Almost all selections of rescue cats at shelters are based – at least initially – on appearance. The question in the subconscious mind of the adopter is, “do I like the appearance?” If it is yes, the next box is ticked: is the behavior right? That box is successfully ticked if the cat approaches the person and ‘asks’ to be adopted. Okay so that’s the formula. It is time to smash the formula to bits, go entirely against the grain and turn it on its head: adopt a cat whose appearance you find unattractive.
Do that and you will be behaving in a saintly manner. You’ll be doing real charity. Really good charitable work. Something special. But here is the really special bit: you will learn quite quickly to love your new cat’s appearance. This happens because you see your cat through their character. You see the character which is the cat. The appearance is secondary.
In shunning the conventional first criteria for selection – their appearance – you’ll be focusing on the far more important character which is all you see at the end of the day. And as you learn to love your cat, you’ll love their character and they’ll have an appearance which pleases you.
What got me thinking about this? Stories in news media of rescue cats that have spent hundreds of days at rescue centers because they have ‘ordinary’ appearances such as black-and-white or tabby-and-white coats. Or plain tabby. Black is not very popular either but some people like black.
There’s a pair of brothers in a Honolulu shelter at the moment who have to be adopted together – another barrier to their adoption – which with their ‘ordinary’ appearance has left them on the shelf for 200 days. It is time for them to find a home. Their names are Hekate and Mammon. They are on this page.
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It perhaps goes without saying that a lot worse can befall the unadopted cat at a shelter: death by euthanasia. Often only because they have boring coats. Old age is another barrier. That’s another barrier you can smash to smithereens.
The human can be somewhat obsessed by appearance. Almost everything we buy is selected initially on appearance followed by function. Cars are almost always selected by women on appearance. I am being a little sexist there but it is true.
But function can be beautiful. And a cat’s character can be beautiful even when they look boring judged by appearance alone.
Human obsession with appearance – the veneer of appearance – is a weakness. Go deeper and think about the real stuff which for a domestic cat companion is the relationship you have, the foundation of which is their personality and yours.
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