I'm a cat lover, which means I'm a real pussy hound in that regard. I love cats for sure, but I don't call them a pussy cat, or just a pussy because the word has been ruined by slang. Pussy might well be an good word had it not become associated with a woman's private parts, and that happened during the 19th century. If you look it up, you'll find that the word pussy came from low German or maybe Norse, but it didn't find a commn usage in English for a long time after that. And it's not usually used in regard to a feline critter . . . but rather for a female body part. Or more recently, a pussy has come to be a weak hearted person. Regardless of how you use the word, I like it. I don't call my cats that, and I don't use the word in conversations with women, but I have been known to call someone "a big pussy." That's because we've got lots of them around. Congress, for instance, is full of them. You don't have to go to Washington to meet a big pussy, though. Go to your local bank and ask for a big loan, and you'll meet one.
This blog isn't going to be about big pussies. It's about cats, my cats, and there's some purpose here other than cat talk. My day starts with cats and ends with them. I feed the house cats, the front porch cats, the back porch cats, and then drive across town to feed the shop cats. And I'm personally involved with all these cats, some of them still kittens. I didn't have a choice because they picked me, just showed up at my door (or doors) . . . all 30 of them. I'm convinced that there's a cat channel of communication out there. If you feed one stray cat, he goes back to the park or wherever he came from, and says, "Hey, guys, there's an old guy over there on Parkview Drive that puts out food. All you have to do is show up and act hungry." And across town at the shop, the same thing is going on. Go to the shop, hang around, and the old guy comes and puts out food.
Now, here's the bad thing about getting involved with cats that just show up. Sometimes they don't leave, and sometimes they stay and have kittens, and before long you've got a ton of cats hanging around. Then whatcha gonna do? Well, in my case, you buy lots of cat food. And, you pay lots of vet bills. And, you devote lots of time to making sure they're cared for. So, I've been told, "Well, dumbass, quit feeding them." Sorry, can't do that. I'm a sucker for animals, especially small animals. As long as I've got money, they'll get fed. And I'm doing my best to have them spayed and neutered to keep down the cat population some.
At the shop each morning, I'm greeted by Rusty and Big Mama, the two neighborhood females that keep me supplied with kittens. Street life is tough on kittens, and most of them die before they show up at my back door wanting food. If they're lucky enough to make it that long, I'll damn sure feed them. So outside at the shop I feed the two mama cats, two tomcats (Toby and Tinker), and two 3 month old kittens (Gizmo and Gidget). Inside the shop, I've got six cats, last spring's kittens now about 7 months old - Urkle, Yoda, Lionell, Muffin, Pekabo, and Lulu. I go back in the evening to feed them again, and I try to hang around each time to play with them some. With the weather getting cooler now, they'll see more of me during the daytime. That way I can let them outside for a while.
Yeah, I know, I sould like a pathetic old man who's got nothing to do but mess around with cats. And maybe I am, but I live by a simple code - what goes around, comes around. I could be a hardass and turn my back, just let the cats starve or go uncared for. Someone has got to care, and if I do nothing, that somehow comes back on me. The same is true concerning people, and that's the lesson I learn from the cats. Some of my cats are hard to deal with. I feed cats that won't allow me close to them, can't be petted. I've got one house cat like that - wants to be close, doesn't want to be touched. Just feed me and go away, that's her attitude. I've found that most needy people are also difficult to deal with at times. If you're expecting gratitude from some folks you help, forget it. When you help animals like that, or people like that, you can't get bogged down in your own needs. Do I need the gratitude? Sure, we all do, but I don't have to have it from every cat I help, and I don't need it from people I go out of my way to help.
And when you run across someone who is too consumed with his own affairs to help a needy animal or person, then you've met the biggest pussy of all. Myself, I'd rather hang around the real pussies, the cats.
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