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Society of Cats
Dec. 15th, 2015 10:23 amMostly, I just want to brag on my Lady Jane Grey. For human-vs-cat socialization, she's come so far. She had a raw spot on her back, between her shoulder blades, which the doctor thought might be the result of an infection, rather than a battle scar, so he gave me some antibiotic to give her twice a day. It is in liquid form, and it is, I kid you not, bubble-gum flavored. Lady does not like it. But she lets me give it to her. I grab her head, tip it back slightly, insert the dropper, and squeeze. She struggles and fusses, but what she does not do is attack me. She does not bite, she does not scratch, and she very rarely hisses or growls. The other day, she was hiding underneath a chair in my study, and I had to drag her out bodily, pick her up, and move her to another location where I could medicate her. She did not like it, and she used language, but again, she did not attack me. This from a cat who, two months ago, viciously savaged me when I petted her wrong. I am incredibly proud of her. Pamela says that it's obvious she loves me best because she brightens a bit when I enter the room. Me, I don't see that, since I don't see her when I'm not there. But I do love her, and she loves me.
It's always a mistake to assume that cats have have the same emotional structures as humans. We're similar; we're both mammals -- but not the same. I was assuming that Nuit was responding badly to Lady Jane Grey because she was feeling worried that people wouldn't love her as much, any more. Because of this assumption, I tried to mediate between the two by giving Nuit more affection, attempting to reassure her that she was loved and wanted. This resulted in her being more aggressive and more horrid towards Lady. When I lost my temper, and yelled at Nuit to just stop it, she backed down, and behaved better. I've done some additional experimentation, and yes, being nice to Nuit when she's being a shit to Lady causes Nuit to be even nastier to Lady Jane Grey. Scolding Nuit severely for being aggressive causes her to back down and behave better, and sometimes even come scurrying over to the human for reassurance. (And, yes, Nuit does know her name, and does know when I'm yelling at her. And yes, LJG does sit there looking smug when I yell at Nuit, and does know her name and does look chagrinned when I yell using her name instead.) I do not understand cat politics. I do, however, love my cats.
It's always a mistake to assume that cats have have the same emotional structures as humans. We're similar; we're both mammals -- but not the same. I was assuming that Nuit was responding badly to Lady Jane Grey because she was feeling worried that people wouldn't love her as much, any more. Because of this assumption, I tried to mediate between the two by giving Nuit more affection, attempting to reassure her that she was loved and wanted. This resulted in her being more aggressive and more horrid towards Lady. When I lost my temper, and yelled at Nuit to just stop it, she backed down, and behaved better. I've done some additional experimentation, and yes, being nice to Nuit when she's being a shit to Lady causes Nuit to be even nastier to Lady Jane Grey. Scolding Nuit severely for being aggressive causes her to back down and behave better, and sometimes even come scurrying over to the human for reassurance. (And, yes, Nuit does know her name, and does know when I'm yelling at her. And yes, LJG does sit there looking smug when I yell at Nuit, and does know her name and does look chagrinned when I yell using her name instead.) I do not understand cat politics. I do, however, love my cats.
