Carmel Reilly - Me and My Cat: Amazing and Endearing True Stories

Copyright 2012 Carmel Reilly
Additional illustrations by Diane Law and Leah Barker

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ISBN 978-1-61608-611-4

Cover design by Danielle Ceccolini

Printed and bound in the UK

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available on file

I have a fond memory from my babyhood of being snuggled up to a warm fuzzy presence. It wasnt a teddy bear or any other cuddly toy. It was a cat called Tiger, the family cat which liked to snooze next to me in my pram but was only allowed to do so when my mother was there to supervise so that I would come to no harm. Tiger would purr loudly and send me to sleep, my mother said, and acted as a kind of guardian. I could feel Tigers affection for me and I grew to love him and, through him, other cats.

During my life I have rarely been without the companionship of a cat and it is unthinkable that I would willingly choose otherwise. I am aware that there are many other people who feel the same way as I do. When I ponder why we cat lovers feel so attached to cats, I believe that it is due to the rare and special qualities that cats possess which beguile, charm and enchant us. In addition, for me, there is something indefinable inside me which has a feelgood effect whenever I am near a cat. It is not something I can fully articulate, it simply exists. It emerges as an attraction which I cannot resist, and perhaps it is so for the many other people who are slaves to cats.

My wife Catherine knows me better than anyone else but there is a part of me which can only be reached by a cat. When I meet cats that I havent met before, they usually appear to recognise something in me to which they instantly relate with miaows, purrs and flicks of the tail. Their presence close to me, especially if we are old friends, makes me feel special and I begin talking to them as I would to a person. Cats are good listeners and to people who share their lives they show non-judgmental, unconditional acceptance of anything that is said. It does not matter to a cat how you look or are dressed. Cats, like other animals, judge a person by the feelings they express and by the ways in which they behave towards them.

Cats can also be very caring. They are quick to note distress in people and will often attempt to soothe the person simply by being close like a comfort blanket. Stroking a cat on your knee can have a therapeutic outcome. It will often make you feel better after youve had a bad day and usually restores calmness and ease to a stressed personality. But as all cat lovers know, you can only gain a cats love if you are prepared to work at the relationship. A cat will respond to you solely on its own terms, that is if you take the time and effort to make friends with it. It does not give its love cheaply and will demand a degree of indulgence and worship from you first. When the cat is satisfied that you are a genuine friend and prepared to minister to its wants and comfort, then you will be treated to reciprocal love and adulation. Its a complex relationship in which a cat will sometimes deliberately ignore you because it has something of its own to think about: cat things which humans do not understand. It is the cats superior air of independence, that autonomy of mind, which can be so irritating to us but which also endears us to them.

Human relations with cats go back a long way in history. The cats that first approached and joined human settlements were accepted initially for their services in killing vermin to protect food stores but their loving attributes were eventually recognised and they were adopted as pets. Their service to mankind is extraordinary and known throughout the world. When they join a household they bring companionship to the lonely and aged as well as joy to the younger generation, for who can resist the playfulness of a kitten? By the expression of their personalities they inspire people to prize them and want to extol them. We all tend to feel sentimental about our cats but it should be recognised that cats return the sentiments of love and affection we have for them with interest.

The number of books written about cats far exceeds that for any other animal and the amazing phenomenon is that men and women still go to extraordinary lengths to share the uniqueness of their beloved pet cats with friends and a reading public which has a huge appetite for cat books. It is surprising how lovingly we regard our cat friends. When a cat of mine dies my sorrow and pain at the loss knows no depths. It is akin to losing a beloved family member which is the role our cats fulfil for us. To pluck a quote from Shakespeares Hamlet and apply it to our feline friends: What a piece of work is a Cat.

As for me, I think my two Maine Coon Cats, Luis and Max, are not just wonderful but even more than this, as my wife and I could not contemplate life without them.

Denis OConnor (author of Paw Tracks in the Moonlight)
October 2011

Ive spent the last year gathering first-hand accounts from cat owners. Among the many and varied responses I received, there were a lot of humorous stories about the funny things that cats do, so I thought we should start with a selection of these.

I used to have a Bengal cat called Bobo and he was just wonderful at bringing in presents on a regular basis. I have been told that when cats bring you presents theyre supposed to be food offerings but I think that the gifts brought to me by Bobo sometimes had other motives.

Bobo was very possessive of me and hated it when I had other people to stay. My mother-in-law was once presented with a filthy old boot and a friend of my husbands who I really didnt like very much was given a very smelly and rotting carrot, placed right next to his pillow for when he woke up. I have been given dead birds and rodents but the strangest present of all was a small tub of hyacinths, dragged in through the cat flap and pulled upstairs to my bedroom.