And Now, For Something Completely Different
And Now, For Something Completely Different
A paean to our feline friends
The world is falling apart. Let’s talk about cats.
Today is International Cat Day! Who knew? Since cats rule the internet, it seems fitting on this day for my online newsletter to briefly depart from its recent culture- and climate-related topics to focus on this small but enormously loved bit of nature. After all, nature is also one of my newsletter’s themes.
And what sweeter part of nature is there than cats, that little bit of the natural world that we welcome into our families? One of the pleasures they bring is connecting us to nature right inside our homes. Less tame or people-pleasing than dogs, cats let us live daily with wild things — even if we never step outside.
Our own little wild things, Sparky and Fiona, bring us endless comfort and joy in the midst of a chaotic, unnerving world. Their presence is a constant focus; they’re highly photographed; and for such small creatures, they loom large in our lives.
Sometimes when I look at Sparky and Fiona, it occurs to me how remarkable it is that they’re so special to us and yet so similar to the many other cats in the world. How many are there? No one seems to know the exact number, but there could be 600,000 - 1 billion cats, or nearly one for every eight humans. Of those, about 220 million are pets and about 480 million are strays. The U.S. has the largest number of house cats, which reside in one in every three households.
Despite their popularity, cats are often misunderstood. Long considered aloof, they’re actually quite social creatures who love being near their humans and one another. Sparky and Fiona constantly demand attention, want to be part of whatever is going on, and follow us around the house. These days, shelters rarely let you adopt a single kitten, because they know these animals need company.
Cats are more versatile and adaptable than you might think, though it does depend on the cat and on how young they are when exposed to new situations. Cypress the cat lived aboard a sailboat with
and her partner for many months, joining them in San Diego on their journey from San Francisco to Richmond, Virginia. While our Sparky freaks out the minute he’s placed in a moving vehicle, Cypress is not alone in her adventurous spirit.
Cats are also smarter than they’re often given credit for — partly because their intelligence hasn’t been studied as much as, say, that of dogs. While it doesn’t really make sense to compare the intelligence of different species, given that we all have varying capabilities of all kinds, some scientists went ahead and did it anyway. They concluded that an adult cat’s intelligence is comparable to that of a two-year-old human.
That’s hardly comparing apples to apples — not to mention that there are marked differences even within one species. Fiona may be cute and cuddly, but she just doesn’t have the brain power of Sparky. We taught him to sit for his food in a matter of minutes, but that would have been a futile exercise with Fiona. Sparky was clever and strong enough to break off the lock on the cat door, so he now comes and goes as he pleases. Once when we couldn’t find Fiona I asked Sparky where she was, and he led me right to the glass door of Rafael’s basement office, where she’d gotten trapped. Did he understand me, or maybe just recognize Fiona’s name? We’ll never know.
But we do know that cats know more than we think. They may not respond when their name is called, but they apparently know not only their own names but also other cats’ names — so maybe it wasn’t that far-fetched to think that Sparky knew when I was asking about Fiona. Unlike dogs, cats simply don’t always care to respond to us, so we interpret that as meaning that they don’t understand.
But hey, even humans often don’t understand other humans — and that includes cat people versus dog people. I tend to love animals of all kinds, so I definitely enjoy dogs, but I’m squarely in the cat person camp. Sometimes I think introverts are drawn more to cats because they better suit our energy. Whatever the appeal, many of us tend to have a preference between the two most popular pets.
Cats are easy to love. We adopted Sparky and Fiona at the height of the pandemic, when shelters were closed and you couldn’t necessarily hold out for your pick of the litter. We got what we got. Like other cats, they each have their unique mixture of wonderful and highly annoying qualities.
Both love having their tummies rubbed and will not bite when you do it, but only Fiona sleeps with us regularly. She has a cute habit of washing our hands thoroughly any chance she gets. Fiona is Sparky’s groupie; she follows him everywhere and loves washing him, too. He tolerates her and will sometimes return the favor:
Fiona used to sleep through the night but has taken to waking me up early, poking at my face so I’ll pet her (yes, I do sometimes shut her out of the room so I can get enough sleep). We don’t always understand our cats’ plaintive meowing — though AI promises it will one day be able to decipher their vocalizations — and it can be frustrating to determine what they want. Sparky goes through phases of bringing in and losing live mice, often in the middle of the night.
Yet we love them above all other cats and will miss them dearly when they’re gone, which is likely to be before the end of our own lives. Why is it that whatever cat we adopt, we end up loving it so? It’s no surprise that we’re predisposed to love pets, but I find it interesting that we develop such strong love for whichever ones we happen to live with. Is this similar to what happens in many arranged marriages? Does living with a family member day in and day out naturally lead to love? It would seem so.
As much as I love cats, please do not buy me cat paraphernalia or decorations! I’m not sure why a love of cats translates to cat tchotchkes for so many, but I’ll stick with the real thing, thank you.
The real thing, with its warmth, purring, and soft fur, is what brings us such joy, entertainment, and love. Cats can remind us of our connection to one another and to all of nature. They can soothe us and even lower our blood pressure, in addition to providing a host of other health benefits.
If you’re not a cat person, this may not move you. But cats have been held in high esteem for many thousands of years, and their popularity is not likely to wane. I count myself lucky that they adopted us so many years ago and have stuck with us since. In this crazy world, we can all use a little cat comfort
I feel all of this! Back in 2008 we adopted 2 approx 4 month old boys that were dumped at the model home in the new community that we had just moved into. Unfortunately one of them developed a fast growing squamous cell carcinoma under his tongue almost 2 years ago now & we had to make the very difficult decision to put him to sleep. It was definitely heartbreaking. We still have the other one though so he is just over 15 yrs old & it has become increasingly obvious that he is aging. I am an introvert & my wife is an extrovert so it was really weird to discover that the “boys” were the same. One introvert that favored me & one extrovert that favored my wife. The extrovert is the one that we still have. He has become increasingly vocal in his old age. It was extremely difficult for him to be without his brother. He has always been very social but is even more so now. Likes to be close always. Cats are very fascinating creatures for sure.
Lovely. Definitely in the small dog camp myself but have enjoyed a cat or two in my life as well! When we said goodbye to our Connor last fall, a friend noted that our pets give us the opportunity to live unconditionally (the inverse of how they our dogs love us unconditionally). I agree! We now have Caylie since May 20, now 5 1/2 months old and full of Yorkie attitude!