Dogs are outgoing, but cats have more attitude (06/12/06)

It has been a doggie week. I have met more friendly dogs on my daily walk this week than I have in my entire life. Most of them are little ankle-biters but a couple are well-brushed middle-sized animals. They sniff hello then wiggle their entire bodies until they are petted. Then they try to accompany me on my walk until their owners call them back. There isn’t a guard dog in the whole bunch. I suppose some of them could lick a person to death but that’s about it.

The dogs who bark and snarl at me are always the ones who are tied up and ignored. I feel sorry for them but I have no intention of making friends. The frustration and loneliness of being restrained and virtually ignored leads to some very cranky animals. To take a pack animal and force it to lead a solitary life in the backyard just doesn’t seem very nice.

Cats, on the other hand, never go up to strangers and beg to be petted. The exception is if the person absolutely despises felines. All cats have a perverse sense of humor and will naturally gravitate to anyone who doesn’t like them. It isn’t that the cat wants to show the person how lovable it is, rather it delights in tormenting someone who is obviously uncomfortable with the creature.

Whenever my father-in-law would visit us our cat would immediately hop into his lap. He would pick the cat up as if it was half-decayed roadkill and deposit it on the floor. The cat would let him sit for awhile before jumping back into his lap again. I almost expected him to wash his hands after touching the filthy beast but he restrained himself. We had two different cats treat him that way so I assume it is something they all giggle about whenever no humans are around. They devise elaborate plans as to how best drive humans batty.

Our calico cat, Gracie, is happy now that summer is almost here. It seems the plants have mostly been moved outside and the whole windowsill is hers again. She is an indoor cat although she is strongly considering having some type of freshly-caught wildfowl as an occasional snack. I have no intention of letting her outside so she will just have to be happy with the tasty ladybugs that get into the house.

I wonder what she would do if I ever bought a dog home? Knowing her, she would probably smack it into submission and steal all its toys. Maybe I should content myself with petting other people’s dogs. Besides, we don’t have enough energy to take care of a dog the way it should be taken care of.

I have read that people who keep furry pets are healthier than those who don’t. I don’t know if that is true or not but our cat does keep us agile. There is nothing like stepping on a hairball in the middle of the night to make a person jump up into the air while saying words they probably shouldn’t.

She also “attacks” at random. It reminds me of the old Pink Panther movies where Kato would attack Inspector Clouseau. Fortunately Gracie keeps her claws sheathed, something none of our other cats figured out how to do. As often as she does it you would think I would be used to it but it always startles me-much to her satisfaction.

It has been a doggie week in other ways also. I have felt like I was going around in circles chasing my tail all week. If I were a real dog then I would at least have a chance of catching it. I have been getting nowhere fast with no signs of stopping. However, as I am not a canine I will just have to keep running in circles until something else distracts me or until a calico cat attacks and gives me an excuse to stop and play ball with her instead. Maybe she’ll even allow me to pet her.

Then again, probably not.[[In-content Ad]]