The Feline Mystique

The man is lying in bed and reading a book
when Velvet jumps up and starts to make sweet rolls.
She kneads the coverlet with her paws alternating left
then right. Her eyes are half closed and she looks serene.
Soon she climbs up on her favorite person, wraps her
paws around his neck, nibbles his chin and drools.
She purrs as he rubs her cheeks and chin.

Her favorite person is a man who was never raised with
pets or companion animals. His parents’ lifestyle, active
in social causes, just didn’t have the time or energy for
pets. As an adult he didn’t believe in sharing his life with
companion animals either. Life as a musician came with
late hours and times when making ends meet for one
person was difficult. It’s not that he didn’t like animals,
he just thought that they were more for other people.
He had even dated a woman that had a cat, but that
relationship has ended years before he ever had a feline
of his own.

The scenario of the cat with her paws wrapped
around this fellow’s neck raises the question, “How
did this man’s heart get captured by this little black
cat with green eyes?” It is a mystery. Actually this
gentleman lives with more than one feline. He has
several and other animal companions, too. If asked
how this has come to be, he might answer that it has
something to do with the woman he is married to.
She doesn’t really back up his story 100 percent
because she doesn’t think that his way with animals
has anything to do with her. It has to be something
innate within his internal being. She will confess to
bringing companion creatures into his life even
when he had grave doubts. This is her way, the
contrary. He married her even thought he swore
he’d always be a bachelor. He raised 2 boys even
though he was not going to have children.

The man likes to tease his wife and say that she’s a
feral. He always says she’s like a great cat, perhaps
a jaguar or a cougar. Even though she can be
personable, she’s rather solitary and strange in her
ways. He can imagine her shape shifting in the night
and prowling the neighborhood looking for the true
wild home of her origin. She tried to deny his claims
and say that she likes all animals. She tried to make
her point be giving the example of her companions.
She usually has canines, felines, birds, reptiles, and
fish. He agreed that she “liked” all the animals, but
in reality she was most like a feline, and not a tame
feline at that.

The man’s wife’s deep interests lie in the fate of
felines the world over. She has always had an interest
in conservation and the preservation of all animals,
especially felines. She really wants to have a lifestyle
that would allow her to live with the wild felines. She
fantasizes about volunteering in the jungle, doing
research and helping the wild cats. The man doesn’t
laugh but reminds her of her age and physical
limitations. Sometimes she threatens to run away
to the circus to help train the big cats. He raises
an eyebrow at this knowing that big cats are being
banned from circuses in many places.

He’d get her a companion exotic cat but this is
illegal in the state they live in. Sadly ban laws
are being passed in many places. This means
that private people cannot have the felines that
they most want in their lives. It also means that
responsible private people cannot help preserve
the diverse gene pools of endangered cats. This
is tragic because wild feline homelands are being
encroached on and destroyed by humans. This is
the biggest threat that animals everywhere face.

The man does encourage his wife to do what
she can. He also helps her have felines close to
what she desires, hybrid felines with some wild
heritage. These felines are legal in their state of
residence. He encourages her to visit her friends
that live in other states with their exotic companions.
He isn’t really interested in getting up close and
personal with a cougar, but he will be her companion
when she visits friends that have one. She asks him
if he minds the strong feline musk that inhabits a
home with great house cats. It is quite a pungent
odor, especially when trying to sleep, but he is
willing.

He’s also willing to get drooled on by the little
black great-at-heart cat that calls him her favorite.
He’s been run over in the middle of the night by
playing cats. He’s taken cats to the vet. He cried
when his wife’s best friend who happened to be
a cat had to be put down because of health
problems. He was the one responsible for
getting more felines when she swore not to have
another cat because her heart was broken.
He understands when she still cries over the
deceased cat years later. He spends lots of
money on the best food, toys, cat furniture,
jaunts to visit friends’ great cats, and vet bills.
Married to a feral woman, surrounded by cats,
hearing about animals, especially felines, day
and night, vacationing in homes filled with the
sounds and aromas of great cats, he realizes
that his life will never be considered boring.
Can it truly be such a mystery that this little black,
green-eyed cat has his devotion? She nibbles his
chin then drools on his chest. He lives immersed
in the feline mystique.