4:37am July 30, 2013

➸ Making Room for Other Roots: deducecanoe: altliviaa: sweaty-resetti: mammacarnage: myladymother: i...

deducecanoe:

altliviaa:

sweaty-resetti:

mammacarnage:

myladymother:

i hate when people are like “only dogs can give u love and affection cats are cold and elusive” like okay dog person if you had ever actually owned a cat you would know they are the neediest fucking…

Actually some adult cats do meow at each other. It depends on the cats.

But cats are a social feline, like lions and cheetahs. Mother cats will help each other raise kittens. When they go wild, they form colonies. Outdoor cats will go visit friends and relatives in other houses. They help each other hunt.

It’s thought that cats, as they domesticated, evolved to become more social than their wild counterparts, because it was the social ones more likely to survive among humans, whether tame or feral.

You can read more about it here:

http://www.messybeast.com/soc_cat.htm

That’s by a cat lover who combines her extensive personal experience with research.

Also…

Growing up, my mom was always telling me that you can’t form connections to cats the way you can to dogs, that connections with dogs are special in a way connections with cats aren’t.

She was wrong.

Dogs and cats are different. Different people might connect more easily with one than another. My parents are clearly dog people, both in who they connect with and who they take care of better.

I like dogs, but I can’t form the connections with them that I form with cats. I have to work really hard even to communicate with them. It’s exhausting.

I’ve had Fey for 14 years. We have the closest relationship I’ve ever had with anyone, maybe tied with Anne.

We love each other. If I end up in the hospital, she’s beside herself until I come back, at which point she won’t let me out of her sight. She snuggles up to me often, locating herself in different places depending on how much affection she wants. She cares about me and I care about her. There is nothing one way about our relationship. I’m not the one that feeds her, but she loves me while tolerating everyone else. Because cat love is not about food.

If I am hurt or sick, she gets concerned and tries to help me. She’s been known to find the exact location of injuries inside my body and press on them with her paws. She worked out the art of prompting me when my body freezes up, long before any human worked out how to do it.

I think she sees herself as a little like my mother, while I’m her big stupid kitten. Seriously. She’s been giving me exasperated mother cat looks since she was barely more than a kitten herself.

I think a lot of people are simply unable to recognize the ways cats show love. Or haven’t been loved by a cat. Or have been brainwashed to look at real acts of love and explain them away as something, anything other than what they actually are. Because a lot of people see animals as glorified robots, and do everything in their power to avoid seeing them for who they are.

Also when cats “mark” you with their scent? You are NOT “territory”. They like to mingle their scent with their friends. Forget everything you’ve been ever told about how their behavior is merely meaningless instinct.

I mean, yes, some humans see cats as miniature humans and attribute weird motives to them that make no actual sense. But the answer to that is NOT to see them as little furry robots who don’t think, plan, or love.

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