LOOKS and breed is not important to us when we make friends with other cats, it is our ‘cattitude’ towards life that matters!
When my human introduces me to other cats at the vets’ or when she takes a detour to a friend’s house after the vet trip, I don’t always make friends with them, but sometimes I do. My human has no idea what might happen each time I meet another cat.
Sometimes, one of us tries to sniff each other out, at other times one of us dashes away to hide. Or there could be an instant hiss and growl session if one of us is not particularly pleased with life at that point. We may greet nose-to-nose but later decide that we are both happy in our own lives or we may bond later, if the need arises.
It is quite like humans meeting other humans. Sometimes you like each other instantly, sometimes there is an instant dislike and at other times bonding can grow depending on how people match their interests and outlooks. The only difference is that humans don’t hiss and growl, we do.
That is similar to what happens with us cats. We don’t really care what the other cat looks like, or if they are the same breed. What we find most compatible is when we share similar outlooks on life.
For instance me, an older cat and Freddie, a younger cat. didn’t instantly become friends because we didn’t want the same things. I just want to chill, think deep and enjoy the couch. Fred wants to wrestle with everything in sight and run crazy through the living room. Nothing in common, meh!
Common ground is important. Some conflicts happen because one cat may have had a bad childhood and doesn’t like being social or because one cat could be aggressive and scares the other cat away. Sometimes we become arch enemies, other times wind up as buddies or ‘frenemies’!
At some point my human realised that. She decided to find common ground and started with play, an important part of our kitty lives. So she would bring little Fred’s wand toy near to where I sat observing him. (I love observing.) I would then stick a paw in or just jump in the middle of the game to surprise the hell out of Fred (and my human), so for a second he would look at me with big blue eyes and tail fluffed up; (I love surprising too) and then carry on playing when he saw me in a playful mood.
Another clever thing my human did was to put Fred next to me when I was snoozing when Fred was exhausted after his ‘crazies’ attack. Then she would hang around so that I knew that if I did something mean to Fred like a little bite or a glare, she would correct me. So I patiently lay and let Fred snuggle up and sleep. So we just snoozed together.
Slowly and steadily, my human planted the seed in both our heads that we can get along. So it was Fred’s quiet side that I began to appreciate while he fell for my expertise in football and my confidence in exploring areas that were new for him (like the top of the cupboard or inside the closet) where he would follow me out of curiosity.
I still preferred my food dish to be away from his because no way did I want to share that with him! Not yet, anyway. Each to his own kibble!
Once our activities begin to match, we ended up becoming buddies. I later found out that Fred’s family had left for abroad and my human had adopted him until she found him a loving family. We cats don’t care what breed our buddy is or what he or she looks like, it is common interests that build friendships. We need our time and space to adjust with each other and then we can eat, sleep and play together.
