I do this, and it just occurred to me that a. it’s kind of weird and b. I bet other people do it anyway. It’s like the origin myth of how my cat and I became pals.
“Once upon a time, there was a little kitty. He had no one to take care of him! He lived all by himself on the street. And then ONE DAY, a very stupid American girl saw him on the corner of Akatzia and Osvobozhdenie. He was so tiny and dirty and he was allllll covered in fleas. He was very sad.” etc. It’s the moving tale of how a poor little Bulgarian street cat grew up to be a spoiled American house cat.
Or will be one of those rare cases where no one else actually does this, and I’m just nuts all by myself?
We do it for two of ours - regularly tell them their stories of origin.
Milo was adopted from a shelter a year after my last cat had died. I had travelled through Morocco and been heartbroken at the number of scraggy little kittens we saw (and no old cats - clearly they didn’t live that long). I decided when I moved to Australia that I would adopt a kitten, and had my heart set on a fluffy grey. Headed off to the shelter and looked at all the cats, and none were quite right. And then I turned to the right, and saw this little crimpy grey kitten shivvering away in fear, and I knew he was the one. He still sits all hunched over like that from time to time - but he’s pretty bolshy now, not a lot of fear in this one!
Loki was adopted after I had a dream that Milo’s little brother was waiting for us at the back door. (Milo’d recently had an accident and lost his tail, and we were keeping him inside and worried he was lonely). So, back to the shelter, looking for something that resembled a chinchilla like Boy From Mars had been eyeing up in the pet stores. We asked about it, and were told they didn’t really have anything - except one little white kitten ‘out the back’. We went back to meet him, and he rolled over and let us rub his tummy. Fell in love immediately, and only once we’d decided to take him home did the lady tell us he was due to be put down the next day (it’s unfortunately a kill shelter after a month). Had I had my dream a day later we might have missed out on the loveliest clown-cat you’d ever meet.
I think it’s important that you do this, and often, because how else could the cat know its own history, and pass it along to future generations? Oral histories are key for cat historians, and so few people disseminate such vital information to the cat population, who as a result enroll in Cat History programs (Ph. D. or MA) far too rarely. Don’t listen to those nutjobs btw who will tell you that you’re acting like a lunatic for sharing conversational subjects you indulge yourself in with household pets–any sensible person understands that cats do benefit greatly from hearing your discourse on certain specific subjects, just as human children learn from being spoken to. The cat is IN NO WAY a poor substitute for a child, and you should never listen to (or even tolerate) some unkind person suggesting otherwise. Onward and upward!
All the time, for my boy. I tell him over and over that I loved him the minute I saw him and wanted him to be my boy forever and wherever I was when he was born, I loved him even then.
I never have before, but I just gathered them up and told each of them their life stories, mostly to annoy prr, whose “people who love their pets are crazy” shit is getting tiresome.
No. I do talk to my dog a lot, but the closest thing along those lines is that I tell her she is a good girl and I’m glad she came into my life or I thank her for being part of my life. She doesn’t understand the words, but hopefully she understands the love.
“We love you, Germbucket, and you know that, right?”
“Arf arf arf, which is to say, I don’t really give a shit, but keep scratching me right there, okay? Feels real good, you shit for brains. Just keep scratching and filling that food bowl every night, and I’ll have no problems with you. God, do I loathe you, though.”
Well yeah, people who act crazy are crazy. Like fr’instance, if somebody got disproportionately bitter about a couple of people who preferred their cats to him, and decide to take it out on everyone on the interwebs who professes affection for a cat. That’s a little crazy.
Yes, and I denounce anyone who would do such a thing. You don’t mind me sharing my views on crazy behavior in a thread whose OP asks if she’s a little crazy for telling narratives to her cats, though, do you?
So we don’t hijack Kyla’s thread too much, would you mind starting a Pit thread if you want another thread about me and how much hostility you have for me to share? Kthxbye.
No, but I tell them that they’re lucky, because there are so many animals out there who don’t have it as good as they do. (Mostly I do this when they’re misbehaving or just driving me insane)
Nope, but I’ve told them things that may seem equally (or more) silly to some.
I talk to them about my work issues, problems with my boyfriend, etc. One night, I was so stressed about an upcoming work presentation that I practiced in front of my dog. :rolleyes: I don’t think for a second the dog understood one word, but it helped to practice in front of something–anything–living.
I bet you do it because your cat has such a great rags to riches story. I tend to remind one of my cats about finding her under a truck and how I knew she wanted a family (unlike her littermates, who ran from people) because it is a good story. The others came to me in more mundane ways.
