The Feline POV

CaTTskatzcattSkAtZcaTtsKaTzcAttz!!!

PutzyCatt, who's just turned 10, was 3 when this pic was taken. He's your
basic goo-ball, not to be confused with hairball; a talkingCatt who drools
(yes, drools!...unusual for a catt) when cuddled, from an excess of emotion.

If I had to describe a catt in one word, it would be this: amazinglysinououslygracefullyarchlyclownish&mostsadlymisunderstoodspecies.

Although I've always been a devoted dog-person...I've also always been an equally committed catt-person. I guess that makes me borderline bipolar and decidedly shizophrenic...so be it.

I believe catts deserve the extra T because it serves to emphasize all the Truths* about them that people choose not to see. (For current listing, check back with nearest feline). Sometimes I spell it katz...because that's how they are... savvy, frisky and hardly ever predictable.

This post is dedicated to all the catts who have shared their lives with me, each one of whom has been a singular, personality-plus specimen. Which is a whole lot more than I can say for most people. All mine (catts mostly, though sometimes people too!) are/were waifs, strays and injured orphans picked off the streets. And all they needed (the felines) was a home, food and a large dose of TLC. In return, they ensured I had a regular supply of generously utilized litter-trays to clean each time I was dying of bronchitis; they systematically smashed all my vases, ripped my carpets and upholstery to shreds, cured me of ever again using curtains, threw up on my bed at 4 am and sulked 5 days because I bawled them out.

Through all the drama involved when you're sharing living space with felines, they also ensured I had an unlimited supply of unconditional approbation, no matter what I looked like at 7 am. Acceptance, no matter how far up my arse my head was. Laughs when I most needed them. And last but not least, a legacy of inside jokes and endearing idiosyncracies peculiar to each one, which I must begin to chronicle someday soon. Most of all, they taught me the One Big Incontrovertible Truth: Catts make better people!!! I currently live with 7 of them, and as per the stereotype, am now in the market for a rocking chair.

*Cat myths and superstitions abound; I'm sure you've heard several yourself. I will not repeat them here, as then I would be guilty of perpetuating them. Suffice it to say that in ancient Egypt, catts were revered as the Great Goddess Bast. Those Nile-dwellers knew a thing or two about Goddesses, to be sure.

Unfortunately, because cats refuse to kowtow to people, they have been maligned through the ages. Some day, hopefully, people will wise up to the fact that all those nasty myths and superstitions were actually authored by mankind, not catts...perhaps the time is finally right for the Feline Point of View?