“Cats were put into the world to disprove the dogma that all things were created to serve man.” —Paul Gray

Cats don’t serve man or humans. It’s the other way around. We serve cats or else we don’t try to live with them. Only a fool thinks cats have owners instead of servants. Only a fool thinks cats are objects to be owned instead of the people they are.

“Cat said, ‘I am not a friend, and I am not a Servant. I am the Cat who walks by himself, and I wish to come into your Cave.’ ” —Rudyard Kipling, from the “Just-So Stories”

We don’t choose which cats come to live with us. It’s the cats who choose who they live with. There are times when we think we choose, but alas, it’s an illusion. I saw Nuri in the shelter by herself. I walked over to her and as soon as my shadow fell on her, she started talking to me. She had chosen me with just a simple meow.