One of my friends had a posting on her facebook page showing a video of a deaf man with his cat. The cat had learned to mimic the hand movements (sign language) of his owner perfectly when he wanted to eat something. The cat would pat the man on the arm to get his attention, then carefully position his paw so the pads were towards his face and gently touch the paw to his mouth.
It was amazing. I wonder if the cat does this when the man is just sitting in a chair watching TV or whenever the food bowl is empty.
Cats are intuitive animals. They sense things about their owners whom they know very, very well. Once when I came home with the worst headache EVER, my cat followed me into the bedroom and took a nap with me. And he stayed there until my son got home from his classes that day and drove me to the doctor's office where I got a shot.
One day my sweet Puddin'Head was sitting in my lap in the living room. My son made noises like he was sad and the cat became very alert. After a few more of these noises, Puddin'Head went over to him and sat in his lap. So after a few minutes I made the same noises and poor Puddin'Head, trying to please us both, came back over and sat in my lap again. It was really something to see.
One cat I've seen on video reassures and settles a baby. The baby starts to cry in one of those baby carriers, and the cat comes over next to it and strokes the baby's face with its paw. Soon the baby drifts off to sleep again. When the baby woke up and started being agitated again, the cat stroked its face some more.
One of my cats, Gracie, stares deeply into my eyes. She is always communicating something. I found out from watching the program on TV, My Cat from Hell, that when you blink at your cat, it is reassuring to them and they calm down. They signal that they are calm when they blink their eyes back at you. I've even used this technique on our feral cat, Blackie, whom we feed and he is starting to let me get closer and closer even after there was no progress for a couple of years.
It just seems to me that cats because they are God's creatures have that capacity for love as given to them by the Creator. They don't ask much; experts say a cat needs only about 10 minutes of time a day without suffering from the loss of affection. More is better, of course.
Two of my cats, the girls obviously, enjoy their morning grooming. When they know I'm up and in the right place in the bedroom they show up crying and carrying on. Why? They want to be brushed. So now I've got a cat salon! Next it will be nails and then who knows where it might go?
People who have dogs say much the same things about their pets, but I am a cat person. Cats seem to fit into the little cracks and crevices of our lives and thrive on what little bit of extra that we have.
I'm thankful for their company. I should be reminded by their presence that God is always with us. Always.
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