- Joined
- Jan 28, 2015
- Messages
- 51
- Purraise
- 38
I've had cats most of my life. As a kid, they were barn cats - most still pretty friendly (one super friendly), but no indoor cats until after college. Had a small apartment, lived alone and had to work, thought a cat would better fit my lifestyle. Got about a ~five yr old female, Belle. Belle was...not interested in anything. Would not play, didn't want affection zip. Meowed for her food in the morning, greeted me for 3-5 minutes when I came home from work, and then it was "leave me alone while I stare out the window and sleep or face my wrath."
I was like, "Really? This is the animal that dominates the internet (or "internets/webz")? This is the animal people swear is so much more entertaining than dogs?
So, after Belle, no more cats for me I thought, and certainly not till I own my own place (at which point I would have a yard, so "dog, obviously"). Well, as some of you know, Sam had his own ideas about that. "You won't go get a cat," I imagine him speaking to me, "but if a cold, wet cat charges into your apartment, can you really say 'no'?"
He was right, I couldn't. I probably could have called a shelter if it was a cute kitten. Kittens need more time than I can give and are MUCH more likely to get adopted. But as a full grown tom, I figured Sam would be on the bottom of the list. "Fine, you win!" I say after searching for his owner for several days. Out went $700 ($300 apartment deposit, then neutering and vaccinations and food/ required kitty stuff and one tree). "You are dang lucky I'm a softie," I told him. "I don't have $700 bucks just lying around in the bank, so it's on credit until I can pay it off, and all because I can't even risk you not finding a home and getting put to sleep even though I've already seen this show and I find it incredibly boring."
But Sam was like, "Oh really? Let me show you what a cat CAN be like."
I don't mean "good." In fact, he can be downright bad and/or obnoxious at times. But he certainly is NOT boring. On the good things, he loves to play and cuddle - he slept the whole first night on the pillow right next to me after only knowing me for three hours and now sleeps on my back (I sleep on my stomach). On the bad side, we had to break the whining at the front door and scratching furniture. He meowed LOUDLY and NON-STOP for 2 hours once! (Spray bottles, even with my first cat, I have discovered normally are very quick and effective for "no, under no circumstances, NO NO NO).
And now, now that he is very comfortable and this is his home and he knows it...now I get the LOLcats and Cheezburger pictures. OMG how on earth does a cat be this annoying and endearing at the same time?! This is my second time typing this post - I had to CTRL + ALT + DELETE and relog in because he loves helping me type on my desktop (I think because I have a mechanical keyboard and he loves the clicking - he doesn't get in my way on my laptop).
He normally likes to stay up a little later than me - about 15 minutes. About that time, I am almost asleep. That weird point where you still hear things but are no longer reacting to it, and sometimes it even feels like the world is slowly spinning (not dizzy or vertigo, more like a gentle ship ride)? Even if I try to wait for him, it seems he senses it or something. He waits until I'm at that point and not 30 seconds from being truly asleep (and once I reach that point he could wreck the whole house and I still would not wake up) and then comes up and licks my eyes and nose like "wait! i wants ear scratch before we go night night! I love you, see, don't you want to show affection to?!"
His new thing? The typing thing isn't very often, because he's discovered I don't like it and he gets put out of reach and no petting no nothing. But now he is starting to jump up on the high back of my computer chair, and slowly lay his belly over my head , and then hold his two front paws in front of my eyes while licking my forehead. It's like he's saying, "No more computer time! Now all you see is me! And I keep your balding head warm because I'm that nice. You should be grateful and scratch my ears."
It's just as disruptive (more so, actually) than his "typing" but how on earth do I get mad at that?! And this is not even a lapcat!! (He does like to sleep on my back, but he hates being held for petting. He just really likes ear scratching - or, the only thing better, chin scratching).
I get it now. I won't say yet they are "better" than dogs, but I definitely see why some people prefer them. Definitely much more clever than dogs. But it is kind of nice to have an animal like a dog, especially the kind I like (retrievers, labs, etc.) that are big enough to rough house with. Dogs will give affection 24/7 if you let them, but on their master's terms. Cats pick and choose it, often when you really need to be doing something else, but whether it's playing with you, demanding your attention, or amusing themselves (Sam 4 days ago tried on my shoes - I don't mean got in them, I mean put his paws in one of them, grabbed the insides with his claws, and tried walking for about 15 seconds), cat's INVENT ways to get what they want. Dogs are not nearly that imaginative.
Dogs make me feel warm and fuzzy a lot more often...THIS cat is making me laugh harder and more often than any of my dogs ever did. Guess with cats a little bit more "luck of the draw" with what you get.
I was like, "Really? This is the animal that dominates the internet (or "internets/webz")? This is the animal people swear is so much more entertaining than dogs?
So, after Belle, no more cats for me I thought, and certainly not till I own my own place (at which point I would have a yard, so "dog, obviously"). Well, as some of you know, Sam had his own ideas about that. "You won't go get a cat," I imagine him speaking to me, "but if a cold, wet cat charges into your apartment, can you really say 'no'?"
He was right, I couldn't. I probably could have called a shelter if it was a cute kitten. Kittens need more time than I can give and are MUCH more likely to get adopted. But as a full grown tom, I figured Sam would be on the bottom of the list. "Fine, you win!" I say after searching for his owner for several days. Out went $700 ($300 apartment deposit, then neutering and vaccinations and food/ required kitty stuff and one tree). "You are dang lucky I'm a softie," I told him. "I don't have $700 bucks just lying around in the bank, so it's on credit until I can pay it off, and all because I can't even risk you not finding a home and getting put to sleep even though I've already seen this show and I find it incredibly boring."
But Sam was like, "Oh really? Let me show you what a cat CAN be like."
I don't mean "good." In fact, he can be downright bad and/or obnoxious at times. But he certainly is NOT boring. On the good things, he loves to play and cuddle - he slept the whole first night on the pillow right next to me after only knowing me for three hours and now sleeps on my back (I sleep on my stomach). On the bad side, we had to break the whining at the front door and scratching furniture. He meowed LOUDLY and NON-STOP for 2 hours once! (Spray bottles, even with my first cat, I have discovered normally are very quick and effective for "no, under no circumstances, NO NO NO).
And now, now that he is very comfortable and this is his home and he knows it...now I get the LOLcats and Cheezburger pictures. OMG how on earth does a cat be this annoying and endearing at the same time?! This is my second time typing this post - I had to CTRL + ALT + DELETE and relog in because he loves helping me type on my desktop (I think because I have a mechanical keyboard and he loves the clicking - he doesn't get in my way on my laptop).
He normally likes to stay up a little later than me - about 15 minutes. About that time, I am almost asleep. That weird point where you still hear things but are no longer reacting to it, and sometimes it even feels like the world is slowly spinning (not dizzy or vertigo, more like a gentle ship ride)? Even if I try to wait for him, it seems he senses it or something. He waits until I'm at that point and not 30 seconds from being truly asleep (and once I reach that point he could wreck the whole house and I still would not wake up) and then comes up and licks my eyes and nose like "wait! i wants ear scratch before we go night night! I love you, see, don't you want to show affection to?!"
His new thing? The typing thing isn't very often, because he's discovered I don't like it and he gets put out of reach and no petting no nothing. But now he is starting to jump up on the high back of my computer chair, and slowly lay his belly over my head , and then hold his two front paws in front of my eyes while licking my forehead. It's like he's saying, "No more computer time! Now all you see is me! And I keep your balding head warm because I'm that nice. You should be grateful and scratch my ears."
It's just as disruptive (more so, actually) than his "typing" but how on earth do I get mad at that?! And this is not even a lapcat!! (He does like to sleep on my back, but he hates being held for petting. He just really likes ear scratching - or, the only thing better, chin scratching).
I get it now. I won't say yet they are "better" than dogs, but I definitely see why some people prefer them. Definitely much more clever than dogs. But it is kind of nice to have an animal like a dog, especially the kind I like (retrievers, labs, etc.) that are big enough to rough house with. Dogs will give affection 24/7 if you let them, but on their master's terms. Cats pick and choose it, often when you really need to be doing something else, but whether it's playing with you, demanding your attention, or amusing themselves (Sam 4 days ago tried on my shoes - I don't mean got in them, I mean put his paws in one of them, grabbed the insides with his claws, and tried walking for about 15 seconds), cat's INVENT ways to get what they want. Dogs are not nearly that imaginative.
Dogs make me feel warm and fuzzy a lot more often...THIS cat is making me laugh harder and more often than any of my dogs ever did. Guess with cats a little bit more "luck of the draw" with what you get.
