Meow

Cats Learn What They Live

I have a plaque in my home office entitled Children Learn What They Live, written by Dorothy Nolte in the early 1970s.

Here is an example:

If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.

http://www.empowermentresources.com/info2/childrenlearn-long_version.html

As The New York Times notes in its obituary of Nolte, "The poem has time-honored antecedents in Western oral tradition. With its steady rhythm and gentle didacticism, it recalls well-loved nursery rhymes or ballads."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/20/arts/20nolte.html

Borrowing the style of Dorothy's wonderful words, I want to put together a similar poem with the collaboration of the forum, like this:

If children with with Abyssinian cats, they learn adventure.
If children live with Siamese cats, they learn curiosity.

etc.

Perhaps this might be the last line of our poem.

If children live with cats of any kind, they learn to find beauty and friendship in their world.

Read responses.

Sweet Barking Cheese

Sweet Barking Cheese.

That's the name for our cat that I'm trying to sell to my family, but I'm facing some resistence.







It reminds me of that wonderful poem by T.S. Eliot on this particular challenge.

The Naming Of Cats

by T. S. Eliot

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first
I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey--
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter--
But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum-
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover--
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular
Name.

Diary of a Cat

Excerpts from a Dog's Diary:

8:00 a.m. - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 a.m. - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 a.m. - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 a.m. - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 p.m. - Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 p.m. - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 p.m. - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 p.m. - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 p.m. - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 p.m. - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 p.m. - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

Excerpts from a Cat's Diary:

Day 983 of my captivity.

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the ration s perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eatsomething in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on thecarpet.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearlydemonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. Bastards!

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what that means, and how to use it to my advantage. Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches.The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released -- andseems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded.The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe....

For now......

Cats After People

Did anyone see that fascinating documentary on the History Channel "Life After People"? The premise was that all humans suddenly vanished, and then they looked at what would happen to life as the years rolled by. They had great special effects, as you can see.

http://www.history.com/minisites/life_after_people

So, according to the show, 250 years after people disappear, the skycrapers are decaying warrens filled with vegitation, mice, and birds, making an ideal haibitat for cats. They even think that cats may develop gliding abilities, like the flying squirrel.

This isn't just speculation. Scientists looked at what happens now and then extrapolated, for example, in the case of cats, from the prolific cat colonies at Rome's colossium. It's humbling to see that nature will do just fine and argubaly better than without us. But I know Kitty would miss his kibble.

Life may end with a whimper rather than a bang. But it looks like that cats will inherit the earth.

Cat Poop

No, this isn't another post on Marmite. Perhaps I have too much time on my hands, but I have to ask this pressing question. Why do small, domestic cats bury their poop and large, wild cats do not?

Cats bury they poop because they don't want to be found by predators. The dominant cat in a household will sometimes not bury, to asserts his/her dominance. Large wild cats don't really have to worry about any predators (except humans :( ), so I imagine marking their territory is simply more important to them than worrying about hiding it.

Burying your poop is only important if something might use it to find you and eat you. That's part of the reason parent birds will remove the fecal sacs from the nest and carry them far away when they have nestlings, or why momma cats will lick their babies urine up - less scent to attract predators to the babies. An adult large cat doesn't have to worry about hiding from predators, so they can use that to mark territory instead of having to use more subtle cues that proclaim their territory claim to others of the same species while not attracting predators.

Murphy

My heart is breaking, but I know it was time, and Murph did too. I called my friend Sonia, who is Murph's second Mom, so were both there with him. We stayed as he went to sleep, gave him hugs and kisses, and told him how much he was loved. It was as hard as I imagined it would be, and worse. But, I know it was the right decision.

Murphy told Sonia and I he was okay, and it was time. There was a window in the room, and it was open, and the sun was out and there grass to see. He jumped up there a couple times, and the last time he did, I could see he was okay, and that he looked more like the old Murph. Sonia and I both noticed it, and knew he was okay and was ready.

Murphy has this toy, kind of like a stuffed sock, that's he had since he was a kitten. I amazed it's still here after all the moves, but it is. It's 17 years old, very ragged, stuffing coming out, but it's here, and is a part of him. I have it on my lap as I type, and have put it to my cheek.

I'm having a hard time comprehending that he's not "physically" here, that I'm alone in my house. This will be the greiving process I guess.

Murphy, I MISS YOU SO MUCH, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH, I wish you didn't have to leave me, but understand it's how the universe works...and that I will see you again one day.

I had no idea that I would shed a tear over the love of your beloved friend. I'm so sorry. I lost of cat of 17 years a number of years ago, and it isn't easy to do so. Here is a poem to Murphy, a paraphrase from Alfred Lord Tennyson.

MURPHY: 1991-2008

God gives us love. Some cat to love
He give us. But when love is grown
to ripeness, that on which it throve
Falls off, and love is left alone.

Sleep sweetly, tender heart in peace!
Sleep, dear Murphy, blessed soul
While the stars burn, the moons increase
And the great ages onward roll.

Sleep 'till the end, true soul and sure!
Nothing comes to thee new or strange
Sleep full of rest from head to paw
Lie still, 'till ere we meet again!

Do Cats Have Souls?

Of course they do.

http://cats.about.com/b/2007/12/23/do-cats-have-souls.htm

“I think God will have prepared everything for our perfect happiness in heaven,” Evangelist Billy Graham writes In Remembrance of A Special Dog. “If it takes my dog being there, I believe he’ll be there.” The same must be said for my cats as well.

The possibility of non-human morality raises all kinds of questions. It’s hard to deny that some higher animals, such as elephants, dolphins, cats, and dogs, lack altruistic impulses and moral sensibilities. And it’s clear to me that the least ethical man is far inferior in his morals than the most ethical ape. I recently read a news account of a child who had fallen into an ape pit at a zoo. A larger ape gently pulled the unconscious child to safety while fending off the more rowdy juvenile apes. While it’s possible that the ape’s mothering instincts might have kicked in, it seems to me that it was just as possible for her more brutal instincts to kick in as well that would have resulted in the death of the child. In other words, it seems to me that the ape made a moral choice. If it’s true that animals have a moral sense, should we follow in St. Francis’ footsteps and preach to the birds? Do snails have souls? Can animals be redeemed and have a redeemer? (My interlocutor sarcastically asked me, “What are you saying? Is there a Jesus rabbit and a Jesus fox and rabbit crucifixion and a fox crucifixion?”) If there is the spark of the divine within beasts, what then should our relationship be to them? Does human contact with some animals—such as my affection for my cat Rex—imprint on that creature in some way a moral sensitivity? Can we teach animals morality? Should we avoid all foods that once had faces? Ban vivisection? Liberate the barn and zoo animals and pray over the burial of our leather shoes and fur coats? What about intelligent non-human life elsewhere, perhaps in other solar systems? Did they too undergo the passion pageant and if not, how should we regard them? As our moral superiors? (I suspect that if we have the means, we’ll probably try to kill them. But this is an academic question as we have no basis whatever to believe that such life exists. Although I’m an avid science fiction fan, I find no convincing evidence from 7,000 years of recorded history to support the belief that UFOs are real or that space aliens exist, and I consider the search for extra terrestrial life to be a waste of effort and money.) What about artificial life? It may be merely a matter of time before we can code robots to have cognition, consciousness, feelings, superstitions, and theistic longings. Can we manufacture a soul? Can we program an android to have free will? Should we still treat them the same we treat a toaster? I don’t think I have many answers for these questions. But, in general, I think we should treat animals, aliens, and even androids and appliances ethically, as our actions reflect for better or for worse our ethics or our lack of ethics.

In the Turing Game, proposed by Alan Turning in the 1950s, two players are behind a curtain communicating with you by a console. If a robot can be substituted for one the players and it is impossible for you to determine that, presumably that robot will have reached the level of conceptual thought. But I think that this test doesn’t scratch the surface in emulating genuine human consciousness. It would also be more impressive if the android interactions reached the level of self-initiated perfidy, as in the case of HAL, the computer in the movie 2001, or self-directed superstition in the movie AI. Human self-consciousness would have to include all the virtues and vices that we manifest, as well as our inner world of thought, doubt, confusion, dread, greed, dishonesty, intentionality, dreams, speculation, and mysticism. I see no basis for assuming that we are anywhere near that point, even at a rudimentary conceptual level.

If man is merely a more complicated machine that the lower orders going down the smallest bacterium, is man therefore truly unique? What is it exactly that makes man a little lower than the angels and a little higher than the orangutans? And why does this matter so long as we are ethically grounded? If we view man as merely an advanced machine or animal, will it necessarily follow that we must treat men as machines or animals? I think the answer can only be: no. The way we treat anything reflects on our respect for life and on our attitude to man himself. “They are only rats” becomes “They are only Jews.”

Hope has been at war with my reason for my entire life, and this may be a case where hope has won. Ezekiel 18:4 says that God regards that “all souls are mine”, and I’m more certain that Rex had a soul than some folks that have made the headlines. I’m reminded of the Prayer of Saint Basil of Caesarea: “O God, grant us a deeper sense of fellowship with all living things, our little brothers and sisters to whom in common with s you have given this earth as home. May we realize that all these creatures also live for themselves and for you—not for us alone. They too love the goodness of life, as we do, and serve you better in their way than we do in ours.” Lions and lambs are in Heaven, according to Revelation. Romans 8:21 says that all of creation will someday be delivered from corruption, which I take to mean all of nature. James 3:7 talks of man taming all creatures. I was recently saw a sparrow trying to move or comfort a dead or dying bird, an expression of empathy that both startled and impressed me. In two places, Jesus makes references to pets, dogs (Matthew 15:21-28) in one case and birds (Matthew 10:29) in another. My belief in animal souls is in part a retort to my Uncle Ray’s rhetorical verse:

It little matters sparrows
That the Father notes their fall
They die like all the other beats
Both big and great and small

And they might justly wonder
If they could cogitate
Why the Father would simply note their fall
When death is still fate?

Shortly after my cat Rex died, I had a dream in which he was sitting at the end of my bed in a puddle of light, but he looked as healthy as he did ten years earlier. He looked at me with his Cheshire gaze and rumbled a purr. And then the vision melted, but I was left with the feeling that he was letting me know that he was happy and waiting. “My Mom has had several Near Death Experiences over the past twenty-five years,” someone wrote me. “And she saw for herself that animals, too, are as important to God as we are. During Mom’s first NDE while she was reuniting with her own deceased mother, she felt something touching her hand. She looked down and saw a dog nuzzling it. She was simultaneously amazed and thrilled to learn that animals pass over to Heaven to same as us and are held in equally high regard in God’s eyes. Mom almost didn’t recognize the dog because the last time she saw him on Earth, he was quite old and crippled from arthritis. He was healthy and youthful looking in his heavenly body. And he remembered Mom! It felt as though they had never been separated even though so many Earth decades had gone by. Your sweet Rex is very much alive and well in Heaven and will be pushing his way through the welcoming committee to greet you when it is your time. He’s watching over you now!”

"Look, Daddy, Kittens!"

Cats That Glow

At least I won't trip over Kitty in the middle of the night!

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=071212210021.3u7d8gpx&show_article=1

Trapping Cats

Our local Arizona paper includes a "sound off" column that allows people to vent about anything. Here is what one person said:

"Cats are not considered domesticated animals. They are considered predatory animals by law. This means they can be freely trapped if they are on your property. I do believe that people should be humane. By the way, they can be disposed of as you see fit, although poisoning cats or shooting them within the city limits is a no-no. I do happen to know of people who have gotten so fed up that they have humanely trapped the cats, taken them out to the desert, shot them in the head humanely and disposed of their bodies. You may not like this, but that's the facts of life as far as the laws go."

Putting aside the obvious emotions this opinion arouses, I wonder if the author's understanding of the law and also his characterization of pet cats as being non-domesticated and predatory is accurate. He clearly is talking not about feral or wild cats, but people's pets. It seems to me that this would be analogous to someone who killed a horse for no other reason than that horse trespassed. The cat or the horse represent property belonging to someone, and the destruction of that property would be grounds for legal action-- not just for the loss of the property that is the pet but also the anguish such actions took. But I'm no lawyer. So, I would be interested in hearing from someone who does know the law in this situation.

Remember, intentionally killing a cat is a crime in all 50 states, and anti-cruelty laws apply to all cats, pet, abandoned, lost, and feral.

Aging Pets

My cat is now 11 years old. We got her when she was only weeks old.... Now the older she gets, the more scared I get and sad. To say that I am a animal lover, is an understatement.... and just the thought that within a few years, she wont be here anymore.... makes me scared to death and very sad. I just dont know, what I will do, or how to deal with it. I have never had a cat of my own, I have never had to see it or anything like that. I had 2 cats that have passed away, but when I moved out of my parents house they stayed, so when they did pass away, I wasnt actually there. I had a hard time dealing with those as it was, so I cant imagine how I will be when mine does, here in my home. I love her sooooo much, and she has been in our family for 11 years now, I just cant imagine her not being here...It will be one of the hardest things i have to deal with. I wish I didnt care so much, at times like these...:((

When my cat died just short of 17 years, it took me more than a year to get through the grieving process and for several years after that I could bring myself to get another cat. In the waning months of his life, as he lost his hair, weight, and flexibility, I struggled with the question of euthanasia. In my cat's case, there wasn't so much an erosion of health. It was more a sequence of increasingly debilitating collapses-- a plateauing down. I remember taking Rex to the vet once. In the lobby was a burley teamster with tears streaming down his face. He had just watched his doctor put his dog “to sleep.” The subject of euthanasia is too complex for this post, but needless to say, I just couldn’t bring myself to take that step. So long as he wasn’t in acute pain so far as I could tell, I resolved to continue to provide as best as I could and play and comfort him until the end. After giving him a bath one night, he had a stroke and died the next morning.

I suppose I could do worse.

One of the many gifts that our fur-kids give us is that they compress time, decades into years. As much as death of someone you love is a desolation and a devastation, there is compensation. By giving us the lesson of death, they teach us about life, that life is short but infinitely joyous. As I type thse words, Kitty is lying in a pool of sun, and sometimes when I've heard a word too much from politicans or tele-evangelists, I find contentment in looking at life through the eyes of my cat, worry less about taxes and war and treasure and marvel at the orbit of life that make up my cat's existence. As I get older, I accept more and more that death is a great gift, not because of what it takes from me, but what it gives to me-- a nobility and poignancy and urgency to life. We accept the death of our pets as an inevitable part of life, but that still doesn't decrease the pain and the sense of loss. Even in death, they wrap their souls around our hearts and so continue to live on in our hearts.

Feline Angel of Death

Oscar, the feline angel of death.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=470906&in_page_id=1770

People who don't like cats - or are superstitious - might say the cat is sucking the breath out of the patients. I have heard that there are people who believe cats suck the breath out of infants (I guess as an explanation for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).

People who are stupid-- I use that word precisely-- says cats suck the breath out of patients or babies. Anyone who has watched a cat drink will know that cats don't suck, they lick.

Cats clearly have a range of ability that extends beyond what humans can perceive. There has nothing to do with the paranormal. This is simply a fact of animal biology, picking up sounds, sights, vibrations, and smells before humans do. I had a cat that woke me from a fire that took the life of someone in my apartment at two am. I also think they pick up emotions as well, proving comfort and joy to their human pets in times of despair and distress.

Oscar reminds me of the cliche-aphorism of William Shakespere, in "Hamlet", Act 1, scene 5: "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

Kitty's Leather Couch

Kitty has demolished our leather couch. We're thinking about buying another leather couch. We won't declaw and he won't wear mittens. Kitty, at five years of age, will probably always like scratching leather.

We used to have a scratching post, but he never took to it. We may keep the old couch for him to continue to scratch, but we want to be sure that he doesn't ruin the new couch.
I'm interested in hearing of cat-friendly ideas on how to protect our furniture. For example, are there any feline-repelling (but that don't repel human) sprays on the market?

Consistent training will teach him to leave the couch alone. The idea is to make the couch an unpleasant choice to scratch while making vertical or horizontal scratching posts desirable. Things that will make the couch unpleasant are tape, sticky side up, getting squirted with water if he starts to scratch, a loud noise to startle him.

It sounds like what basically is needed is behavorial conditioning. An example is what we inflict on Kitty each night when my wife makes my sandwich for work to our general delight. He gets a nice slice of ham but only if he walks on his two back feet. Kitty is turning into a regular Puss in Boots by the way he toddles around the kitchen. The principle is the same with the couch I suppose, but using rocks in a can or a water-bottle to reinforce a different kind of behavior.

We'll see if it works.

How Smart Are Cats?

Who is smarter and why-- cats, dogs, humans?

This somewhat frivolous question was prompted by an article that I read that compared dog and cat intelligences. Dogs, the article claimed, can understand more than 2,000 words, whereas cats can understand about 50. However, cats are more attuned to tones than dogs and more than hold their own when it comes to problem-solving and simple reasoning. My cat, for example, has no trouble unlatching my cupboards.

Humans? Generally pretty dense, IMO.

Two comments:

somewhat frivolous??
somewhat?

Freak, get a rope..

That rude comment was made by "Bad Cat." I've seldom encountered bad cats. Bad cat may need to spend time in purrgatory.

You will never see a team of cats pulling a sled through snow and ice. Plus, if an alien were to visit this planet and saw humans scooping litter boxes, who do you think *they* would assume was smarter?

Rainbow Bridge

This made me tear up.

Woman Gives Birth to Cat

I don't make the news. I just report it.

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2371905.html?menu=news.quirkies

Also: Woman gives birth to cat.

http://living.scotsman.com/people.cfm?id=1819192006

My hunch is that the reporters in both cases were confused or fibbing. There's also a story on the internet about a woman giving birth to a tortise, which is quite a trick shot, I suppose.

Cat Uses a Fork

For Pity's Sake

Cats and Spirituality

Why is it that cats are associated with spirituality going back to the days of the Egyptian pharoahs?

There is an endearing story of the prophet Mohammed cutting off his sleave to allow his cat to continue to slumber. Throughout southeast Asia, there are temples dedicated to cats. The present pope is well-known for his love of cats as are the wiccans. Great humanitarians who loved cats include Albert Schweitzer, Florence Nightingale, Harriett Beecher Stowe, and Vanna White. (Well, Vanna does like cats and she's probably a nice person.)

I cannot think of any evil people who liked cats.

To generalize, I think it has something to do with their mellowness, independence, fidility, and tranquillity and their capacity to evoke in others mellowness, independence, fidility, and tranquillity while still retaining an air of mystery and divinity.

Someone sent me this post.

I was just in a funky music store the other day and saw a bumper sticker that said:

"I don't need a Higher Power. I have a Cat."

As a fairly spiritual person, it made me chuckle, as cats are natural companions when engaging in spiritual activities, like meditating, praying, reading sacred texts, etc. Maybe they feel a connection... maybe they just like it when their person is quiet and attentive and it's a good opportunity to schmooze some snuggling, or simply enjoy quiet time together. Maybe it's because sometimes they act like Higher Powers patiently trying to teach us lesser beings what life is really all about. :)

Heck, I can't even do yoga without them playing with the drawstrings on my pants or climbing on my back. Although I'm skeptical about there being a spiritual connection there- I believe they just think it's funny!

What Makes a Cat Person

I posted the following on a cat forum:

Why makes a person a cat person? Is it nature-- something genetic-- that inclines them to animals that share their instincts and prejudices? Is it nurture-- your parents loved cats so you do as well? Is it (wild thought!) because you were a cat in a prior life?

Speaking for myself, I've yet to meet a cat I didn't like, and I cannot understand how people cannot love these beautiful creatures.

Read response to this post here.

Boy Cat or Girl Cat?

I got 65 percent on this test.

What about you?