You know that moment when you realize that animals do have personalities? Well, that was my reaction when I met Peque, my wife's cat. It all started when we were getting to know each other and I was going to visit her at home, when I arrived there was that cat with a face of hating the world, with marks of fights that he proudly carried as if they were nicks or trophies, it should be said that I was not very attached to cats, but I still make contact with them.
¿Saben ese momento en que se dan cuenta que los animales si tienen personalidad? Bueno, esa fue mi reacción cuando conocí a Peque, el gato de mi esposa. Todo empezó en el momento en que nos estábamos conociendo e iba a visitarla a casa, cuando llegaba allí estaba ese gato con cara de odiar al mundo, con marcas de peleas que llevaba con orgullo cual si fuesen melladas o trofeos, cabe decir que no fui muy apegado a los gatos, pero de igual forma hago contacto con ellos.
At the beginning of knowing him, I always wanted to get him to accept me since he, like any alpha male, could not be done things that he did not like; always when I approached him he certainly let me caress him, but while I got his acceptance he would give me that look of if you stay to sleep today, I will bite your jugular and I will feed on your being". Of course, he was a somewhat peculiar character since his attitudes were of every alpha cat, that thing that nobody knows what it is but that makes them intriguing beings.
Al principio de conocerlo, siempre quise lograr que me aceptara ya que él, cómo todo macho alfa, no se le podían hacer cosas que a él no le parecieran; siempre cuando me le acercaba ciertamente me dejaba acariciarlo, pero mientras lograba su aceptación él me lanzaba esa mirada de si hoy te quedas a dormir, te morderé la yugular y me alimentare de tu ser. Desde luego, era un personaje un tanto peculiar puesto que sus actitudes eran de todo gato alfa, esa cosa que nadie sabe qué es pero que los convierte en unos seres intrigantes.
Knowing why his personality was like that, after knowing the story of his life (which my wife told me), I managed to understand him. It all started when he was rejected at birth by Nina (his mother) and in turn his siblings adopted the same attitude with Peque; my wife, seeing that he was not fed and was separated from the group, adopted him as a substitute mother and gave him the care he needed to survive because he was skinny, big-headed, his bones were dislocated... in short, if he could be compared to something, the closest thing to describe him would be a very, very ugly bat. Of course, as he got older he got stronger (he could stand upright), got bigger and prettier and, little by little, became the alpha male. All the cats in the area were afraid of him because he was part stray and part house cat, hence all his battle marks (even a bent and broken ear he had, which for me was the one he was most proud of) a whole story of overcoming.
Al conocer porque su personalidad era así, tras saber la historia de su vida (que me la conto mi esposa), logré entenderlo. Todo comenzó cuando al nacer fue rechazado por Nina (su mamá) y a su vez sus hermanos adoptaron esa misma actitud con Peque; mi esposa al ver que no era alimentado y lo separaban del grupo, lo adopta como mamá sustituta y le brinda los cuidados para que sobreviviera porque estaba flaco, era cabezón, se le dislocaban los huesitos… en fin, si se pudiera comparar con algo, lo más parecido para describirlo sería a un murciélago muy, muy feo. Claro, que a medida que iba creciendo se puso fuerte (se podía mantener en pie), se puso grande y bonito y, poco a poco se fue convirtiendo en el macho alfa. Todos los gatos de la zona le tenían miedo ya que él era parte callejero y parte casero, de allí todas sus marcas de guerra (hasta una oreja doblada y rota tenía, que esta para mí era la que llevaba con más orgullo) toda una historia de superación.
As time went by, Peque finally accepted me, but it was as if he had no other choice because I was already part of the family and, therefore, of his herd. I, taking into account all the things he made me go through for him to accept me, I was rejecting him; every time he approached my legs to rub against me as a sign that he esteemed me, he took me off, therefore his look was a poem every time he did it, it was something like Ah! You bastard, you took yourself off. Every time you feed my hatred towards you, that's where a love-hate relationship is born between two completely similar beings.
Al pasar el tiempo, Peque por fin me acepta pero algo así como que no le quedaba de otra porque yo ya era parte de la familia y, por lo tanto, de su manada. Yo, al tener en cuenta por todas las cosas que me hizo pasar para que él me aceptara, lo iba rechazando; cada vez que se me acercaba a las piernas para frotarse contra mí en señal de que me estimaba, me quitaba, por lo tanto su mirada era un poema cada vez que lo hacía, era algo como que “¡Ah! Desgraciado, te quitaste. Cada vez alimentas mi odio hacia ti, es allí donde nace una relación amor-odio entre dos seres completamente parecidos.
When I moved to my wife's house, I always had in mind the question "How will Peque behave?" but it was nothing that surprised me (although in the house if they were because I was the only stranger to whom he accepted, since he never did it with any other), he continued to behave as he had been doing: accepting me sometimes, hating me others. One day that did surprise me, was one night while I was sleeping and I feel that he jumps into bed (at that time I slept alone and I thought here Peque will execute his revenge) to settle between my legs and fall asleep. Since that day my attachment to him grew, but I kept ignoring him, I practically adopted the attitude of a cat with a cat, ironic isn't it?
Cuando me mudo a la casa de mi esposa, yo tenía siempre en mente la pregunta “¿Cómo se comportara Peque?” pero no fue nada que me sorprendiera (aunque en la casa si lo estaban porque fui el único extraño a quien acepto, ya que nunca lo hizo con ningún otro), él seguía comportándose como ya lo venía haciendo: aceptándome ciertas veces, odiándome otras. Un día que sí me sorprendió, fue una noche mientras dormía y siento que salta a la cama (en ese entonces dormía solo y pensé aquí Peque ejecutará su venganza) para así acomodarse entre mis piernas y quedarse dormido. Desde ese día mi apego hacia el creció, pero de igual manera lo seguía ignorando, prácticamente adopté la actitud de gato con un gato, irónico ¿no?
Photo taken from my phone Bmobile AX-1035
I realized that I actually loved him because of the times he was lost for a long time and shared the same anguish as my wife. As a habit she had (when this happened), we had to have all the healing implements for when Peque arrived from earning his other medal. He already knew what was waiting for him, that's why he didn't come down from the roof, and obviously one had to do all the unimaginable things to make him do it, even I had to give in to my cat attitude and talk nice to him so he could reach him and bring him down. Once we had him in our power, we gave him all the attention he needed and sent him to sleep while he received a scolding, obviously as he was a superior being he would give us his looks (those I already told you about); and so that he would not leave again even if he was injured, we removed all possible obstacles, we closed all the doors and windows so that our surprise was that at the first carelessness, he was no longer there. And when he came back, he would arrive as if nothing had happened, asking for food, giving cuddles and everything, I did this so that he would not be scolded again and it worked effectively because knowing that he was sick we had to take care of him and treat him well. Although we must also say that these disappearances were not only because of battles, but also because he was going after cats to leave his offspring.
Me di cuenta que en realidad lo quería por las veces que se perdía por mucho tiempo y compartía la misma angustia de mi esposa. Como costumbre ella tenía (cuando ocurría esto), había que tener todos los implementos de cura para cuando Peque llegara de ganarse su otra medalla. Él ya sabía lo que le esperaba, por eso no bajaba del techo, y obviamente uno tenía que hacer todas las cosas inimaginables para que lograra hacerlo, inclusive yo tuve que ceder en mi actitud de gato y hablarle bonito para que pudiera alcanzarlo y bajarlo. Ya cuando lo teníamos en nuestro poder, le aplicábamos todas las atenciones que necesitaba y lo mandábamos a dormir mientras recibía un regaño, obviamente como era un ser superior nos lanzaba sus miradas (esas que ya les comenté); y para que no se volviera a ir aun estando lesionado, le quitábamos todos los obstáculos posibles, cerrábamos todas las puertas y ventanas para que nuestra sorpresa fuera que al primer descuido, ya no estuviera. Y al regresar, llegaba como si nada hubiese pasado, pidiendo comida, dando mimos y todo, esto lo hacía para que no lo regañaran de nuevo y efectivamente funcionaba porque al saber que estaba malito lo teníamos que atender y tratarlo bien. Aunque también hay que decir que estas desapariciones no eran solo por batallas, sino también que iba a por gatas para dejar su descendencia.
By the way, you may wonder why I am addressing him in the past tense, simply because on one of those escapades he did not return. We thought that perhaps he was on one of his own to continue to maintain his leadership in the area or perhaps he was giving his love to his own kind but it was not so, two weeks after the last time he was at home, he did not return. I assume that, like certain animals, he knew when his time was about to culminate and simply walked away to not cause that pain to his loved ones, because as Peque was an older cat at 13 years old (equivalent to 68 years in humans) maybe he knew that his delivery of love and indifference was about to culminate.
Por cierto, quizás se pregunten por qué me dirijo a él en pasado, simplemente porque en unas de esas escapadas no regresó. Nosotros pensábamos que quizás estaba en una de las suyas por seguir manteniendo su liderato en la zona o quizás estada entregando su amor a las de su especie pero no fue así, al pasar dos semanas desde la última vez de su estadía en casa, no regresó. Yo asumo que, como ciertos animales, supo cuándo su tiempo estuvo a punto de culminar y simplemente se alejó para no causar ese dolor a sus seres queridos, porque como Peque era un gato mayor a sus 13 años (equivalente a 68 años en humanos) quizás él sabía que ya su entrega de amor e indiferencia estaba a punto de culminar.
In spite of our love-hate, we loved each other in our own way, he wanted to give me love when I didn't want to receive it and I wanted to give him my affection just when he was with his hateful face and didn't want anyone around. Yes... I miss that damned ugly cat, but he was my Pequito (that's what I called him when I wanted to give him love).
A pesar de nuestro amor-odio, nosotros nos queríamos a nuestra manera, él quería darme amor cuando yo no quiera recibirlo y yo quería darle mi cariño justamente cuando él estaba con su cara de odio y no quería a nadie cerca. Si… extraño a ese gato condenado y feo, pero era mi Pequito (así le decía cuando quería darle amor).
