I’m pretty sure
my cat, Sophie, was a human in a past life. In fact, I’m fairly certain
she was the original “Maxine”. It’s funny how we assign language to
our animals. We DO know what they’re thinking! My sister’s dog,
Brinkley, has a VERY human personality. She’s even “sassy”…she even cusses
<gasp!>! That’s why the captioned kitty/puppy photo’s are so
popular…what ELSE could that expression say? I think all pets have a
sense of humor.
Our Sophie is
sassy like Brinkley. She is irritated by the younger, “disabled” kitty,
she is demanding when she wants something, and she “sasses” back when I’m
scolding her for being snippy. Glitch is your typical bratty younger
brother. Sophie likes to head-butt to get my attention. She’ll sit
very close to me…staring…purring ever so softly. If I ignore her, she
will head-but my arm until I get up. If that doesn’t work, she’ll just
barely touch my arm with her cold, wet nose. It bugs me and she knows it.
I read
somewhere that cats age a bit different than dogs and I recently plugged
Sophie’s age (almost 9 in human years) into a “cat calculator”. She’s
almost 47. Glitch is the equivalent of a 12-year-old boy…and just as
ornery. This explains why she is SO annoyed by him. I’d be
irritated too if some 12-year-old kid jumped on my back when I passed by the
dark bedroom doorway! I’d probably scream and knock him out too!
Because of
Glitch’s disability (he has cerebellar hypoplasia, which impedes
his ability to coordinate his back legs), he can’t really jump up on anything.
He can get up on our beds or the sofa, but not on window sills, tables, chairs,
and he certainly can’t go outside. Not to worry, there is no pain
involved in his condition…unless he runs into a table leg or wall a little too
fast when he tries to run. He’s a very affectionate kitty. I think
this stems from the fact that his mother died at his birth and he was nursed
along by a caring family until he was adopted. He then imprinted on
Emmy. When she comes home, he runs for the door like a puppy. He
follows her around the house and insists on being in her lap if she is
sitting. He sits outside the bathroom door waiting for her like she’s
trapped. He can NOT handle it if she’s in there, especially if the water
is running - he throws himself at the door and paws under it. He's not
the sharpest knife in the drawer.
When we brought
Glitch home, he was just learning to use a litter box and because of his legs,
he has balance issues. This makes using his box a bit messy. During
the first couple of months, he had a bath on a pretty regular basis to get the
‘ick’ off of his lower half. Now, when Em is in the bathroom and he can
hear the shower, he looks panicky. He paces in front of the door
until she finally comes out. I swear I hear a little “whew” and a
look on his face that says, “I tried to save you, but I couldn’t fit under the
door! Did you get poop on you too?”
Some people say
cats don’t have emotions or motives. I disagree. I think they are
just as emotional as we are and I’m absolutely certain that they can
'talk'. They say a lot with just a ‘look’. Sophie has her
‘Don’t-you-look-at-me-in-that-tone-of-voice’ look and Glitch has his impish
little expressions. They get mad, they get snippy, and when we don't
comply...they get even! Our pets are very much a part of our family -
Brinkley even has her own Facebook page.
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