cats are lap sitters, and that is such great comfort to us humans.  Having a little warm body on your lap, that you can stroke and listen to a purring sound expressing happiness and contentment, is quite a gift.

                But it is also important to learn that some cats don’t want to sit on your lap; they’d rather be stretched out alongside you, and may if in the mood, tolerate some gentle caressing as they nap alongside you.

                Learning that cats have their own unique ways about expressing and receiving love and affection has helped me become more open to allowing for those preferences among humans.  Some humans can’t wait for their next hug; others like me, are not so crazy about people I don’t know well hugging me.

                I choose to make time in my day, every day, to make sure that I spend quality time my animal friends.  They are such a great gift in my life, and I want to appreciate every moment that I have with them.

                May we all find time in our lives to appreciate, enjoy and be grateful for the gifts we receive from our furry companions.