Give & Take

Before I had cats, I've never had a pet. So I went into it with an idealised view of what it was going to be like. I thought I would be in control of what happens in the flat and that the cats would do as I tell them. I knew that it would take some work, but I thought kitties would come around to my way of thinking after a while. A case in point is the issue of whether cats should be allowed on the kitchen counter.

When I visited Alex's parents for the first time, the occasion was also the very first time that I had any upclose experience with cats. Alex's parents own a small farmstead. And at the time, they had 8 indoor/outdoor cats and 2 feral ones who would never enter the house. While there, I would often make cheese toast for breakfast or a light lunch. It involved grating the cheese, which would bring about the automatic appearance of cats on the kitchen counter, where they would proceed to steal the cheese. (There should be a Wallace & Gromit movie where Wallace has to solve the mystery of his beloved disappearing cheese. I'm sure cats would be involved!). It was such a nuisance fighting them off that I told Alex then that if we were to have cats, I would never let them walk on the kitchen counter.

Fast forward to 2006. I've since learn to pick my battles. Kitties are allowed to walk on the kitchen counter, as long as they don't get near the stove while I'm cooking and don't try to steal the food. They're allowed to pull Alex's towel down and lie on it the whole day long (as ably demonstrated by Harmony above), since Alex doesn' t mind, but they've learnt not to pull down my towel as their pleasure in lying on it will be shortlived. They are still not allowed to scratch the furniture but every room has one or more objects that they can scratch to their hearts' content. They are allowed to sleep anywhere they want although I will try to persuade them to move if they are sleeping on my spot while Alex will just sleep around them.