My family calls me the "Cat whisperer", because no matter how anal, crazy, skiddish, or wild a cat may be, I can usually entice it to let me hold it. I guess I just have a special bond with cats. They say that animals can sense fear, and cats KNOW when you don't like them...well apparently they also know when you do!
I have grown up with cats all my life. We've also had dogs, rabbits, gerbils, guinea pigs, and chickens, and I've loved them all, but cats have always been my favorite. Some people say they are too independant, and not loyal, but I think they're just harder to convince. You have to EARN a cats love, loyalty and faithfulness, and for that reason, I think it's almost more valuble than that of a pet that simply accepts you. All through my life, however, we've always had more than one cat. I am familiar with cats of all ages, and there have been many that have chosen me, out of all my family members, to be "Their" person. (That's what cat's do you see, THEY choose a person and that's who they're loyal to.) The cat's that have chosen me will even come to my voice, which most people assume is imposible from a cat. But it wasn't untill recently that I've had the pleasure of loving a cat who bonded with me as her own family member.
Cat's are social animals, belive it or not, and they like to play with other cats, be loved, nuzzled, groomed,etc. Usually, if there is another cat available, they will always choose to bond with the cat. Makes sense i suppose, that they should choose their own species first! However, when no other cat is available, they will bond first with another animal, and then last of all, with their people. In this case, Jasmine is our only pet. The only animal in the house. And, she has chosen to bond with me. It is the first time in my life that I have had such a pleasure. It is one thing to be chosen by a cat as their "person", but to have a cat bond with you is a whole other matter. She always wants to see what I'm doing, she always wants her share of my food, she drinks out of a cup on my night stand, she follows me around the appartment and acts like a petulant teenager when I scold her. It is one of the funniest things I think I have ever experienced! She is still very young, 3 months or so, so she still chews on things and climbs things, and I usually recieve this "blessing" more than my husband. But, she's really just asking me to play with her, and if I do, if I get her litte squeaky toy, or a scrunched up ball of paper and play with her for just 15 minutes a day, she is so much better behaved!
When I am wearing pants, she will often climb up my body to sit on my shoulders. This isn't painful most of the time, so I don't mind it, and it satisfies her need to climb. She has only tried to climb the curtains once, and she didn't get very far. lol. I guess jean material is better for climbing! When I'm washing dishes she asks to be on my shoulder, when I'm sitting at the computer, she'll get up on my lap to either sleep there, or move on up to my shoulders. It's really quite funny that she does these things, because it's not exactly typical cat behavior. I've only had one other cat in my life who liked to sit on shoulders, and he was a siamese and usually only sat on my dad's shoulders because they were broad. Jasmine is a mutt of a cat, kitten to a barn cat that bred with a stray, and she chooses MY shoulders. She is still beautiful, despite her mixed heritage, and her fur is silky soft. (see attached photo of Jasmine on my husbands' shoulders.)
Jasmine is also unusual in that she plays fetch. That's right, fetch. Of all the toys we've bought her, she absolutely loves these scrunched up balls of paper that I randomly threw for her one day. I was working at my computer, and she started to chew on me and pester me for attention. I didn't have any of her toys nearby, so I took a piece of paper off the table, scrunched it up, and threw it into the living room. She dashed after it, attacked it by doing a summersault over it, grabbing it between her paws and alternately chewing and kicking on it, then carried it back in her mouth. That was the beginning, and it has since become her favorite game. She especially likes it when I chase after her for it to throw it again. She gets all excited, her tail bushes out to resemble a bottle brush, her back arches and she makes these rediculously funny "Purr-ow" noises. Sometimes, she will chase the paper ball, bat it around some, and then dash back to hide between my legs and watch it.
Of course, she has some typical cat behaviors too, most notably that she likes to sleep in sun patches and doesn't particularly like water. Course, she's not terribly afraid of water either, but it really annoys her when her fur is wet. Her back end fell into the toilet once, when she was watching the water swirl after a flush, and her peeved look said it all. It was as if she was saying "Ugh, how embarassing, and what an unpleasant feeling!"
There are many more ways that her bond with me shows, and I have a feeling it is only going to grow stronger with time. I'm sure her behaviors will change, once she gets bigger I doubt she will try to climb me as much, or sit on my shoulders as much, and she'll probably spend more of her days sleeping or occupying herself rather than demanding attention. But, no matter how it changes, I will always feel honored and privaleged to have the love and bond of such a wonderful feline. :)
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