There are few things I love more than my lil fuzzbutts- i.e. my cats. There isn’t anything like the feeling of coming home after a long day of work and seeing one or more of my babies running down the hall to see me. Or the contentment of having a purring kitty in my lap.
The other night Pat and I were talking about our “children” and I asked how we got so lucky to have such great kitties. Which got me wondering. Is it nature or nurture that makes our kitties the best kitties? Are we just lucky? Or are we doing something really right?
On the one hand it seems like luck is the front runner. Our cats have all come from very different places. Boots came from a family friend, Lilly famously planted herself on our front porch and practically demanded to join our family, and Oreo came from The Cat Hut- a local shelter housed in a former Pizza Hut. Nothing in common with these origin stories.
On the other hand, all of our cats- current and past- have us and our home in common. We don’t have a ton of rules for our cats. They aren’t allowed on the kitchen counters or on the table while we are eating- that’s about it really. The only other “rule”- if you can even call it that- is that our babies are strictly indoor cats. They are safe from mean people, dogs, cars, etc. And yes, we spoil them. We don’t give them a lot of people food, but we do occasionally give the ones who like it a little cheese. We not only let the cats on the furniture, we encourage them to sleep with us. We have a big bay window that faces the street that’s just perfect for watching birds, squirrels, and whatever else passes by. We usually have a few cardboard boxes laying around for them to play in. We have a cat friendly home.
So which is it? Do we somehow mystically attract sweet loving babies, or do we create sweet loving babies because of our amazing cat parenting skills?
At the end of the day, it’s probably what the old saying says- Everyone thinks they have the best cat. And everyone is right.
But mine really are the best 😛