Introducing the Cat

The cat is the centre of our universe, so she thinks. We all revolve around her, with the sole purpose of keeping her well fed, warm, dry and otherwise comfortable. A typical cat in nearly every way. Here are some pictures of her, I expect you will see many more as this blog progresses through my surroundings.

She likes to be higher than us mere humans, and these pictures show her on an arbor (where she loves to sharpen her claws) and on the wood shed roof, which is a bit nasty with racoon droppings. The bottom photo shows her beautiful colours which help her to disappear completely in the shadows of a bush. She’s not much of a hunter of birds, but does keep mice completely at bay, and the numbers of rats pretty low for being near the ocean.

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25 thoughts on “Introducing the Cat”

    • Hi Jim, nice to have you visiting and your kind words are really appreciated. The Cat sits behind me in the chair in these pictures and watches what I write (like right now) and She can exude a censoring attitude. So that may be part of the perspective, you just can’t tell how much influence they They have in these matters.

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  6. I confess, I am a cat lover. We have two. One is a real Tom Cat and WILL NOT stay in the house at night. He prefers to be on the prowl and thanks us every morning with a treat. A skinned mouse, sometimes a tiny bird and even a rabbit now and then. He leaves the gift on the mat at the front door. Guts and all. It can be quite disturbing to guests who drop by.
    Great photos of your precious one. Cats have quite the self confidence and character.

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    • Cat offerings can be a chore to deal with, but they really do mean well. We are supposed to eat the offering since we need to keep our energy up in order to serve the cat properly. That would disturb the guests.

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  7. Pingback: Cat Paradise « burnt embers

    • hi animalartist, thanks for dropping by., She says thank you for your compliments. Even though She made it a look as if it was a “so what, no more than I deserve” response, I could tell that she was pleased.
      I like your cat pictures – was admiring just the other day the first one in your “thought I would make the bed” post.

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    • pipsqueak – what a delightful story, thank you so much for that link. I am not sure that Her Highness would deign to accept food from a bird. But, food is food so it is possible She might begrudgingly accept Offerings of this nature.

      I expect that my first and since then most regular commentor, Douglas, will want to see your link, so I hope that linking to him in this way will bring it to his attention. His blog is delightful – it is local in the very best way, a chronicle of a pond near his house, and it’s inhabitants who have insinuated themselves into his life in unexpected ways.

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      • Thanks for the kind words, ehpem, and for making me aware of pipsqueak’s link.

        That story is astonishing. As Chris Pretorius mentions in that story, the owl was surely rehabilitated by someone prior to him. I’ll bet he was exposed to a cat when young so he was predisposed to befriending another one. The fact that it offers food to other species and an injured owl is truly surprising. I’ve never heard of an owl doing that before!

        I haven’t noticed any altruistic behavior like food sharing in the ducks I observe. In fact, on a couple of occasions, I’ve seen ducks attack other ducks that are in distress. I assume they do that to limit the competition for food and or mates.

        I saw a photo once of a cardinal feeding goldfish in a backyard pond. The writer said the shape and color of the mouths of the fish was similar to those of young cardinals so, when the fish begged, the bird responded as if they were hatchlings and did it daily.

        I try to limit the projecting of human sensibilities on animals. They think differently than we do, but sometimes I find myself thinking there is a lot more going on in their heads than humans give them credit for. Monarch butterflies migrating 3-4 generations apart return to the same wintering grounds? Ducklings only 4-6 months old flying a thousand miles then returning to their birthplace the next spring? A house cat or bear finding its way home after being transported cross country? Those mysteries and many more challenge the notion that the pets and wildlife around us are “lesser” beings.

        Maybe your beautiful cat is right. You’re there for her amusement instead of it being the other way around.

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      • Hi Douglas, I am glad you too found this link interesting. Living with cats could lead one to believing in a species of alien with a very subtle form of intelligence. No doubt about the master-servant relationship; I just got booted out of bed because the cat expects to be under the covers alone after 7:30am – I got a break today for some reason, it was 7:45 when the meowing command was delivered from the foot of the bed.

        Anthropomorphising animals is considered a no-no in scientific circles. And yet, the anthropologists, though their scientific studies, are continually chipping away at the formerly accepted definitions of what it is to be human. Concepts to do with “human” communication, tool-use and creative intelligence are being challenged and redefined on a steady basis. I think many of those definitions, and associated limits placed on thinking, arise from a concentration on the uniqueness of humans at the expense of losing sight of the many things common among us animals. The boundaries are sure to blurred more and more as we learn and assume new perspectives.

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    • Susan, thanks for visiting. She and Herself are of course appropriate. Sometimes She answers to Membrillo, a name derived from the quince colours on Herself. Mowser is a Nickname. Other names as seem to suit the occasion.
      It looks like you are about to start a blog. I will be interested to see it once it gets going.

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