Catscapades

Not everyone adores cats. In fact, some people absolutely despise them. I look at a cat and see a beautiful, interesting being. Some people see in a cat something quite different—a dirty, mangy, ill-mannered creature who lives in gutters. Some even fear cats. And many of those people have changed their perception of cats over time. Why? Because of a cat.

My mother’s cat, Smokey, has two new best human friends. One comes to the house every morning around nine to hang out with Smokey and Mama for a few hours. Around eight forty-five each morning, Smokey goes to the front door and waits for Joleen (not her real name) to arrive. Once Joleen has given him a treat, he’s ready to begin his day adventuring in the out of doors (unless it’s cold or rainy, then he prefers to stay high and dry).

His second best friend is one of Mama’s granddaughters who spends the night with her. She arrives from work around six each evening and Smokey is always at the window watching and waiting for her. He likes her because she plays with him. He must enjoy her style of cat-play.

How does a cat know what time of day or night it is? Does he pay attention to the moon and stars or is it the household routine that gives him the clues? Perhaps it’s all done through ESP—he reads Mama’s mind (Joleen will be here soon) or Joleen’s mind (I’m on my way to see Emily and Smokey).

Now the granddaughter has always liked cats. But Joleen does not. They scare her a little. She freaks out when they start kneading with their claws. Smokey was almost a deal-breaker when we interviewed Joleen for the job. She was eager to help Mama out—she liked us and our mom—but she was not happy to learn there was a cat on the premises. That has changed, however. Joleen may not be ready to go out and adopt a cat or warm up to neighborhood cats, but she certainly has accepted Smokey. “He’s not like other cats,” she says. That’s what all former cat-haters say once a cat worms her way into their heart. Smokey has never tried to knead on Joleen and she likes the way he butts her with his head to get her attention or rubs up against her legs. In fact, Joleen is so enamored with Smokey that she has offered to take him should Mama ever need to find him a new home.

Read more stories of how a cat has changed a heart in Catscapades, True Cat Tales. http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html Also available at Amazon.

It’s common, these days, for people to put words in a cat’s mouth. There are quite a few cozy mystery series with talking and thinking cats. Cat-driven blogs abound. And what about all those cat shares from the Internet where someone narrates in the cat’s voice. How many of those words and phrases you see ascribed to a cat do you think are realistic?

I think most of us with cats will sometimes give our

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cats a voice—“Awww, do you love your mommy?” “Are you trying to tell me you want to play?” “Are you bored (hungry, angry, hot, cold, scared…)?” But most of us with cats don’t need to rely on the spoken word from Fluffy, we “listen” to her body language. I don’t know about your cat, but ours tell us when they’re hungry, when it’s their treat time, when they want to snuggle, and when they absolutely do not, and that they don’t appreciate being shoved into a carrier and driven someplace in the car.

Sophie begs for combing and petting. Lily begs for water running straight from the faucet and handouts from our dinner plates. They let us know when they’re in a playful mood and when they’re not and when they object to our style of play or having their nails trimmed, for example.

Our cats communicate using their whole body. They might move toward us or away from us, roll over on their back, sit on the book we’re reading, hide under the bed, or simply use their eyes, ears, tail, claws, and sometimes their teeth to make a point with us. Just yesterday, Lily became impatient to be served lunch and she hopped up on my desk and sat on the manuscript I was working on. When I continued writing, she grabbed my hand in both paws and began biting me.

No, cats don’t need a language. They speak volumes. All we have to do is listen (watch).

I decided to dedicate one of my first blogs of 2017 to some of our more creative cats—those who manage to find trouble and dive into it head first. For example, my daughter’s cat—a newcomer to their home—decided to play “cat in the forest” last week. Here he is peering out from inside the branches of their Christmas tree. Clever, Rookie. She said he actually backed down using the branches of this artificial tree to get out of the fix he found himself in.

I used to do a lot of sewing and needlework and I’ve always had curious cats trying to help me with my projects. This year, I actually made a beaded felt Christmas stocking for a new baby without too much interference. And I made a large advent calendar with 24 beaded pockets. What’s my secret? I work when the cats are napping, otherwise I have a little too much help, if you know what I mean.

I’ve pretty much given up knitting. Here, you can see how much the cats enjoy helping with my knitted projects.

There are two things about cats that everyone should know before adopting. They love exploring something new you bring into the house. And they want to be involved in whatever you’re doing, whether it’s decorating your Christmas tree, making the bed, taking a bath, unloading grocery bags, reading a book, fixing dinner, washing dishes…I had to shoo Lily out of the refrigerator a time or two when she was a kitten. Here she is examining what goes on in the dishwasher.

So are cats inherently mischievous? I guess it depends on one’s perspective. I’m sure that, to a cat, she’s just being curious.

Lily and Sophie

Is your cat an extrovert or an introvert? I once wrote an article for Cat Fancy Magazine on how to choose the right cat for your household based on the cat’s personality. This week, I came across an article that takes this theme even farther. It talks about the five basic personality traits of cats. Some of the researchers found it interesting that the sophisticated computer program they developed to determine personality traits in cats came up with five traits—which coincides with the fact that there are also five categories of human personalities. Although, only three of the five personalities attributed to cats have similarities to those ascribed to humans.

Are you interested in the five human personality traits? I thought they were a little odd myself. They are Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.

Can you guess which ones they’ve attributed to cats? Neuroticism (Skittishness), Extroversion (Outgoingness), and Agreeableness (Friendliness).

Those that don’t coincide with any of the human personalities are Spontaneity and Dominance.

To read more about this study, visit http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2016/06/21/cat-personality-traits.aspx

Can you determine which basic trait your cats fit into? As with us humans, it’s difficult to

The cat that inspired the book series

pigeonhole specific personality traits. I can see a little of each in my cats. I guess if I had to choose one, for Lily, it would be Friendliness. For Sophie, Skittishness with touches of Outgoingness. It helps to read the criteria for each label. Follow the link provided and see if you can pigeonhole your cat’s personality.

Cat’s of a particular breed are often promoted as having specific characteristics common to that breed—Siamese and Abyssinian are active and vocal; Persians, and Maine coon cats are considered docile; ragdolls are rather dog-like. As we’ve discussed previously, even color comes into play when considering a cat’s personality. Calicos and torties are thought to be ornery and orange tabbies (especially the males) are quiet and calm. But many of you have found out different. As one follower wrote, “I’ve had two torties as different as night and day.”

Kittens waiting for a home

Here are two things I thought I knew about cats: Calicos and tortoiseshell cats are feisty and even a bit ornery. And orange tabbies are docile and sweet. Not only is this incorrect, it’s labeling like this that can ruin a perfectly wonderful cat’s chance at adoption.

I didn’t come by this belief on my own. Statistics show that most people will avoid black cats, even brown cats, and torties, for example, when seeking to adopt a cat. Orange and bi-colored cats are chosen more often.

There are certain personality characteristics applied to certain breeds of cat. Breed is probably a more accurate indication of personality. Persians are quiet and calm. Siamese are active and vocal. Maine coon cats are friendly and smart. But within each of the many cat breeds, there are contradictions.

Some people are attracted to the more active, inquisitive breeds of cats while others prefer the lap-cat variety. Some of us just admire certain cat types and colors–lanky, cobby, fluffy, sleek… But that can change over the years.

I’ve always been attracted to cats with luxurious coats. Color didn’t matter much, until I met up with my first calico. I adopted four after her. And I learned firsthand that, indeed, some calicos can be obstinate, but some are dear, sweet, angels. After I saved a Himalayan mix from a kill-shelter years ago, I came to adore cats in cream and brown shades. Katie and Max had coats in this color combination and boy were they two very different kitties.

Lily

Lily is my first tabby, but I don’t think she’s necessarily a rubber stamp of tabbies. Tabbies, just like bi-color cats, orange cats, white cats, black cats, and torties, all come with different personalities, energy levels, quirks, habits, and cattitudes.

Do you agree?

Does your cat have a favorite toy, cat bed, place to sleep, hiding place, person, animal friend, visitor, treat? Did she get something for Christmas that she adores? Or did you get something for Christmas that she adores?

I received a plush blanket from my grandniece and Lily has taken it over, as you can see. I don’t know if it is the plushness…coziness…of the blanket that appeals to Lily or if it is all of the cats on it, but she does love this blanket.

This time of year when it gets cooler, we drape blankets over some of the furniture for Sophie and Lily. They love to climb under the blankets for a long winter’s nap where it’s warm and where they feel protected. They aren’t interested in these “tents” in the summer. But boy do they gravitate to them in the colder months. We always leave heavy blanket-tents for them when we’re going to be gone long enough that we turn off the heater during winter or turn it down considerably.

Sophie always ALWAYS runs and hides when company comes—especially children. One day during the holidays, we had visitors with kids. Sophie was in one of her tents in a chair in the living room when they arrived and she stayed there the whole time the guests were here—in the same room. I guess she felt secure and invisible.

Sophie will venture out from her hiding place to see certain guests, but most of our family and friends have never seen her. She doesn’t hide from anyone who has spent the night here. And there are a couple of neighborhood men who don’t frighten her. She doesn’t climb in their lap or anything, but she will enter the room when they’re here.

Lily has learned from Sophie and another hidey cat we had to run when the doorbell rings. But if she hears children’s voices among the guests, she’ll come out to greet them. She loves kids. She’s wary, but quite interested in them. Her all-time favorite people are those who interacted with her a lot when she was a kitten. She always comes out to see them. Of course, I’m her favorite person in the whole world and boy do I love that honor. Lily and I have our rituals and if I forget a step, she sure reminds me. She follows me like a puppy. When she was a mere kitten, she used to walk with me between my feet. It was awkward, but awfully cute. Still today, when she’s not in my lap, she’s lying at my feet.