A recent post here on the site made me start thinking about something that happened a few years ago. As a volunteer at a shelter, I worked with a woman in her 30s who was looking for her first cat. She was drawn to a feral that I'd been working with for months, and I explained to her in detail about the special issues this cat would have. She said she understood, and adopted her.
It was a disaster. The poor kitty hid under the bed all the time, and the woman kept forcing her out with a long vacuum-cleaner attachment! She surrendered the cat the following week.
"She's just not affectionate," the woman complained. "I want a cat that loves me. I want a cat that will comfort me when I'm depressed."
This woman expected the cat to give something to her. Despite her assurances to me, it's clear that she did not expect to have to give of herself to the cat.
Perhaps the greatest truth I've discovered in my life is that giving love is at least as therapeutic as receiving it. It's a principle that I think most of us on TCS understand very well.
My point is that there are all kinds of reasons, good and bad, for adopting kitties. So I wonder... what are your reasons for choosing to have cats in your life? Have they changed over the years? And have you been changed by the experience of having cats?
It was a disaster. The poor kitty hid under the bed all the time, and the woman kept forcing her out with a long vacuum-cleaner attachment! She surrendered the cat the following week.
"She's just not affectionate," the woman complained. "I want a cat that loves me. I want a cat that will comfort me when I'm depressed."
This woman expected the cat to give something to her. Despite her assurances to me, it's clear that she did not expect to have to give of herself to the cat.
Perhaps the greatest truth I've discovered in my life is that giving love is at least as therapeutic as receiving it. It's a principle that I think most of us on TCS understand very well.
My point is that there are all kinds of reasons, good and bad, for adopting kitties. So I wonder... what are your reasons for choosing to have cats in your life? Have they changed over the years? And have you been changed by the experience of having cats?