By Elisa Black-Taylor
Why doesn’t my cat Coral meow? I ask myself that question every night as Coral jumps into my lap for some quality petting time. I’d like to tell her story, and then I hope some of you may have some answers for my non-vocal cat.
Coral has been with us for over two years now. She was rescued from Greenville County Animal Care Services back in 2011 at the same time we rescued a cat named Jane. One of my friends from New York who’s very involved with GCACS asked me if I could take both cats. Jane went on to find her own family, but Coral has decided to stay with us on a permanent basis.
Coral’s paperwork at the shelter listed her as a stray. My daughter and I believe she was a stray, mainly because of her ears. Her ears were full of ear mites. We took her to the vet and got the medicine to treat her. She passed her physical as far as being healthy, other than the infestation of the mites. It took a good month to get all the gunk cleaned out where she’d have pretty ears.
Laura and I often wonder why anyone would turn her into the shelter. She never meows, always uses the litter box and isn’t fussy about her cat food. In other words, Coral is the perfect cat. Except she’s quiet. We’ve heard a hiss or two out of her when one of the other cats try to intrude upon her petting time in Laura’s lap.
Coral was often called our cat with no personality. That was before she let us know how much she enjoys chasing a laser light. It’s the first toy she’s ever played with. And she loves to drink out of a faucet. I’m more likely to see her taking a drink from the tub faucet than from the water bowl.
Coral is also beautiful. Not that beautiful will keep a cat off of death row. You all may remember Coral from the comment I made on Michael’s article here about being able to pick your cat out of an I.D. parade.
I commented on confusing Furby with Coral all the time. From the rear, they look identical to me. Laura says Coral is a slightly lighter color. And if I pet her I can tell the difference. She’s our softest cat. Her name should have been Cashmere.
I wonder whether Coral could have been feral at one time, since feral cats are known for keeping silent. Her ears were certainly dirty enough for her to have lived outside for a long period of time. Perhaps someone who just enjoys trapping cats and turning them in to the shelter caught her. We’ll never know. And Coral refuses to give up secrets about her past.
We’ve only had one other cat who kept silent for a very long time. That was Sealy. We pretty much know he was a feral. He still has feral-like behavior, such as he enjoys prowling for food. It was close to eight months before he ever meowed, and that was when he wanted out of my bedroom and the door was closed. He’ll also jump on top of Laura and meow for his breakfast. For the record, Sealy has the LOUDEST meow of any of our cats. He just doesn’t “talk” very often.
Any ideas on why Coral doesn’t meow? She’s healthy and friendly otherwise. I’ve never had such a quiet cat.
LOL. You’re too tough on yourself. I don’t believe you 😉
An article is a lot more effort than comments. People just don’t believe when I say I’m very lazy. If you saw the state of my house, you’d get it.
People think I have a great life too Ruth. I go to work at a deserted site and walk around 10 minutes each hour. In between walks I research and write. Then I go home and pet the cats for 2 hours then go to bed. That’s my life every workday. On the weekend I catch up on the sleep I’ve missed during the week and spend more time with the cats.
I could have had a different life too. I wanted to join the Air Force, but daddy was dead and mama was disabled and you don’t walk away from a parent who needs you. I scored 99% on the Air Force tests given to me in high school. They really wanted me and called me every few weeks after I graduated. If I’d joined I could be retired for life now. Instead, I’ll likely have to work the rest of my life. But I have an easy job so that’s OK.
You don’t need to write a book Ruth. You need to write articles on a regular basis about something you either love or have a great interest in. It doesn’t necessarily have to be about cats. I only have to publish once every two months on Examiner to stay on their writer’s list. I just write a lot more than that because I find interesting things to write about. You could be famous with your articles but you spend all of your time commenting. You’re wasting you talent when you don’t balance both.
I have never really seen the ocean, but Lake Michigan is beautiful. I can sit for hours just listening to the waves crash and recede.
Also the birds singing their dawn chorus drown out all the singing tom cats and all the dogs around, the bluet*ts especially go half crazed with the happiness of a new day.