Unconditional Feline Love

Now that I am a bachelor, I go to bed every night with the same feeling.

Happiness.

Being in control of my life again, after so long without that ability, tends to make you happy.

I am happy.

I am ME.

I am whole.

Every night when I turn out the lights, I see my four cats snug as bugs in rugs, ready to sleep the night away, usually on my bed with me.

Should have done this years ago.

There is no love like Unconditional Feline Love.

Had me thinking of this little post I did back on my semi-retired blogger blog in December of 2015:

Last night before going to bed I posted the following to my personal Facebook:

I’ll leave you with this thought: I prefer cats to people.

Goodnight.

So far, that post has gotten 52 likes and about 20 or so comments.

What does that tell you? I’m not alone. Many it seems DO prefer cats to people.

So that has me thinking: why? Why are cats better? Why is it for the past fifteen years, ever since Tyler first exited his carrier and into my heart, that I have had better relations with felines than with humans?

Am I just a crazy cat person, or is there some truth to this? Are cats really better?

The answer to that is easy. Unconditional love.

Cats may have well invented the term unconditional love. As I’ve written before, with a cat, you have to earn their trust, in my opinion more so than dogs. With a dog, from my experience, you start out with trust and then it’s the human’s job to maintain that trust through life. With a cat, it’s the opposite. A cat needs time to figure out what they think of you. With hard work, patience, love, and maybe a few toys and treats, you will eventually win your cat over. Once you do, you have the trust of that cat for life. FOR LIFE. Tyler would have walked through fire for me, I am certain of that.

A cat loves you, unconditonally. No matter what you look like, no matter how much or how little you have, no matter what is going on in your life, that cat will be there for you and love you. Dog people will also argue that this is true of dogs, and I grant that, but to me the love of a cat is a deeper kind of love. A truer kind of love. My cats just GET me, and when I am with my cats, relaxing, or playing, or even eating together, I have peace, love, understanding, and joy. I am myself. I have yet to truly feel that, consistently, with another human as I do with my cats.

Here are four examples of what I mean by feline unconditional love.

1. How Tyler GOT me. He understood me, he was my one and only true soul mate. When I was sick, he absolutely would not leave my side. When I was single and lonely, he kept me company, staying with me, making sure I knew that, in the end, everything will be OK. When I was at the absolute lowest point in my life, he was there with a head-butt and a purr, and when I was at the highest points, he would bring me a toy, do his hoppity-walk, and celebrate with me. Did he care what I looked like or how much money I had in the bank? Never. He spent the rest of his life thanking me for rescuing him from a shelter life. I am certain of that.

2. How when I had just gotten laid off from one of my last museum jobs, and was alone, at home, sitting on the couch worrying just how I was going to pay my bills and carry on with my life, Tiger would curl up on my chest, put both paws around my neck, look into my eyes, and ease my fears. Just like that, with a simple gesture. A look, a purr, the touch of a paw. I stopped worrying and started my journey to where I am today, career wise.

3. How relaxing in my favorite chair is now incomplete without Jackson curled up on my lap or my legs. How I truly can no longer relax without him curled up with me. I can’t sleep without him next to me, keeping me warm, keeping me at peace. How in the past 3 years Jackson has become my zen, my center, how he always brings me back from worry, from stress, just by BEING there. Two years ago, when I was at a VERY low point in my life, questioning my very existence, my reason for carrying on, there he was. Curled up on me. Keeping me in the here and now. I stayed in the here and now because I owed that to him.

4. How Sophie, the new kid on the block and Tyler’s successor in every possible way, starts out every day by giving me a hug. She stands up on her hind legs and hugs me and rubs my cheek. Most times when I am eating she even crawls into my arms for a 10 minute long hug. I can’t tell you how happy that makes me, and how jealous it makes Jackson!

That is what I mean by unconditional love.

If you have a cat, you know what I mean. Be good to your cats, it’s worth it, because that unconditional love will wash over you, penetrate your soul, and give you the best feeling on earth.

If you do not have a cat, go to your local shelter or humane society. Check out the adult cats, sit with them, let them say hello to you. If you connect with one, give that cat a forever home.

You’ll be glad you did.

I will add a Part Two to this soon!