Poking a little fun at cats and cat lovers — or just the truth?
I cracked up the other day when I was reading a humorous fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett (I highly recommend his stuff, by the way) and ran onto a reference to cats. In the context, Death appears in typical black robe and Grim Reaper costume, having come to take one of the characters, a wizard named Ipslore. The dying character and Death engage in a brief argument about life and what makes life worth living. Ipslore challenges death regarding the meaning(s) of life and the future. Death misunderstands his question and Ipslore repeats it. Then this delightful exchange takes place:
"I meant," said Ipslore, bitterly, "what is there in this world that makes living worth while?"
Death thought about it.
"Cats," he said evenly, "Cats are nice."
So Death is actually a cat lover, eh?? Good to know that for those of us who "own" cats.
I say "own" in quote marks, and I thought about this whole post originally, because of a comment one of our readers left on a post of a couple of days ago regarding pets and pet ownership, pets' and animals' rights, etc. That comment regarding cats and cat companionship pointed out that the relationship with pets -- and I think cats in particular -- is more family membership than "ownership."
If you have cats, you know exactly what the reader and I mean. Even my adult children accept and understand when they visit our home that my wife, Shirley, and I are "Mommy" and "Daddy" to our silly old cat, Tigra, much more than simple owners.
Cats are so cool because they always behave as though they're the ones in control. They choose to allow us to feed them and care for their every need. (Did I get that right, Your Highness Tigra?) And they never outwardly fawn over us like dogs do.
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