His wheezing at the foot of my bed stirs me. As he sits warming my calf, my orange tabby is having a minor asthma attack. Despite his meds, he has them occasionally. I lay my hand on his head and shoulder to comfort him (I hope). After a minute or so his breathing returns to normal and he rolls over. Belly up he starts purring loudly. I cuddle and stroke him. He’s so warm and soft against my body. I encase him between my arms and chest. He purrs louder. At this stage I wonder who is comforting and who is comforted. We are the same.
Casey, our rescue cat, is addicted to cuddles and being close. A few times a day, usually in bed, but also when I recline in my lazy boy, he curls up on my chest and purrs. Warming me, relaxing me. Diverting my attention from any worries (and sometimes diverting my attention from the TV, as he is in my face).
I’m thinking what a Zen master Casey is. During these moments I’m actually not thinking, I’m being. I lose my ego. I become not ‘me’, but only a puddle of warmth, softness and rhythmic purring. A recent game show survey of Americans asked what the most soothing sounds were. Number one was waves. Number two was a cat purring. And that’s why some people love cats so much.
There are several theories about how cats became domesticated.
One theory is that cats domesticated themselves as humans began farming. Cats were attracted to us because our crops attracted rodents (easy food) and once close to us they realized they could lead a cushy life among us. Another theory maintains that cats didn’t domesticate themselves – they domesticated us. You might have heard the saying, ‘dogs have owners, cats have staff.’ I have a pillow that says “the cat is in charge, we just live here.”
As tongue-in-cheek as these sayings are, they ring true. How many times have I dropped what I was doing to open the balcony door when the cat wants out? How many times have I relinquished my chair because the cat was sleeping in it? How many times have I rummaged through the toy box hoping to find the toy the cat wanted when he sits starring at the toy box? At least my current cat gets his own toy out of the box most of the time. And most of the time the cat gets his wishes without a single mew. He just sits in front of what he wants and he knows we will do it for him.
I stick with the theory that cats domesticated us. They’ve become masters at making us love them and having us do their bidding. Maybe because they are such sensual animals (the fur, the purring). Maybe because they give us those quiet moments of nirvana. Maybe because we lose all selfness when they comfort us.
Whatever theory you ascribe to, I ascribe to what my neighbor said when we first met, “I can’t imagine my life without a cat.”
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