This Christmas (2016) saw us ‘blessed with a visit from Emma and the Doctor. Not that they were unwelcome, but they brought along their adopted stray cat. I dare say for an abandoned cat it was doing rather well but, like most cats thought it had the right to climb and jump all over any piece of furniture. Not good given cats habbits of digging their claws into everything they can, especially with the three piece suite still officially classed as ‘new’. Add to this the ability to fart like a zombie elephant that has been feeding on decaying bodies for months and all in all it was not wholely welcome.
Now people who know me should be aware I have never been the biggest fans of the feline pet, prefering to trudge through six foot of snow or wade though four feet of flood water, with a dog on toe. So when we have a shabby stinky deliquent on the loose with several assorted beds and blankets scattered around the house it was not my favourite time of the year.
So am I just being unreasonable? After all, the damn thing was left to starve by it’s previous owners and was still probably not sure what its role in life was. Well on the whole I have to come down on the side of Kipling in summing up a cats relationship with people: they are selfish users.
How can I justify this view? Well you never hear of a cat being called ‘man’s best friend’ or come to that you never get the loyalty from a moggie that a dog gives a family. Take for example Greyfriars Bobby Happened a long time ago and todate we have never heard of a cat doing much more than chewing the face of it’s dead master. What other uses do dogs provide mankind? Amongst the many uses we have: guide dogs, hearing dogs, mountain rescue, sledge teams, guard dogs, etc. Never hear much about ‘guide cats for the blind’ or ‘sheep cats’. Half the time they cannot even fulfill the role for which they are best suited ‘rat catching’
All in all I see them as needy parasites that often comfort lonely women who have no children (or all the children have left home). Feed them, care for them, clean up their litter trays (why on earth they cannot go outside like a dog is beyond me) and still you get no real loyalty. Or do you know better?