What Sort of Person is a Cat Lover?
Cat lovers are honest and down-to-earth. They have an empathy with cats and, for the majority, it extends to all animals. Surely, that is the way it is meant to be. If people are to create a decent world we have to be concerned about other species. To a cat lover, the domestic cat is a close companion and his or her connection with another animal species.
It is surely a privilege to be a companion of a domestic cat, to have earned the trust of your cat and to become emotionally connected to him or her.
Charlie lying on my legs while I write this
I always have a sense of amazement that I am able to communicate with my cat and for him to lie on legs while I work and look up at me, his expression confirming that we have a relationship. In no way is it a false relationship. I don’t see my cat as a person. I see him as an entirely different species of animal who I have a connection with in the same way a domestic cat might make friends with a deer or a dog or some other animal. These relationships are all highly beneficial to the parties involved.
A relationship with a domestic cat is a perfect way for people to connect with nature and sense the wild. For most of us, it is as near as we can get to the wild.
So cat lovers have an empathy with cats. Why is that? There are probably a million different reasons; each one is personal to the person involved. I believe the primary reason is genetically inherited – a personality trait inherited from our parents.
To that strong starting point is added life experience. It would seem that people who have experienced difficulties in life, one way or the other, are more open to a connection with a domestic cat. I believe this to be true because difficulties chip away at human arrogance, which is a barrier to an empathic relationship with animals. The sort of personality that likes cats is not the same as that which likes dogs. The difference comes from the difference between the personalities of cats and dogs.
Although the majority of cat lovers are women there are many men who have a fantastically empathetic relationship with cats. You can sense it. Men have a different approach to their relationship to the domestic cat but the underlying empathy is the same for men and women.
As men tend to be under represented as cat lovers, I will mention a man who has a true connection with cats, Bob Tucker. He suffers himself with illness but helps his feral cats with real devotion. His writings have an intense simplicity and honesty. He has nursed a diabetic cat. Recently Kevin has contributed and I sense he has a similar character. Marc, lives and breaths cats 😉 There are many others who have visited PoC.
There are number of beautiful women regular visitors whose writings send a clear signal to readers that they have a strong empathy with cats. Reading between the lines of their articles you can sense the raw honesty.
You’ll find that cat lovers are very honest – and intelligent. There is no game playing and pretend stuff. A lot of people have a public persona that is completely different to how they behave in private. I am sure that a true cat lover is the same in private and public. This is an excellent but undervalued quality.
I believe it is honesty that allows cat lovers to cut through human arrogance to find a connection with animals.
Cat lovers are able to stand back and observe homo sapiens. I think that is a universal commonality between people who love cats. You don’t get his kind of honest appraisal from people who dislike cats.
Did you find this article useful and interesting? Can it be improved? Please tell me in a comment. I am always keen to improve the site for animal welfare and reader enjoyment.