Does your pet love you?

I'm not sure to whom your post is referring but nowhere did I write that they don't love. I simply wrote their emotions are simpler and ahven't the complexity of humans. That's not said to minimize the size of their heart or their ability to give wonderous affection.

<grin>

oh ok...I see. And about this obsession?

So, no matter... I still talk silly talk to my dog and hug him..and kiss his snout. The same as I would do to a (less furry) child.

There's just no talkin' to ducks. Trust me.

Were you directing that to me?

Long story. I could quote a paragraph or two, but will forebear. I am tending to skip whole paragraphs but may have to reread some. He's not as entirely loony as I first surmised. The book is D. H. Lawrence and Italy, foreword by Burgess.

Although, maybe I should quote, as a kind of blurring of us to, say, our pets. Will consider this.

Yes.
Years ago, I had a cat who mounted my oil burner
and when I approached it, he licked the crown of my head.
Maybe hair oil or something else.
I believe this was devoid of emotion.





David

Ragman, I was responding to Linkat - something she posted the page before.

I 'm starting to feel a little guilty about the farmer.
We haven t seen much of him since I um -- raised the subject of civility.

I hope I did not drive him away.
I thought I was justified.

Do u think I was too harsh ???





David

Coud it be possible that he saw what happened, so that he knows ?

Let me offer this thought,
in an effort to assuage your memories:
For millions of years, it has been the destiny of all water fowl who mated
( in common with the destiny of humans ) that unless both mates
perish in a common disaster, one of them survives the other,
regardless of whether death resulted from natural causes or not.

Immunity from that loss can only be found in my own situation,
of having no mate. Therefore, from the moment that thay mated,
it was the destiny of one of them, whoever lived longer,
to have that fate befall him. It was inevitable, unless
thay perished simultaneously.

Good thread, Kicky. A really enjoyable read.

Yes, I think my cat loves me.
I don't think it's just the thought of dinner soon which inspires her joyful antics when I return home after being out for the day. Makes me feel very important & much appreciated!

I think this addresses the topic,
tho maybe somewhat obliquely:
Years ago, I had cats.
After kittens arrived, when thay
were being weaned, it behooved
me to domesticate them; tame them.
The alternative was to live in the
presence of wild cats, which is
not optimally desirable.

My technique of choice, to allay
their fear, was to pick up a kitten
of suitable age and discretion, and
offer him an appropriately sized
piece of roast chicken.
The kittens sniffed the meat,
and tentatively took their
first delicate bite of meat,
WHEREUPON I instantly
acquired a friend for life.

There was always a very abrupt
change of the kitten 's emotional
attitude toward me, wherein he
abandoned fear, anxiety n apprehension
in favor of joy n gluttony !
( in that respect, taking after his human )

I did that without parental consent,
but it worked out OK anyway.



David

If cats didn't love humans, they wouldn't decide to get one to keep as a pet.

During my visit with my brother this past weekend, his cat became almost instantly attached to me. She stayed with me at all times, even slept at my feet. I have never fed it or otherwise encouraged it. Yes, I believe animals develop affection for their people.

I have Siamese, and they are quite doglike in their devotion......getting away from them is difficult. They come when called, if not already there, and chatter to you very animatedly...they look up with what appears to be intense love, and not at food time. (Actually, my current cat doesn't HAVE a foodtime...she always has kibble in her bowl.) When I get home there's a stampede of purring and talking and desperate calls for cuddle time.

I have had moggies that were the same.....one of our cats used to even come into the bath with us!


Actually, they also love each other. My Oscar was so distressed after his sister was killed that I thought he was going to die.

He didn't search for her, because I gave him lots of time to sit with her body (he howled when she didn't respond to his touching and licking and nuzzling).

He sat in a corner staring at the wall and crying for a month...unles she was on my lap. He barely ate. I had to get him a kitten.

Edgar's v. short story making me think of Klaus.

Klaus was the tuxedo cat of our friends in Seattle, G & T. We stayed with them when we were looking for a place to stay, crashing on their couch for about 3 weeks. They'd only had Klaus for about a month (they found him on the side of the freeway), and he adopted us while we were sleeping on the couch, lounging with us in the morning sun. Their other cat, a little Siamese **** named Linguine, wanted nothing to do with us.

A few years later, we were living -- where? I'm not sure any more, I think still in Seattle. But G & T had moved to New Jersey, had a new baby, and we stopped in to see them while back east for a funeral. Klaus had been battling kidney problems for a while. T told us that he never showed his face around company at all any more, that being sick had made him very private. But he must have heard us talking in the living room, and he poked his little tuxedo head into the doorway from the kitchen. When he saw who it was, he ran to the couch and offered his skinny frame up for pets.

T said it was the first time he'd been friendly to anyone in months. She cried.

Schniff.

I LOVE tuxedo cats.

They always seem kind of special.

If I was not allergic to moggies, I would have one.

In his younger and friskier years, when we came over he'd drag out his ratty old stuffed pig and **** it in the middle of the living room. Very charming cat.