• 
• 

Published on December 29, 2007

Summon your cat, and she'll flick her ear or tail, as in: "Yes? Send me a memo and I'll get to you as soon as I can."

With all due respect to people who think cats are just too independent, you'll see the real difference between cats and dogs whenever you take out a carrier, at least in my house.

Just let me bring down the smallest carrier, and suddenly, it's as if I don't own even one cat. All my cats associate a carrier with a trip to the vet's - to them, unpleasant any way they look at it. They all disappear, into closets and under turtle tubs. In one inventive move, Angel sits as still as possible. She's in plain view, but she's learned that I may not notice a cat-statue.

Meanwhile, Wan-Wan the poodle pup is going out of her mind. She's seen the carrier too, and now, yelping and whining, she dances about on her hind legs. If I put it on a table, she lies underneath, moaning disconsolately. If it's on the floor, she runs inside and settles down. She's ready to go anywhere, even the vet's, to see new places, new people and maybe other dogs.

Don't think cats lack the spirit of adventure. Famous for their curiosity, they love checking out anything new and strange that has entered their territory.

After suffering very weak hind legs in his kittenhood, brat-cat Yoyo, the youngest of the cat herd, now leaps to almost any height to see what's going on. He calls to me from the top of shelves, bookcases and even doors - he can get himself up there but getting himself down is another matter.

Let me, however, put him on top of a high shelf for a time-out, and he screams as if he's dying. As I raise him up, he hasn't had time for a cautious pause.

Besides, it's one thing if he chooses to explore; quite another if he's forced to.

Wan loves exploring too, but while a cat has a reason - maybe he's seen a lizard, a mouse or a soi cat - a dog loves "fooling around" just for the joy of it.

Wan is either sleeping or doing something; her mind is either out to lunch or moving furniture around. There's no in-between.

In one way, though, my dog and cats are pretty much the same. Let me call any cat, and, yes, she or he does that "memo wave". Let me call the doggie, and maybe she'll look at me, although she does wag her stubby tail in acknowledgement. She is obviously thinking about memos too.

In this coming year, may my household and I wish you as many good times as possible: a little adventure, a little surprise, a little caution, and also, just for balance, a little memo-writing too.

By Laurie rosenthal  

The Nation