I'm a senior cat who lives with a silly girl. I know she loves me and takes good care of me, but sometimes her teasing is a bit too much for me. Lucky for me she spends hours at a time quietly doing her work. So, I can sleep and dream without her bothering me. And whenever I need her, she's not too faraway and usually available immediately.
I’ve lived with other cats inside. Usually it’s easier when you share the home. There’s no reason for vicious fights. But cats from outside try to come in and take over. Those cats aren’t fun. They are bullies.
Sometimes cats just show up and want to come in because they are attracted to my girl. It’s true she’s a crazy cat lady or gattara as the Italians say. Cats are attracted to her ever since I claimed her as my own. She did bring home a kitten and eventually he grew up. I’m so glad he did.
I couldn’t stand when he was a kitten and just wanted to play with me. I just wanted to be left alone so I could sleep and dream. He never cared. He thought since I was the adult cat that I would play with him whenever he wanted to.
After he became an adult, I discovered how much I love him. The little guy grew on me. He still looks up to me, but now it was at the same level.
I recently started a new website. It’s just an experiment and I thought it would be a good idea to do as the literate cat that I am. I will now give book recommendations and some reviews of books that can be found on Smashwords. Those same books might be available from other stores, but it’s hard for me to know unless they are my girl’s books.
Living with humans isn’t always great, but from what I hear, it’s better than living outside. I’ve never lived outside very long. Just that time I was so mad about the kitten, but eventually my girl convinced me to go back home with her.
I did and I haven’t regretted it since. At least she never had many other humans in our home as other humans I used to live with. Before her, I wasn’t as loved and cherished. I was the cat who was ignored. She changed that.
So, if you’re a cat and you’re lucky enough to get a devoted human, take them when they come. Your life will be blessed and much safer than if you have to fend for yourself and on your own.
Tail expressions tend to be overlooked by many humans. But our tails can communicate in ways our meows can’t. For example, when a cat carries their tail upright, it means they are happy. I know I walk around with my tail upright often. I’m quiet, but I’m still quite content.
If the tail is down low, such as lying straight on the cat’s back, it means the cat is nervous. Nuri used to walk like that when she first went to live with my girl. After Nuri learned how safe her new home was and how good my girl is, Nuri was able to relax. Now she walks around with her tail upright.
A fluffed out tail is a warning. It’s what we do to appear larger to scare off what is frightening us. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it’s all in play. Sometimes Nuri’s tail fluffs out and then she relaxes once she realizes there’s nothing to be afraid of. It was probably all the time she had live outside on her own. Every little sound could spell danger out there.
And now I come to Spot and his very expressive tail. Some humans make the mistake that he was angry when he waves his tail around. He isn’t. He usually is very happy go lucky. In fact, my girl used to recite my name and others we knew to him. Spot would respond not with a meow but with his tail beating faster. It was his way of saying how much he loved us all.
So, pay attention humans. We do use our tails as a means of communication.
I decided I do another interview. This time I interviewed my girl. So, I found her reading a book. She noticed me of course and set the book down.
Ali: What is it, Socki?
Sir Socks (SS): I’d like to interview you for my magazine.
Ali: Okay, what’s your first question for me?
SS: Why did you become a writer?
Ali: I couldn’t be anything else. I started writing about as soon as I knew how to form letters on paper. I always remember having the ability to read and I read a lot even when I was a kid. I found there were adults in my life who refused to listen to me and so I vented by writing to help me cope with their behavior. Writing is like breathing. I don’t know how to live without it. It helps calm me down and keeps me from blowing up at people for the dumbest reasons.
SS: You are a calm human. You hardly yelled at us cats, even when you had good reason to.
Ali: That’s because you are so stubborn and insisted on peeing on the floor because you were mad at me. You still freaked out when I said something calmly to you and knew you were in trouble.
SS: This is true. (pause to stare at my girl) So, now you’re a writer, editor and graphic designer. How did that all come about?
Ali: I started with just writing and learned how to edit my own work. I kept pushing myself to learn how to write a variety of things such as non-fiction articles, poetry, short stories and novels. I’ve put together a magazine known as The Moon for 13 years. It was in the middle of that working on that magazine that I learned graphic design and am glad I did.
SS: Do you still push yourself?
Ali: Yes, I still push myself with the writing. I also find I still need to work on my drawing as it’s my weakest skill. I am getting better mainly because I told myself it was okay to make mistakes and just practice on simpler drawings for now. I know with more practice I will get better at it. I just can’t judge myself while I’m practicing as I don’t judge while I’m drafting. It’s not until I edit that I bring in the judgements. I do tend to judge the drawings I do after I finish them.
SS: (purr) I knew I picked the right human to take care of me and to run my magazine.
Ali: Well, of course you did. You trained me so well that now I can’t live without a cat. Even cats who don’t know me well know they can ask me to give them more food.
SS: Are you happy as a devoted cat servant?
Ali: Yes, you and others have brought me lots of joy. I know you’ve helped me with social issues I seem to have with other humans. Some don’t like how quiet I am, but cats such as yourself never care about such things. You know how much care I was willing to give you that you refused in the end. I don’t regret what I’ve done for any of you cats.
SS: (purr) Good. I’m glad you take pride in taking care of cats and your work too.
I continued to purr as she petted me. I couldn’t ask for a better human.
Usually a cat mother will teach her kittens how to use a litter box or tray. I know my mother taught me when I was very young. Not that I remember it. I didn’t always use a litter box until after I went to live with my girl. She actually showed me the box of litter and even picked me up and set me down in it. I knew what it was for and used it when I needed to.
Spot was a different story. My girl brought him home and he was much too young. My girl had to bottle feed him. I taught him how to be a cat. He picked up strange habits from her. I was the one who taught him how to use the litter box. My girl was no help with that.
The little guy looked up to me from the start. He was glad to be around an adult cat. I couldn’t stand him at first, but I can be a great example of a well behaved cat. So, I did my best and he learned how to use the litter box instead of going on the floor. It didn’t seem to matter that he had to climb into the box when he was so small. He just did it and buried his waste as he was supposed to. I couldn’t complain about that. Neither could my girl.
Apparently human scientists have managed to prove cat saliva has a mild detergent which helps clean our fur. It also contains a lot of bacteria. Bacteria is everywhere as my girl tells me. The detergent is interesting. We cats use our tongues to clean our fur and we’ve been doing it for centuries. I don’t suppose I ever questioned it before I found out what the human scientists have been up to, but it’s good to know my body is designed well. I don’t think any human gets to take credit for the cat design.
The fact that I have to say cats are people indicates a serious problem in this world. As a cat, I watch humans and can’t understand why you seem to think it’s okay to fight among yourselves to decide who gets medical treatment and decent food to eat. Those same prejudicial humans like to assert cats are objects to be owned and not people at all.
Those humans have no idea how wrong they are. It’s your thinking which is wrong and deranged. It’s the kind of thinking which leads to serious illnesses. I can be sneaky. I’m so quiet and stealthful that I don’t have to deal with you. I can avoid you and I do.
That is why I am glad I was blessed with someone like my girl. She never gave me a hard time for being a cat. If anything, she accepted me as I am and encouraged me to become braver. She saw the good in me and encouraged me to be better. I did the same for her. I taught her about unconditional love and she has never forgotten those lessons.
Cats are people and so is my girl. I’m not sure I want to consider prejudicial humans to be people because they refuse to consider me a person. My girl considers me a person as she does all cats. She knows we are not objects to be owned.
Oh, and my girl has told me she has had to tell humans similar things about her. She knows she’s a person and not an object to be owned by anyone else. No wonder we get along so well.
Sometimes cats just don’t get along. As a cat, I know. I didn’t always get along with my brothers or with the kitten I raised with my girl. We cats do fight. Usually, when we live inside with someone caring for us, we do not fight to the death. We just scream and yell at each other and sometimes come to physical blows.
I stress to you humans if you see and hear us fighting, please keep in mind as long as we aren’t clawing each other or causing any kind of wounds, you don’t need to worry. We are dealing with the tension of the moment. Princess Lily and Nuri just don’t get along. I don’t know why not. They tend to hiss at each other too much. Sometimes Nuri tries to play with Princess Lily who doesn’t like to play.
Only a few times have they done more than hiss and scream at each other. Neither got hurt. My girl was usually around to get them separated or just have them stop altogether. In the case of Princess Lily and Nuri, it is best to stop them from taking it too far as my girl does. Fortunately, they tend to avoid each other often or are in their separate rooms so they can’t get to each other and cause trouble when the humans are sleeping. Or trying to sleep as the case maybe.
Sometimes we just play wrestle. My girl has seen Spot and me fighting like that enough that she found it amusing. She never got between us. She knew we were playing.
Please watch carefully and soon you will learn if it’s a bad personality clash or just sheer play or even a way to diffuse the tension between us.
I find it interesting that human scientists like to study cats. Sometimes I wonder how they could ever understand us, but they do at times. They do their best to back up their research on us as they do with any other kind of research. Some cats do their best to explain and use the scientific methods to get a better understanding of ourselves as well.
So, how long can cats live? Well, it varies. One factor is if the cat lives solely outside or solely inside. I used to be an indoor and outdoor cat until after I lived with my girl. Eventually, I could feel old age set in and knew how good I had it with her. So, I stayed in.
The average lifespan is about 10-15 years. Some cats can live to 20 years and beyond. I wouldn’t know for sure. I just know that I lived a long time and gave much joy and love to my girl who took great care of me until I got too sick and was ready to cross the rainbow bridge.
Sometimes it doesn’t work out that well for some cats. I don’t know why, and Isis doesn’t either, she didn’t live a long time. She was much too young. It wasn’t fair. So, I look out for her these days as best I can.
For those of you who want to live with cats, please keep in mind how long we can live and take good care of us. Give us good food and spend time with us. Be sure to keep us safe. A catico is a safe way for us to go outside without having to worry about any unsavory characters who might harm us. It doesn’t matter if they are human or other animals. That way we have better chances of staying healthy and won’t get lonely or depressed. All of which can increase our chances of living a long life.
Sir Socks Le Chat 