What I learnt after living with a cat 🐈
Hello, Snow! 🌨️
Hello there, long time no see! Although I feel bad for abandoning my Substack for almost two months, it feels good to be back. Here’s to hoping I don’t go away again.
The prologue
Today, I look back at how life has changed since Snow entered our lives. It’s been almost a month and a half since I first saw Snow. From the moment I saw his face through a WhatsApp forward message, I knew I should bring him home.
Growing up, I often pondered the idea of adopting my cat. However, mom always opposed the idea. Moreover, it didn’t seem like an economical idea back then. Honestly, we were struggling to make ends meet, and bringing another living being into the mix doesn’t make a lot of sense if you think rationally.
Now that I have my (rented ;-;) place and am financially at a point where I can afford to offer a cat a luxurious life, I seized the opportunity. Huge shout out and thanks to Pooja for answering all my dumb questions and making it a seamless transition. :’)
That said, here are a few things I learned from Snow, my beloved cat!
Standing your ground isn’t a crime
They say life is all about compromises. Snow begs to differ! He won’t do something unless he is wholeheartedly into it. There’s no such thing as half-assing in Snow’s books. Either he will never do it or go all the way.
For instance, after weeks of interaction, I learned Snow is not a typical outdoor cat. He prefers staying indoors all day and night. He loves people-watching from his beloved spot and doesn’t mind staying there for hours. Of course, there are times when he meows and orders us to let him outside his room (yeah, he has a room!). Even then, he is happy hiding under the sofa or staring at the balcony or utility area.
Having learned from multiple experiments trying to get him outdoors, I’ve made peace with the fact that he doesn’t want to go outside. If acting paralyzed while putting a harness on doesn’t convince me, I don’t know what will. After it happened several times, I took a step back to introspect if I was doing something wrong. And yes, I was.
I was so fixated on meeting my expectation of taking the cat out for an evening walk that I didn’t stop to think if he was interested in the activity I was excited about. Perhaps I should not force my idea of leisure on Snow, since we are two different living beings.
Stay present
Snow is all about living in the moment. I imagine he doesn’t worry about what tomorrow holds and is living his best life, purring, meowing, rubbing, and occasionally scratching us.
I know for a fact that he isn’t too fond of screens. He gets bored after watching TV for 15 minutes and jumps out of the sofa to walk around and live a little. Maybe our lives will get better if we all collectively reduce screen time. Idk, Snow thinks so.
Never let your guard down too fast
Cats don’t trust other creatures easily. You’re supposed to earn a cat’s trust. Fail the vibe check and you might be subject to scratches, bites, or even getting ignored. Getting a cat to trust you takes real effort and won’t happen overnight. It could take days, weeks, or even months for cats to get used to you and your environment.
It’s been a month since Snow has been here and he is still a little scared at times. He never leaves his sofa hideout spot when guests are home. The sofa is where he feels safe and we let him be, which brings me to the next part.
Have a safe spot
When Snow is scared, moody, or upset, he rushes to his hideout spot — the sofa. Until he knows it is safe to come out, he stays there. While it is heartwarming that he has a place to count on, it becomes a trouble at times. He just won’t come out and I have to come up with creative workarounds if I need him outside.
One such method was bringing the vacuum cleaner under the sofa. While it used to work like clockwork, I think Snow, the smarty, has learned to ignore the vacuum. :(
The current method involves waving something like a stick under the sofa. I hate to do it since it alarms him, but it works for emergencies.
Perhaps we should all have such little hideout spots, don’t you think? For times when the world is not being kind to us, when it feels like everything around is falling apart and all that is left in the world is eternal pain and suffering. This spot could be the warm hug you’re looking for when you need something to lean on.
Forget and forgive
To be honest, living with a cat isn’t as easy as it sounds. While I love Snow, there are times when he pisses me off and I end up wondering if I am meant to be a pet parent. I also got to know that I shouldn’t punish him by de-grounding him (I keep him somewhere high so he can’t jump off, but he somehow finds a way and comes out every time) or denying treats to correct bad behavior.
While we have our ups and downs, Snow doesn’t ruminate over unpleasant incidents and forgives me instead. He comes to me and rubs his head on my hands or legs. As a result, I end up forgiving him too.
I hope he knows he is safe here and is loving the new place. I hope he knows he is loved. I hope he knows I’m grateful to have him around and I look forward to kissing him after coming back every work day :’)
A word from Snow
Snow wanted to convey the following while I was writing this piece. I have no clue what it means, but feel free to come over and indulge in deep conversations with him to understand what he wants to say. Here’s the full text:
k,,,,,cvfjkmuhr fjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjkmn gvh\]vcccccccccccccccco09
\][p;k
iukj/
;pl[ty655555555555555555555555555///////////////////////g /.
8888888m/;lqbviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiKJUcx
]-
As a side note, being Snow’s exclusive social media manager, it’s my duty to inform you that you can follow him on Instagram to never miss any of his crazy updates. It’s snow.meow.meow. Creative, I know. :3
Until next time,
Hearts if you liked it, subs if you loved it!
Meow-meow,
Subin
🥰🥰🥰
Good stuff! 🩷