Think thoroughly before adopting a cat
They say that cats have nine lives. Well, that’s a myth!
Because cats are independent by nature and tend to look after themselves, they often escape difficult situations.
We therefore, as owners, tend to be less protective of our feline wards. And for that very reason they get into all sorts of trouble – not lastly with unkind and uncaring citizens, who treat curious and hungry cats with great brutality.
Feline adventurousness
The young of most mammalian species want to “discover’ the world. Kittens and adult cats love to roam, especially the males. And that’s how many problems arise. You may remember me writing that cats are house animals. Well, that is basically true. But they do go outdoors from time to time. There danger lurks.
Feline instinct
Sometimes, cats’ very natural behavioural patterns can get into trouble. I recall a ranch cat at our holding in the Rupununi was instinctively scratching the Guest House’s furniture. The manager felt that the best way to stop this practice was to soak the cat’s tail in kerosene, and light it afire; and then boast how the fleeing, screeching cat lit up the savannahs. Needless to say, that manager did not remain in our employ.
Climbing trees
I suppose cats instinctively like to climb trees. Perhaps the lizards or birds attract them and awaken some dormant and pristine passion. Whatever the cause, cats often find themselves in trees, and then they can’t come down. Young cats panic and begin to cry. The owners, in turn, get frantic, and some even try to climb the tree in an attempt to save the cat (big mistake, one can injure oneself).
The cat, sensing the anxiety, itself becomes nervous and may even lose its footing and injure itself on branches as it engages in a free-fall. All of this is absolutely unnecessary. If a cat, or even if the most pathetically crying kitten, gets stuck in a tree, my advice to you is not to play Tarzan. You and the tree may end up with broken limbs. Simply leave the blessed cat/kitten alone. Restrain yourself from calling the fire brigade. I know it sounds harsh to say that what goes up must come down. But in a nutshell, that is my sentiment exactly. In my 51 years as a veterinarian, I have yet to experience (or even hear) that a cat died of starvation in a tree. What I do know, however, is that the more the owner becomes excited, the more nervous, the tree-bound cat becomes, and is likely to fall.
(As an aside, I should mention that cats generally do fall on their feet, as the legend educates us. However, if the distance of the fall is large enough, the G-Force will be great as to break legs, hips, spines, etc. Teach your children with enquiring minds not to throw “Felix” out of the window to see whether she will land on her feet.)
Straying at night
Every morning, the streets of Guyana are littered with dead cats. Feline diseases probably do not kill most cats here in Guyana. Motorists, in all likelihood, do. Even well-fed cats love to roam and ‘hunt’ at night – part of the same unconscious, inherent instinct that I referred to above. Unfortunately, the lights of an oncoming vehicle mesmerize the helpless victim and cause the cat to ‘freeze’ on the spot. Crunch. End of story. Try, therefore, to keep your cats indoors at night time.
Feline inquisitiveness
You have heard the adage that has come down to us through the centuries, ‘Curiosity kills the cat.’ Well, it proves that the ‘old’ people had wisdom, and that empirical observation without deep scientific research also has great value.
The cat’s interest in its surroundings propels it uninhibitedly to pry, and in so doing the cat becomes very vulnerable to physical insult.
It is for those reasons stated above, and because of those other considerations documented last week, that we must be prepared to be our cat’s protector always, notwithstanding the fact that cats like us to think that they are independent and can fend for themselves. That may be true when compared with the dependence exhibited by other domesticated species; but, believe me, a cat as a pet needs a lot of attention and protection.
