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.
People who had a misspent youth are much more interesting than those who always toed the line. Often they are better adults, once they figure out what it is they want to do. There is no shame in “wasting” a bit of one’s youth trying to find the right path or even just to have a bit of fun.
Oddly, I was a better person when I was young. The older I’ve gotten the more lax and lazy I’ve become and the weaker my self discipline. Now I’m just coasting, but when I was young I really worked hard and demanded much more of myself.
So which is worse? To screw up when you’re young and it is more tolerated, or to be useless in middle age, when you are supposed to be most productive?
I think just like people, some cats are quiet and some ‘talk’ a lot.
Our Walter always has an opinion on everything lol but Jozef is much quieter.
Sad for you that you’ve never seen the ocean Ruth, standing in the edge of it with the waves rippling around your ankles, looking to the horizon, puts everything into perspective.
You’d love it!
We have the North Sea about 3/4 of an hour’s drive away, the sea is always bitterly cold even in the Summer when the sun is shining and it’s warm enough to picnic on the beach,but I love it and we always try to go there to celebrate my July birthday.
She’s the sweetest cat. She sits on the floor until you invite her into your lap. She loves being petted. But I do get her and Furby mixed up all the time. Especially when looking at the rear instead of the head.
Getting back to the original subject here, I don’t think Coral needs to meow because her eyes say it all. In every photo her eyes are different. They are very expressive.
He was a fool to give up. You never know what will happen down the road. Jeff wasn’t interested in a relationship, so I went out with Danny, then we got married. Then after Danny died, Jeff had his chance. Jeff was really bummed out when I got married the first time, but he didn’t let on. But he didn’t let me slip away again.
I sometimes play the what if games, what if Danny hadn’t been killed? But would I ever have lived in West Allis? Probably not. More likely Brookfield or Menomonee Falls, the area he was from. So I wouldn’t have found Monty. Change one thing and a lot of things change. If your first love had lived and eventually you had married, you might still be happily married– but would you have found Furby? He was sent to you to comfort you after your ex husband passed on. Would you still get Furby if you had that first love? Probably not. We can’t have everything we want, but we get everything we need somehow.