Cat Protocol

"We all have feelings that need a gentler touch." - Guy Clark

I've been watching the new kitten interacting with the cats.
There's a great deal of hissing and spitting, they circle each other with hackles raised, they growl and snarl. The dogs have been far more accepting and tolerant. It's mostly all show, of course, but there are parallels to human behavior. We spit and snarl though frequently not at the object of our anger, as if directness was a flaw. We defend our territory as if it were sacred but often fail to tread lightly on the territory of others. We hold on to what is our's yet take from others without a second thought. We are jealous of attention shown to others but shy away from attention shown to us.
The cats, however, do not say one thing and mean another. They do not backstab or work against each other in the shadows. They do not hand out praise with one hand while serving malice with the other. They do not disguise contempt with concern or falsify friendship to gain the upper hand. They do not seduce you with
smiles and hugs while engineering your downfall.


Cats will not celebrate your losses or begrudge your victories. They won't talk behind your back or campaign against you. Do something wrong and they'll confront you, they won't go running to the dogs. Cats are fair and if you wrong them and they forgive you, you'll stay forgiven. If they don't like you, you'll know it and they won't care. They won't pull together for the sake of the family if the family is a lie.

There are no two faced cats.