Caturday felids are back, and I have a bunch of material for future posts (I assume that some readers are ailurophiles).
First, from Funny And Cute Cat’s Life, cats doing stuff better than humans do. 10½ minutes of fun, with plenty o’ kittens! I like the two cats who like being repeatedly thrown on a bed. Also climbing kitten at 9:46.
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In this post, Emily Stewart, the business and finance correspondenct for Vox, who apparently doesn’t really like cats, tries to answer the title question.
First, her view of cats:
I am not a cat person. Whenever friends ask why I don’t have one — after all, I am a single woman in her 30s — my response is always the same: There’s too big a risk your cat hates you. Cat owners’ stories are basically, “Oh my God, you won’t believe what Fluffy just did! So cute!” And then they tell you about something objectively destructive and, occasionally, gross. Even if your cat likes you, it’s sometimes distant and perhaps kind of an asshole — most cats are. It’s not a bad thing, really. (See: Grumpy Cat, a cultural icon.) They’re semi-wild animals we have as pets, which is a whole separate complicated issue on its own. The main expectation you can have of a cat is that you can’t have a lot of expectations.
Seriously? “Most cats are perhaps kind of an asshole?” No, animals can’t really be “assholes” in the human sense. Here Stewart shows she doesn’t really understand cats. Yes, they are wilder than dogs, and she grudgingly admits that this could be a good thing, but the other good thing is that they’re like people: you can’t count on them to behave the same way all the time (that’s what d*gs are for). Anyway, Ms. Stewart answer the question in an oddball way: she decides to go to a cat show. The them of the piece is whether the author’s friend Donna’s cat, a black Persian named Vincenzo, is a “good cat”. Donna shows Vincenzo at cat shows.
“The whole question of cats is less about the cat and more about the human. A cat is going to be a cat, and they’re very funny and affectionate,” says Ella Cerón, an author, friend, and owner of two black cats — Holly and Olive — when I tell her via text that I’m working on this story. “You as a person also have to understand that there are things in this life you cannot control, and one of those things is a cat.”
What even makes a “good” cat? Do we want them to be loving? Aloof? Friendly? Beautiful? Strong? Or is the idea mainly for them to catch critters? Are they supposed to bend to our will, or are we supposed to bend to theirs?. . .
I decided to go to a cat show to find out. A show cat is different from a pet cat, but as Mark Hannon, former president of the Cat Fanciers’ Association, tells me, “A good pet cat doesn’t necessarily make a show cat, but a show cat should also be a good pet cat.” So, I figure it’s a start.
. . . .What makes a good cat, show-wise, is quite cut and dried, at least in theory. Cats are intended to adhere to what everyone refers to as “the standard,” meaning an ideal version of the breed, as rated by a judge. Cat shows are a way to proofread cats. Breed councils set the standards and can change them by vote, including whether to allow for different colors or change requirements from “medium to large” to “large to medium.” This seems astonishingly mundane; I’m told the debate can be very heated.
The current CFA standards are outlined in a booklet that spans 132 pages. To insiders, it’s the cat bible. To outsiders, it’s a goofy, arbitrary document. Both the Birman and the Cornish Rex get points for having a “Roman nose.” For RagaMuffins and Ragdolls, that’s penalized. The only cat where temperament is listed as a criterion is the Siberian: It’s supposed to be “unchallenging.” The Chartreux is supposed to have a smile.
This is a “good cat” in that it adheres to specified standards, but that’s not what we mean when we say a cat is “good,” for crying out loud!
To judge a cat is to love a cat. When judges evaluate a cat, they hold them, caress them, whisper to them, coo at them, even kiss them. Becoming a cat judge takes years, with all the studying, training, and testing, and it’s not for the cash. Show organizers generally cover judges’ flights, hotels, and meals. Otherwise, judges make a dollar and a quarter per cat.
“We do it because we enjoy handling these cats,” says Nancy Dodds, a cat judge who flew in from Arizona for the weekend. “They’re like artwork.”
Yes, but “judging a cat” in this way is, again, not what we mean by “a good cat”. After some other pilpul, the author finally narrows in on what a “good cat” is:
Jessica Austin, a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Colorado Boulder who studies the dynamic between people and cats, explains that cat owners like having a relationship with a being that is fairly independent and content to be on its own. “They see the cats as having their own interests, having their own needs, having their own desires, and that’s fine,” she says. “If you are a person who needs validation from your pet, maybe a cat is not the best pet for you.”
Cats provide a quiet kind of companionship. Austin quoted one of her research subjects — a cat dad — on their unique appeal: “It’s somebody who is content being alone together.”
. . .We’ve got a sense of what makes a good dog. It’s a loyal companion. It loves you unconditionally. Maybe it has a job, like hunting, herding, or being a cop. Even if it doesn’t, it probably knows a trick or two. With cats, it’s fuzzier.
Cats aren’t here to serve us; the relationship is more of a push and pull. They require boundaries. They are an exercise in consent.
To me, this may not be what makes a “good cat” but it is “why cats are good.” To me, d*gs are like servants: they are obsequious and obedient. Yes, they love you unconditionally, but that’s not what humans do. Humans may love you in general, but not unconditionally, and sometimes they don’t want to fawn on you. Yes, d*gs are like servants, but cats are like masters:
When a cat is dissatisfied, owners will know it, and its surroundings are often at fault. If you’ve got a “bad” cat, the bad is on you — your cat is scratching the couch because it doesn’t have anywhere else to scratch. Cats are not as eager to make people happy in the way dogs are, nor are they as motivated by food. People can only give them so many treats before they’re over it. “We are responsible for their emotional well-being, but they’re not responsible for ours,” Delgado says.
And that’s why cats are not pets. Rather, we are their staff.
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Finally, “Simon’s Cat” cartoons have been going for fifteen years, and here’s a 12-minute look back at its highlights. The caption for this is below.
We are celebrating 15 years of Simon’s Cat, featuring some of our all-time favourites in full colour!
Simon’s cat is NOT a “good cat”!
h/t: Barry, Christopher
Gee, I didn’t think the cat voices in the Simon’s Cat video were especially convincing … but my ginger boy Mo is looking around with perked up ears, and now trying to check behind the computer speakers.
Interesting analysis of cat behavior. I’ve had both as pets and agree that our relationship with cats is more like an adult because they’re autonomous and affectionate only on their terms while dogs are more like a child, being needy and dependent but are more loving and loyal.
In my opinion, the best experience in the world is the love of a child and why I must give dogs a leg up in the better pet category. I’ve also tended to mourn dogs more when they’re gone which says something important about how valuable their presence in my life was. (Apologies to PCC for defecting to the canus camp.)
Cats rule!
This week’s New Yorker cartoon caption contest involves two house cats — presumably one male and one female — sitting on a couch and looking at a closeup of a raging tiger on their tv.
I’ve submitted this caption:
I still get goosebumps when he says “I am your father.”
(The link below goes to the current contest with the cats, but I think it will shift to next week’s contest on Monday.)
https://www.newyorker.com/cartoons/contest#thisweek
We loved the four cats we’ve had over the years. Three of them were easy-going but, indeed, they had their “moods.” I didn’t mind, as the complexity in their personalities was interesting and made them better companions—and not needy like d*gs. (My family had d*gs as kids, so I know what living with them is like.) The fourth cat was highly neurotic and reactive. He was a handful, and we’re glad he’s gone. It’s the same with people. Some are interesting and great to have around and with others you’re simply glad when they’re gone.
I have been associated with several cats over the years
First one won’t name … too many security questions but was a really friendly thing
Lulu … she was a pretty Persian-like cat but run-of-the-mill personality-wise
Baggins … wonderful cat. Sadly got run over at eighteen months …
The Lord … she was an abused cat that did not like men. Ran off after a few weeks.
Purdey … pretty silver tabby. Fairly even temperament as cats go, travelled three continents with us.
Scooter … Nice enough … well within the range of typical cat behaviours.
Tiggy … Again nice enough … liked being around people but not on them.
“First one won’t name … too many security questions […]”
Ah, does that mean you still have passwords based on that name?
Nobody understood cats better than that brilliant ailurophile, Mark Twain.
“There’s always somebody a king has to obey — a trollop, or a priest, or a ring, or a nation, or a deity or what not — but it ain’t so with a cat. A cat ain’t servant nor slave to anybody at all. He’s got all the independence there is, in Heaven or anywhere else, there ain’t any left over for anybody else. He’s your friend, if you like, but that’s the limit — equal terms, too, be you king or be you cobbler; you can’t play any I’m-better-than-you on a cat — no, sir! Yes, he’s your friend, if you like, but you got to treat him like a gentleman, there ain’t any other terms. The minute you don’t, he pulls freight.”
From “The Refuge of the Derelicts”
I adore cats big and small, and mistrust those who dislike them.
I’m late to this weekend’s Trifecta – some excellent kitty videos, and Simon’s Cat is beautifully observed as always.Many thanks!
Simon’s Cat is a [Bill-n-Ted]most excellent[/Bill-n-Ted] cat!