I love animals, which is why I gave up a high-paying job as a technical writer to work with and write about critters. My preference has always been dogs - I could live without cats, but I only lasted three days without having a dog in the house.
However, since Piglet has entered my life, I think I'm becoming a cat person. He's out of his crate most of the time now, and has taken to sleeping with me, occasionally reaching out a gentle paw to touch my nose. So far, he's restricted the kamikaze attacks to waking hours - thank goodness I have frequent bouts of insomnia.
He comes when called better than Mac does, and everyone is amused when I yell "Sooo-eee, here Pig, Pig, Pig!", and he comes trotting out from wherever he's hiding.
Pig makes good use of his log and scratch toy, and hasn't wrecked any furniture, curtains or carpeting. If anyone says they won't adopt a cat or insist on declawing their kitty because cats are so destructive, you might point out that cats CAN learn to claw where you want them to claw. Destruction is NOT a valid excuse for refusing to adopt a cat, or for mutilating their poor little feet!
My dog, Mac, spends most of her time sleeping unless she wants out or to be fed - Piglet comes up at random times just to have his chin scratched, or to sit on my lap or keyboard. I refuse to believe it's because of the treats I have on my desk...
Whether it's gratitude for his rescue or because gray male cats do make good pets, Piglet is turning into a wonderful addition to the family. He is turning me into a cat person, and there are pluses and minuses to my new attitude:
The Plus Side
- I love fostering, and I can take in more cats than dogs.
- Cats are more independent and somewhat more tolerant of being left alone.
- Cats are cheaper than dogs - "fixing", inoculations, food, leashes and toys cost less - especially since I lean towards BIG dogs. -
- Cats play with anything - Piglet's current favorite "toy" is a piece of uncooked spaghetti.
- There are so many cats, it's difficult to find them homes - I might become a crazy cat lady.
- Cleaning the litter box has never been one of my favorite jobs - it's bad enough with two cats, if I end up being a crazy cat lady, it will be my ONLY job!
- I like traveling with my pets, but while it's relatively easy with dogs, I'm still trying to get my head around traveling with a cat.
- I have enough trouble teaching my dogs what I expect, most cats don't give a soggy sardine about learning anything - I suspect Pig is a savant!
Piglet is sooo cute! I never thought I was a cat lady either but my last apartment had a lot of feral cats, I found two sick kittens on a walk and could not leave them, one of them had an infection so bad in her little eyes she could not even open them, I took them with the intent to adopt them out but they won me over and 4 years later they are still with me!!
ReplyDeleteMy husband has always been a cat person and switched me on to it pretty quick. We have to be very careful every time we go to our local shelter not to come home with several more...as much as we would love to! Piglet looks super cute :)
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