A Boring Story About My Cat
I have two elderly cats: Louie and Nia. Louie is a purebred Ragdoll, who just turned 15. Nia is a tuxedo kitty of unknown origin who will be 12 this summer.
I got Nia as a kitten and I will tell her story in another post. Louie was a secondhand kitty. I have always wanted a purebred Ragdoll, but purebred cats are different from purebred dogs in my opinion. With dogs, it seems like temperament is more uncertain if the breeding is unknown whereas cats tend to self-breed for temperament.
What do I mean? Well, think about it. Which domestic cats thrive? The friendliest ones! If a cat is stray and it is cuddly and intelligent and remembers who was kind to it, that cat can survive in an urban environment. So, we constantly inadvertently breed cats to be wonderful. And then their urine does the rest of the magic, but that's another story.
With so many cats being euthanized each year solely because there aren't enough homes, I could never justify purchasing a purebred kitty. However, one day, when I opened FB, there he was!
This is a bit complicated: My friend's cousin had a friend -- let's call him Harry for simplicity. Sadly, Harry's sister, who was in her 60's, passed away from kidney failure. Harry's sister had a purebred ragdoll kitty named Louie. Harry couldn't keep the cat because Louie had almost scratched his poodle's eye out. That's very angry behaviour for a Ragdoll!
Louie went to live with my friend for a while, but he had an altercation with my friend's cat. At the time I had no cat because it was before my mother passed away and my cat Nia had adopted my Mom while I lived with my Mom. It might seem strange to some, but, as long as the humans involved allow it, I try to respect the wishes of the cats I adopt, even if those wishes are to be with people who are not me. My Mom was very... maternal... and she and Nia used to sit and watch a lot of TV together. It's very sweet, actually. It was sad when Mom's dementia got bad. I could see it stressing Nia out, and, at last, Nia had to come to live with us, which I could tell Nia was relieved about in the end.
Is that a strange thing to say? That I could tell a cat was relieved? I find it easy to know when cats are peaceful, excited, happy, sad, stressed, etc. I sometimes think they are easier to read than people, but that's another story.
Well, to make a long story short, I saw Louie on my friend's FB page. She was trying to find a home for him with someone who had no pets. I fit the bill at the time. Other people were interested also, but lost interest when they discovered Louie's age. He was almost 11 at the time.
I have a strong belief that time with anyone is not guaranteed. A close friend adopted a kitten only to have her cat suddenly, very sadly, die at the age of five for no apparent reason the vet could discern. That made me realize, if I did not already know it, that nothing is a guarantee, and we might as well give adult cats a good life.
Having adopted adults and kittens, I can tell you that adopting adult cats and elderly cats is actually much more pleasant. I love kittens and they are cute, but they don't know how to behave properly yet and they are a bit crazy.
I don't know why Louie was so mean to the other pets around him after his other human mom passed away. I think he was simply upset. I don't know why people assume animals don't have psychological experiences such as grief, sadness, despair.
What I do know is that, after over a year of Louie living with us, when Mom was no longer able to take care of Nia, I was worried. I didn't think Louie would let Nia move in with us because he didn't like other animals. I was very cautious when introducing them. I did not allow them in the same room so they would not compete for food, litter, or human attention, but they could get used to the sound and smell of each other. After a few days, they became very curious.
They were not friendly, but they managed to get along somehow. Now, they live parallel lives. If you have cats, you might know what I mean by that. I was grateful that Louie let us keep Nia.
One really sweet thing about Louie, who I call "The Floof," is that he now reports to me to be brushed. When we first met him, he hated the brush. He used to bite the brush and anyone who had the audacity to try to brush him. He had a strong opinion on the matter.
I persisted, but my fiancé did not. As a result, while I was around, Louie felt brushing was torture because he was matted when we got him, and, when I was not around, he developed terrible mattes.
Then, everything changed when we got him shaved last September. First, his personality changed, but also, I brushed him about three times a week even though there was nothing to brush at first. I wanted him to realize that the brush was pleasant and not painful like Nia, who has super short hair, does.
(In the photo, he is shaved, but he has also folded in on himself like origami, as cats frequently do. It disguises his delight over the situation. Also, it might look messy because it is, but also, the little bits of "dirt" are catnip. He loves catnip. Fun fact: not all cats have the necessary gene to detect catnip. Louie and Nia both have the gene, though. No genetic testing required.)
He didn't love it, but he put up with it for a few seconds before getting annoyed and running away. Then, it got longer. Then, his fur got longer and I think he started to see the point of the brush more.
Now, his fur has fully grown in, and if I don't brush him, every couple of days, he comes and meows at me relentlessly until I do. Then he purrs. And he stays to be brushed for as long as I like.
It's a complete reversal. Well, I promised you a boring story about my cat, and I think I delivered on that quite effectively. Unless you are not bored. In the latter case, I have failed, but I will try harder next time. With enough effort, I am sure I can do it.
(P.S. Help the Ukraine with Hivebuzz's NFTs for peace if you can. 
All photos were taken by the author. The models involved signed the appropriate releases with a pawprint. However, you might wonder whether they understood what they were signing. Protests about this and all other matters will be accepted and processed, as usual, on April 31st.