I don’t have any myself, but when I see them, I always feel like annoying them. Not by pulling their tails, not by inflicting any real pain, but still annoying them. Making fun of them. Luring them with treats, and then not giving them anything. After all, I have to give something back to the cats, because they annoyed me too. All my life, encounters with cats have always been annoying somewhere.
They are devious. They sneak around your legs, and if you’re not careful, you’ll step on their tail or paws. And sometimes they attack you, too. At least they do to me. And for my money, absolutely for no apparent reason.
And at night, they can scratch your eyes out if they want to. They have a mind of their own. Yes, that’s probably the real reason why I don’t like cats, I almost hate them. My girlfriend once told me that I don’t like cats because they have a mind of their own and I can’t really control them. And I have to admit that she is more than right in this case. Because I can’t think of any other or better reason why I don’t like cats and annoy them.
My last contact with a cat was a French street cat. Her past looks like this: Half dead in the streets of France, she apparently grew up in a pack of dogs. She has a broken eye, according to the vet she also had the cat plague, and she fetches small balls or other small objects when you have thrown them. Like a dog. Oh, retrieving, is that what you mean, right?
I have to say that despite having such a past, this cat, unlike most people, has a lot going for it. Above all, one thing: an irrepressible will to live.
Recently, she had a serious accident. Broken leg, a tear in the peritoneum. She had to lie around in a cage for weeks with a collar to keep her from reopening her wounds, and in a cage to prevent her from putting weight on her leg before the bone healed.
There were a total of three major surgeries over the course of a year. I wrote: irrepressible will to live.
She still has fun, never gave up, never gave up on herself. She faced death countless times and still has fun.
Now I look at the people who give up at the slightest provocation and say things like:
“I can’t do that.”
“That’s not right.”
“I’m too old for that.”
Things like that. Stupid talk. That’s what it is.
If this cat could talk, what would it tell us? But it doesn’t really matter, because it shows us what’s important without ever saying a word.