![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/OliviaSnuggle1-225x300.jpg\")
There\u2019s nothing like being the friend of a cat. Whether it\u2019s your own cat that you care for, clean up after, groom, watch play, and just enjoy being around, or a relative\u2019s or neighbor\u2019s cat, the friendship is priceless.<\/p>\nThere\u2019s nothing like being the friend of a cat. Whether it\u2019s your own cat that you care for, clean up after, groom, watch play, and just enjoy being around, or a relative\u2019s or neighbor\u2019s cat, the friendship is priceless.<\/p>\n
Cats don\u2019t trust easily. When you\u2019re among those a cat trusts, it\u2019s special indeed. When a cat shows you her belly, chooses to lounge next to you, or cur up in your lap, when she purrs and relaxes when you cradle her in your arms\u2014that\u2019s trust.<\/p>\n
Yeah, it must be nice. When you rescue cats from![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/LilyHoldHands-225x300.jpg\")
precarious and often dangerous situations, however, that trust is displayed a bit differently. Yeah, I can look at Olivia\u2019s fluffy tummy, but don\u2019t touch it. She\u2019ll curl up in my lap, but there are definite no-nos, like getting too friendly with one of her paws, for example.<\/p>\n
Sophie is 17 years old, who, at ten weeks, was plucked from the streets, and we still cannot pick her up with her permission, and hold her in our arms. She\u2019ll curl up ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/OliviaSophiecute-225x300.jpg\")
in our lap and let us pet her all over, but do not envelop her with your hands or she will explode.<\/p>\n
The truth is that you will have a different level and type of relationship with each of your cats. One may accept all hands on her. She\u2019ll ride around on your shoulder, and allow you to pose with her for a photograph. Others, such as Olivia and Sophie, have restrictions. They love us, but on their own terms. They call the shots.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s heartening is watching the friendship between ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/KittensTiger-300x171.jpg\")
Sophie, who has been with us through four other cats over 17 years, and Olivia, who is just a year old. It\u2019s as if Sophie has been waiting to meet Olivia for years. She has never made up to one of our cats like she has Olivia. They don\u2019t curl up in a tight ball together to sleep, but they have what appears to be a meaningful relationship with an occasional licky-face between them, frequent checking on one another, occasional frolicking together, and, well a sort of mutual respect between them. We\u2019re so pleased that Sophie accepted the intruding kitten and that Olivia seems to honor and respect Sophie.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There\u2019s nothing like being the friend of a cat. Whether it\u2019s your own cat that you care for, clean up after, groom, watch play, and just enjoy being around, or a relative\u2019s or neighbor\u2019s cat, the friendship is priceless. Cats … Continue reading