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@ cats and roses
2024-04-07 23:35:03Cats are the outcasts of most neighborhoods. Finding a home is part observation, part trust building, and, a good dose of serendipity. We are fast and agile, yet we were built for the night. We are not as skilled during the day. Although people may stare at their mobile screens late at night, humans are diurnal. In contrast, we need to stay awake during the day, looking for the patterns in people’s lives that may welcome us in.
Most humans would guess we just look for food and water, but that is often secondary, unless we are desperate and take more risks in order to survive. Even then, we tend to follow other cats to learn about the safest places.
To find sanctuary, we begin by paying careful attention to the surrounding environment and the habits of the humans nearby. We have a strong memory of what surrounds us, so if you notice something different in our habits, you may want to pay attention. Unlike many dogs that bark at most environmental factors near and far, even when those do not present clear nearby danger, we notice what is common in a neighborhood and only react to what is different and close. We must notice those subtle changes in order to survive. Maybe not every cat notices those details, but most do.
As feral cats, it rarely matters where we are born, each location has its dangers. We must be careful not to step into other cats’ territories. The alpha cats can come after you. But not just the alpha cats, dogs can chase us too. Nature is a provider but it also has bugs, spiders and other dangers that can hurt us. Humans, however, can be the scariest, yet, they can also protect us.
Telling a safe place from a dangerous one is a skill. Many cats will run away as soon as they spot a human, without even giving them a chance. Not because a human may not be a good person, but because some cats have experienced only negative situations throughout their lifetimes. They carry the emotional scars. Those cats have the hardest time finding a home, and it takes them many loops of don’t trust, verify, before they can let their guards down. To many feral cats, human activities are new. Although many cats are curious, they need to feel safe in order to learn.
The journey for me was to discover a human that could get along with a cat. Many humans are constantly on the run, as if an alpha human was chasing them. They walk fast, take harsh steps, making tiny earthquakes on the ground. They rush through their daily activities. They don’t take the time to smell the roses. Cats need a positive environment to feel at ease, people rushing or being angry is not so.
We all have limited time on earth. As cats, we have even less of it than humans. Yet, even as time keeps ticking, we look for people who do not feel rushed by life. Humans call it, low-time preference. Some of these people don’t walk fast, though they do walk steady, as if they enjoyed each and every step. They pay attention to the small details in life. They are not angry people. Their homes are often a small sanctuary, with nature, sun, shelter, and, they are likely to have a source of water for the birds, or the unexpected cat.
That was the case for me.
I was born in the desert near a house development. A vast open space surrounded by wild grassland sprinkled with desert-climate trees and cacti. I love the freedom it provides. Finding water in the desert is a priority. Cats love fresh water. A bowl that’s been sitting out for too long smells funny, tastes worse. We avoid that kind of water for as long as we can. Fresh running water is often the best, but water changed daily is good too.
I’d been scouting a part of the neighborhood, next to the vast wild. A particular backyard caught my attention. It felt friendly and peaceful enough to be a candidate for a home.
The negatives: there were no other cats there, and a pair of small of dogs would occasionally make it into the backyard. We get chased by dogs, but, as long as luck is on our side, we learn to outrun them and outsmart them. It isn’t always the case, though. We must always be careful.
However, this one afternoon I was exhausted. I drank from the ceramic bowl on that back patio. It seemed to have been placed there for cats. It had shade, height, and space to walk around it. Purrfect. Except, it was meant for birds. Oh, surprise. The birds had been avoiding it, sensing my presence.
Someone else had noticed my presence, as I fell asleep next to the water bowl, for what seemed like days. After I woke up, I started to explore the backyard from up close. We like heights, they protect us from most dangers. Coming down into someone’s home is always a risk. The person I’d been observing had noticed me there. She came out slowly to see me. I greeted her. I knew right there my instincts were right about her.
She may not have known about cats before that moment, but she moved carefully, avoiding scaring me away. As cats, we take time to develop trust. Of course, I’d been paying attention to her patterns. How she walked, what she cared for, and how she cared for things. When I drank from that bowl, I already knew I wanted this to be home. But it wasn’t a given. It is always a choice for both.
It takes time to earn trust. It always does.
I left to come back later on, as night was falling. She brought some food out, dog food, but I was hungry. I ate quickly, almost choking. She didn’t want more pets, but it felt like something changed her mind that night.
I was in serious need of a safe place, but not for me, for my two kittens. Would she take us all in?