CATS

This comic strip “Kamut”  in Helsingin Sanomat a few weeks ago made me think once again how extraordinary animals cats are and how much they differ from dogs.  Most dogs are eager to make friends even with strangers and to please you in whatever way they know how. Cats are much more precautious when choosing a person they can rely on. They quite simply ignore you, if they feel like it.

Siiri

   

Ruusu

Siiri and Ruusu are stray cats from a cat protection centre. After a few days in the shelter Siiri gave birth to five kittens, which she nursed till they were old enough to be sent to new homes. Siiri still has  a kind of maternal instinct left, which she sometimes shows towards Ruusu, a bit younger.

Ruusu was a couple of weeks old when she was found half dead in a dumping ground.  It was doubtful, whether she would make it. Against all odds she has grown to be a strong and beautiful creature. She is very shy, though. Perhaps in a corner of her heart she still fears of being ditched.

Today Siiri and Ruusu are the adored pets of a friend of mine, and I sometimes wonder, if they understand how lucky they were having found a butler and staff most cats can only dream of.

Minni

Nemo

Minni nad Nemo are Maine Coons and they know nothing about “a bleak childhood”. They are my niece’s pets and so different from each other that you wouldn’t guess they were born on the same day. Minni is hungry for strokes and praises, so much so that she rapidly covers the tabloid newspaper, if you spread it on the table and start reading. Nemo again isn’t at all like his namesake Captain Nemo. The big cat is so shy that he hides under the bed or in the sauna as soon as he sees or hears a stranger. No calls or treats make him show up until the visitors have left. And even then he waits for half an hour or so to be on the safe side.

The comic strip Mutts (Kamut) I mentioned above is created by Patrick McDonnell and was first published in 1994. The  artist has always had cats and dogs as pets and thus he knows their behavior only too well. Earl (Jalo) is a Jack Russell terrier, ready to please. Mooch (Kati) again shows all the typical characteristics of an ordinary cat and she just can’t miss an opportunity to tease her companion a bit.

Some friends of mine have both a dog and a cat as pets, and it’s usually the cat who is the boss of those two. Dogs are quite simply too kind to fight for power!