Man’s Relationship with Cat

Posted by Jeanne on January 8, 2009

The cat is different. She serves no one, knowingly or willingly. Her one accomplishment – the hunting of mice, rats and other rodents – is self-taught. The man does not live who can claim to have trained a cat to perform a task for human benefit.

For their own convenience, cats have learned various small maneuvers, like opening doors, but they do not and will not herd sheep, carry messages or run back to the ranch seeking help for jammed-up cowboys. There are no police cats, no watch cats, no sled cats.

The cat does not even come when she’s called, unless it suits her.

Stubborn independence in others often puts man’s nose out of joint, and it was at such moments that he probably began comforting himself by maligning cat’s character. She was sly, treacherous, and cruel; you could never tell what she was thinking; but she sure looked as though she knew what people were thinking. From here, of course, it was a short step to deciding that cats were the companions of witches and suffocated babies by sucking their breath.

Actually, if cats disliked people, there would be no more sense in associating with them than with tigers. The fact is that on certain terms, largely unpredictable owing to the wide variety of feline temperaments, it is quite possible to develop a warm and lasting friendship.

This, too, may not be a relationship of equals – the matter of who has the upper hand will always be in doubt – but it must be based on the free choice of the principals, on a willingness to tolerate different social and cultural patterns, and on an honest respect for each one’s  individuality. In this, the cat will come more than halfway. Once a cat has established rapport with you, she is anything but aloof – dignified and with a strong sense of privacy, yes; but withdrawn, disdainful, isolationist, no. She will try very hard to teach you cat language, which is only fair and proper since she understands considerable man-talk, even though she is not often persuaded to heed it.

(Like humans, cats vary in talkativeness, so the amount of conversation you have with one is not necessarily a measure of your friendship. Some cats reply to human remarks simply with expressive gestures – a lick of the tail, a blink of the eyes or sudden attention to a spot of fur that needs washing. It is never quite clear what any of this means.)

Cats are also quite self-sufficient. You never have to entertain them. This is not to say that they cannot be entertained or that they themselves are not entertaining. It is just that their errands are many and their schedules full. Admittedly, many of a cat’s waking hours are devoted to sleep, and a cat prowling purposefully through tall grass is often simply looking for a warm, safe place in the sun for a catnap. But, they do not moon and mope, like dogs, for the need of someone to do their thinking for them.

Cats generally have a good sense of fun, although they are too dignified to have a real sense of humor. And, since they are eminently practical, their games are all variations on the skills and techniques of hunting. They will stalk, pounce upon and wrestle furiously with a string pulled tantalizingly across the rug; dance around a rolling marble and cuff it with their forepaws, as though it were a mouse; or sit behind a door, ready to slide a paw under it and snag any moving thing that comes within reach from the other side.

In playing these games, cats will act the clown but never the stooge. They enjoy being laughed with but can’t abide being laughed at, and i will walk away stiff-legged if they are made to feel ridiculous.

Cats are very conservative creatures. They like to do things in their own way, within a familiar frame of reference. Change often unsettles them, and no amount of human reassurance will make them feel the least bit better about it. They often hate traveling in cars or trains and r will complain bitterly until the trip has ended. They are suspicious of a new item in their diet or of a familiar one prepared differently, or served up in a new dish or in strange surroundings.

This often is interpreted as contrariness. And, indeed, many of a cat`s actions do seem quite perverse. She will sit in forbidden chairs at almost every opportunity, and depart immediately from any chair, or other perch, on which she is put. She will sit and blink at human invitations to come in or go out, and scratch at the door five minutes after you have given up in disgust, asking to come in or go out.

What we are dealing with here is simply the cat’s monumental, stiff-necked resistance to anything that is not her own idea. Occasionally she will seem to obey, but this is merely a happy coincidence of your wishes and her intentions. Don’t be encouraged. Essentially, she bends her will to no one.

For man this is a quality both admirable and exasperating. It requires courage and strength of character, yet it can be wearing to cope with. If your exasperation outweighs your admiration, there is no point in having a cat for a pet.