Getting in Touch with my Inner Cat
October 14th 2007 22:15
Higgins
I did some soul searching over the weekend and realised I was just like my neighbour’s Bombay cats, Higgins and Miggins. Like them, I don’t like to be approached by people. Often, when I am being introduced to new people by my friends, I am quiet to begin with as I like to sit there and try to suss the new person out. It takes time for me to open up to people. I have no problems with animals; I am often joyful when I see a cat or dog on the street and will not hesitate to stroke it, but with people I am more cautious.
In the case of befriending Higgins and Miggins, it took over 10 visits before they would come near me. At first, they would sit several metres away and just look at me. Later, they would come closer but if I reached out to pat them or made any sudden moves, they would run straight into the closet and hide. “It’s their safe place,” explained my neighbour. “It’s where they like to go to when they want to feel secure.”
So in the end, I had to simply sit there and wait for them to make the first move. “You have to wait for them to approach you first,” said my neighbour. My patience soon paid off; they soon came so close they were sitting right next to me. That was when my neighbour gave me the okay; I could now touch them. I ended up doing more than that – I got to feed them, rub their bellies and smack them on the back. They responded by sticking their bums up in the air; apparently this is cat body language for ‘happy’. After many more visits they trusted me enough to let me pick them up and carry them around the room. My neighbour later told me I was the only person apart from her who Higgins and Miggins allowed them to get that close.
Bombay cats are jet black as they were originally bred to look like panthers. Ironically, Higgins and Miggins are terrified of black so I had to avoid wearing black whenever I visited.
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