I really like cats.
A friend of mine, who shares my view on small dogs, marvels at this, as he doesn't care for cats or small dogs. I'm not keen on small dogs. That doesn't mean I hate small dogs, or that I'm going to sponsor a "ban the small dog" movement, or any thing of the type. I just don't get them.
The reason I don't get them as I can't discern their purpose. It probably amounts to evidence of my basically unsentimental nature, but I feel that domestic animals should serve a purpose. Wild animals serve their own purpose, but domestic animals are domestic, as man discerned some purpose for that. In the case of small dogs, for the most part, that purpose has been completely lost. For the few small dogs I do like, like Shipperkes, Dachshunds and Pomeranians, I feel differentially as they seem to remember what their purpose was, so they get a pass by me. Other little dogs that are just dogs, however, sort of mystify me. It's fine with me that people have them, but I wouldn't want one. Indeed, from time to time my wife suggests that "wouldn't it be neat to have [insert the name of dag breed ending with the word "poo"?" My reply to that is always, "what do they do?"
I feel completely differently about cats, however. Cats are their own thing. Sui generis, as it were. They have a purpose, and its their own. You are there to serve them in that purpose, and in their view, you ought to be grateful for that.
Cats are basically constantly working out what the Army calls field problems. Cats can be very affectionate and can be demanding of attention and comfort that they resemble central Asian potentates of old to an extent. But more than anything, they're on maneuver. They're all about attacking something, or working out what to do when attacked. This is what we call "playing", but in reality, it's running an exercise. In the cat's mind it's "let's see, it's scenario No. 19, I'm trapped upside down under a chair when I'm attacked by a snake. . . " Or, "It's scenario #72, a pack of mice have taken up residence underneath the throw rug, and I need to slay them. . ."
Having figured out how to slay the mice, they're deserving of a rest in a warm spot in the house.
Cats are basically constantly working out what the Army calls field problems. Cats can be very affectionate and can be demanding of attention and comfort that they resemble central Asian potentates of old to an extent. But more than anything, they're on maneuver. They're all about attacking something, or working out what to do when attacked. This is what we call "playing", but in reality, it's running an exercise. In the cat's mind it's "let's see, it's scenario No. 19, I'm trapped upside down under a chair when I'm attacked by a snake. . . " Or, "It's scenario #72, a pack of mice have taken up residence underneath the throw rug, and I need to slay them. . ."
Having figured out how to slay the mice, they're deserving of a rest in a warm spot in the house.
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