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« "But the cat himself knows, and will never confess" | Main | "I meant every word and every tear" »

January 01, 2009

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The behavior of my two felines, Lucie and Purrky toward each other defies me to completely understand. After all why shouldn't it. I am not a cat. My guess is that cats have much less of the herd instinct than do humans and while they sort of tolerate and even may miss the presence of a cat they live with, they want to be number one and boss at all times. Like humans only more so.

Bless Tiny. She is lucky to have such a wonderful home.

I think some cats do bond with other cats -- I have a friend who maintains a colony of feral cats about three blocks from my house. One of the kitties, a frankly elderly old codger named Grendel (we think he was about 20, which is rare for a feral cat), died just before Christmas and was buried with due ceremony in my friend's back yard. The other cats in the colony seem to be keeping watch over his grave -- sitting beside it in the daytime and going into their outdoor shelters (straw-lined wooden boxes) only when it gets dark.

I've also noticed that my other two cats acted as if they missed Princess during the three days she was in the veterinary hospital last year with an ear infection that led to her being diagnosed with diabetes. The vets kept her there over the weekend to get her started on insulin after her fever went down. My other cats wandered around the apartment looking for Princess, sniffing her bed, and peering into her usual haunts (my closet, the space under the dresser, etc.) When I brought her back from the hospital, the other two went up to her and rubbed noses the way cats sometimes do to greet each other. The vet who discharged Princess did warn me that cats will sometimes hiss at one that has just come back from a clinic because its fur smells different, particularly if it's been given anesthesia. But I didn't see any of that with Princess -- her "sisters" both seemed glad to see her.

Of course Goomp is correct that none of us are cats, so we can't know for certain what goes through their minds, but from what I've seen, at least some cats do form some kind of friendship with other cats even when they aren't litter mates.

Anyway it wouldn't surprise me if Tiny feels disoriented and wonders where her brother is. I'll second Laura -- she is indeed blessed to have such loving caregivers.

Last month our dog of 13 years died. My daughter held her as she was euthanized. Now that was tough! I've put together a guide to coping with death. This was hard on the whole family, including our two other dogs. They are not eating well, and it's been two weeks. Quilla's story is here

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