Everyday Domestic Cat Guardianship More Important Than High Profile News Stories

The mundane and routine aspects of domestic cat guardianship are by far the most important stories with respect to the domestic cat. They are rarely reported.

Gabriel Head and Shoulders

The Internet, in particular social media, is flooded with examples of high-profile cats and their exploits. There are stories about cat rescues from a variety of situations. Cat abuse is often reported in online newspapers. In fact the most common stories in online newspapers and social media concern the unpleasant side-effects of poor cat guardianship such as abuse and overpopulated cat shelters.

Of course, the newspapers will always favour high profile stories which catch the eye but truly the most important stories should be about excellence in day-to-day cat caretaking.

The most important story really is the story of an unknown lady in an unknown town who, on a daily basis, is providing excellent care to her cats. She is doing all the right things to ensure that her cats are safe and contented. There is the story. That is what should be written about more often.

I would like to see more stories in online news media and within social media praising the day-to-day excellence of domestic cat caretaking provided by millions of anonymous people. In doing this I would hope to encourage (and pressure) the less responsible people to become more responsible and for them to see that there are rewards in taking a more responsible approach to cat guardianship.

The greatest problem that society has with respect to “cat ownership” is the minority of owners who do not take a responsible approach to the task of looking after their cats. The problems that flow from a less than responsible approach to looking after a domestic cat are huge.

Greater emphasis should be and could be placed upon cat guardians who have consistently, over many years, set high standards – a positive cat story. They need to be praised. They should be examples. The ordinary people should become the celebrities. I believe these stories are of interest to others.

People should elect someone in their neighborhood who has demonstrated excellence in cat guardianship and welfare and notify the newspapers who could write an article.

News media have a role to play in improving society. They have a responsibility. I’d like to see more emphasis on praising the daily lives of people who silently and sometimes against the odds care for domestic cats to a high standard. However, I realise that this is a pipe-dream….

Associated: Story of a bling man successfully looking after several cats.

P.S. The photo is of Gabriel my cat.


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10 thoughts on “Everyday Domestic Cat Guardianship More Important Than High Profile News Stories”

      • He always likes to go outside with me. It is very charming. Today, he was outside with me when a lady with a Birman cat on a leash came by. We all met. Nice.

        Reply
        • How fortunate that Gabriel is receptive to other cats. Mitzy isn’t. She recently gave chase to one who lives nearby, and was just walking in our direction. Although in the house, she gets chased by the other tenant’s cat, even though Mitzy lived here first.

          I have a theory that it may be that inside the house, Mitzy has free movement; the other cat is confined to a room. Her guardian is gone a lot. Whereas, outside, other cats have free movement, and Mitzy is usually confined to her porch.

          I realize that’s placing human tendencies of envy or resentment on them, but that’s my only guess.

          Reply
          • Gabriel likes to engage with cats but it is not reciprocated 😉 There is a lilac Siamese who tries to bully him. When he is fully grown, I think he’ll deal with this cat more confidently.

            Reply
  1. I like this idea, Michael. It could be expanded to many areas of daily life, to all those who perform their duties faithfully in their various roles and callings.

    Sort of like Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” but not limited only to soldiers who quietly and faithfully perform their duty but are never individually recognized or rewarded. A “Fanfare for the Common Cat Guardian.” I could write the music.

    Henry the Feline Fibre Artist just passed away. An article on his cat guardian would be very nice. I have her on my Facebook friends list. I will have to see if she would like to talk about how she cared for Henry for PoC. Henry was a very destructive cat, but instead of declawing him she tacked carpet squares up on the wall, let Henry tear them to shreds and called the result feline fibre art. Henry’s human is an artist so he became an artist too.

    Reply
    • Ruth, What a wonderful example of how some cat guardians use wisdom, ingenuity, and love to deal with problematic cat actions! Yes, her story should be told. She probably has used other strategies for different things that could be so helpful to others.

      I just read something yesterday about a serious problem with a cat that attacked the guardian, and bit her several times. She posted on a site asking for help in dealing with this. The answer gave several reason why this might have happened. It was new information to me. I’m going to find it again, and see if Michael may want to post it as an article in additon to a comment.

      It’s something I hadn’t experienced except when I came between Mitzy and her intended prey. Both bites drew blood, and I was surprised, but now I wear long sleeves when I take her out, knowing I may have to remove her from “temptation”.

      Reply
    • Yes, Ruth, your description of celebrating the common man fits exactly what I was thinking. There is a lot worthiness in that. It is good for society and I believe a lot of people find it interesting. The news media say they provide us with what we want but sometimes I think they feed us stuff that they want. They have it wrong sometimes. Also news media can distort society’s likes and dislikes. It colors our preferences. In which case they could and should make us more interested in the common man who does uncommonly good things.

      Reply

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