I Am Not A Cat Person
By Brother Rogers
I am not a cat person. Inexplicably, when my boss, Rex Buffington, said he was giving away kittens last week, I said, “I’ll take two.” My son Andrew and I live in a small condo with no yard – not conducive to dogs but fine for cats. Our lives have not been the same.
We decided to take two kittens thinking they could keep each other company when we are gone. One is black with white paws and shades of white on her face. Her sister is yellow. Still struggling to find the right names, we refer to them as “the black one” and “the yellow one.”
When they arrived, I immediately took them to the litter box, and they immediately knew what to do. Not once have they made a mistake. How do cats do that?
New to their surroundings, they couldn’t wait to explore. Little do they realize they have the rest of their lives to discover every nook and cranny of the place.
As neophyte cat owners, we are mesmerized by their every move. At our house now, there is no need for a radio, a television, a computer or a video game. When we come home, we just sit and watch the kittens. They do not disappoint.
The yellow one was holding down the black one and seemingly pounding her paw into her sister’s face. It was as if one kitten was telling the other, “Mama’s not here now to protect you.”
To encourage their play, I placed a plain brown grocery bag in the middle of the floor. It’s like Disneyworld to the kittens. Actually, it’s more like the World Wrestling Federation. Here’s their favorite move. One kitten will creep surreptitiouslyinto the bag. The rustling noise attracts the other one, who stalks her sister like prey. At just the right moment, the stalking kitten will pounce on the bag, momentarily trapping her unsuspecting sister. When the trapped kitten escapes, the other can’t resist exploring inside the bag, and the roles are reversed.
I have a new appreciation for the phrase “cat-like quickness.” They chase each other through the house at full speed, darting in and out of furniture and scrambling around corners. First one is the aggressor, then the other.
I watched from afar as the black one weighed the decision whether to leap from the couch to the coffee table. It was as if she was saying to herself, “I think I can, I think I can.” Well, she did, but she landed smack dab in the middle of a plastic placemat that skidded across the coffee table and crashed onto the floor.
What I am about to write I wouldn’t believe if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. The black kitten follows me everywhere around the house. When I entered the bathroom, I shut the door. Then I heard something bump into the door. When I looked down, two little paws – upturned with the pads exposed – reached under the door and tried to pull it open.
While they seem to be in constant motion, they do have to rest. Both seem content to watch sports with me on TV. The yellow kitten will sit beside me, but the black one prefers to sit on my shoulder like a parrot. Then she meows as if she needs to be right next to my ear to be heard. Is that irritating? No, actually it’s delightful. And I’m not a cat person!
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News and works for the Stennis Center for Public Service.
I am not a cat person. Inexplicably, when my boss, Rex Buffington, said he was giving away kittens last week, I said, “I’ll take two.” My son Andrew and I live in a small condo with no yard – not conducive to dogs but fine for cats. Our lives have not been the same.
We decided to take two kittens thinking they could keep each other company when we are gone. One is black with white paws and shades of white on her face. Her sister is yellow. Still struggling to find the right names, we refer to them as “the black one” and “the yellow one.”
When they arrived, I immediately took them to the litter box, and they immediately knew what to do. Not once have they made a mistake. How do cats do that?
New to their surroundings, they couldn’t wait to explore. Little do they realize they have the rest of their lives to discover every nook and cranny of the place.
As neophyte cat owners, we are mesmerized by their every move. At our house now, there is no need for a radio, a television, a computer or a video game. When we come home, we just sit and watch the kittens. They do not disappoint.
The yellow one was holding down the black one and seemingly pounding her paw into her sister’s face. It was as if one kitten was telling the other, “Mama’s not here now to protect you.”
To encourage their play, I placed a plain brown grocery bag in the middle of the floor. It’s like Disneyworld to the kittens. Actually, it’s more like the World Wrestling Federation. Here’s their favorite move. One kitten will creep surreptitiouslyinto the bag. The rustling noise attracts the other one, who stalks her sister like prey. At just the right moment, the stalking kitten will pounce on the bag, momentarily trapping her unsuspecting sister. When the trapped kitten escapes, the other can’t resist exploring inside the bag, and the roles are reversed.
I have a new appreciation for the phrase “cat-like quickness.” They chase each other through the house at full speed, darting in and out of furniture and scrambling around corners. First one is the aggressor, then the other.
I watched from afar as the black one weighed the decision whether to leap from the couch to the coffee table. It was as if she was saying to herself, “I think I can, I think I can.” Well, she did, but she landed smack dab in the middle of a plastic placemat that skidded across the coffee table and crashed onto the floor.
What I am about to write I wouldn’t believe if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. The black kitten follows me everywhere around the house. When I entered the bathroom, I shut the door. Then I heard something bump into the door. When I looked down, two little paws – upturned with the pads exposed – reached under the door and tried to pull it open.
While they seem to be in constant motion, they do have to rest. Both seem content to watch sports with me on TV. The yellow kitten will sit beside me, but the black one prefers to sit on my shoulder like a parrot. Then she meows as if she needs to be right next to my ear to be heard. Is that irritating? No, actually it’s delightful. And I’m not a cat person!
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News and works for the Stennis Center for Public Service.