Your cat-your pet, your companion or your master

Hi Everybody,
I recently read an article on how it is now politically correct to call your pets your companions and how in the authors opinion that would be a step up since he definitly was his cats' slave. I thought it would be fun if everybody joined in and gave their opinion and story in the same vein. I'll start.
I have 25 cats and am a full time slave to all but one. It never even occured to me that I could ever be concidered by any of them as their equal. Worf who weighs 26lbs expects me to hold and comb his back whenever the mood hits him (which is often) no matter what I am doing. Jean Luc expects me to clean his front paws and claws each and everytime he uses the box. Prudence has everyright (at least in her mind)to get the lion's share of my dinner every night and I don't want to find out what will happen if I say no. Delilah has made it quite clear that the computor belongs to her as much as me and tries to type. B'Etor will not allow me to play vidoe games without her. She likes to push the buttons and if I don't let her will go over and shut the machine off. She will do this as many times as it takes to get her own way. Data (who isn't talking to me at present) will punish me by ignoring me if I leave the house for any reason. You should have seen him when I got home after seven weeks away. I had to go and settle my father's estate, but he just didn't seem to think that was a valid reason to leave him. Tiberious wants his little hinny wiped after you know what and Logan wont wash his own face. He is very clean about everything else he just won't wash his face. My job along with dish filling and cleaning, litterbox filling and cleaning, toy buying and cleaning, treat buying, vet bill paying (four went in today to be neutered) and so on and so on and so on.
I think you all get the idea so come on and tell us all how you pet, excuse me, companion makes you feel less than equal.

What a great thread! Oh, I am definantly a slave to my companions! I'm just fortunate that THEY allow ME to live with them.

Well, Socrates only wants love on his terms. I'm not allowed to pet him unless he tells me (there's this expression he gets when he wants love, I swear it's true). And NO MATTER what I'm doing, if he wants love I have to stop whatever it is I'm doing and lean back and let him lie down on my chest and rub him. Now Tiger is a leg rubber, in that he ALWAYS wants attention, but only at his level. He won't allow love if he's picked up or put on the couch next to me. I have to physically get on the floor and sit obediantly next to him and rub his tummy. And, when he's ready to play fetch (Yes, I have a cat that plays fetch) he brings me his small stuffed bunny, sets it down at my feet (or in bed next to me when I'm sleeping) and then he sits there and stares at me, then his bunny and then me again and he won't be happy til' I start tossing it across the room for him to retrieve so we can play some more.

Is that being a slave to my cats?

>^..^< MEOWMAN SAYS CATS MAKE THE BEST COMPANIONS!

That is great MeowMan... I too have a kitty that loves to play fetch, of course it is only on her terms. I cannot try to instigate the game myself. She too like many others lets me know when it is time for some lovin'. And, I too obey like many other fabulous cat lovers. What other way is there!?!

LOL Oh probably so! Scatter refuses to get her paws wet, and after it rains, she follows me out to the horses, but if there is a puddle in her way, then she will sit down and yowl until I turn around, go back and pick her up. Then she perches on my shoulders, and stays there as I go about my business. If we come close to the well house, she will leap up on the roof and sit up there cleaning herself until I come below her again. Then she jumps back down on my shoulders and we go inside the house.

Kahuana makes his appearance at bedtime, and I have to stop turning down the bed, because his meows are quite insistent and he wants his belly rubbed. We have quite a long and vigourous time of rubbing his belly, until he is finally satisfied and will go lay down at the corner of the bed, waiting for me to turn off the light.

Dunkin has decided that my side of the bed is preferable to Pop's. Which is annoying, because that means the night light she has to have on, shines in my face during the night. She lays her large frame underneath my arm and doesn't move until the morning.

Bartee is my polydactyl and he loves to be on my lap when I am on the computer. If I dare to ignore him, he slowly climbs up my leg until his paws are grasping my arm, then he heaves himself up, and settles down in my lap-pushing the keyboard out of the way.

Shredder wants my chest, and he wants it now, and he is so sleek and light, that he kinds of wraps himself around me with his paws under my chin. He lays there and if I dare to get up to get water or snacks, he just waits for me to return before he climbs back up on His Human. He was a bottle baby and I am clearly his Mum.

Kabota will come in when he is soaking wet, and he decides that either Mike or my shirt would be a great towel. he lays down on one of us, and then rolls over and over until our clothing is saturated and he is almost dry.

Muse hides in the corners in the yard and she pounces on my feet as I walk past. If I dare to ignore her and don't stoop to pet her or play with her, her next pounce is with unsheathed claws and she means business!

Cleo likes to play dart in between my legs, and roll over right in my path.If I ignore him, he intensifies the game and will dart in and out so fast I almost fall over! LOL

Ripley, is my smallest kitty and she will only allow you to pet her three times in a row. Pet her any more than that you get a swift swat and a deep growl.

Karma is my latest feral turned house cat. She will jump on our laps, and she will knead us to death, head bump us and demand that we pet her- BUT should we do so, there is a swift turn of her head, and a quick bite. I still haven't figured out her message yet.

Stryker has made our german shepherd dog his slave.Wherever Kenai is, you are bound to find Stryker. He will rub on her legs, go under her belly, bite her ears, and if Kenai gets fed up, then Stryker just keeps following her around.

Bailey has to lay on my slippers. If I am wearing them at the moment, Bailey will lay at or on my feet, and start to play with the slips. If I don't take them off, Bailey will bite down in warning, then I will take the darn things off and Bailey will curl up inside them and go to sleep.

Bacardi has to be in the shower with me. She loves to play in the water, and she chases the drops down the shower curtain, or she perches on the shelf overhead and watches I guess to see if I get all my soap off.

I have more cats, and more quirks, but you get the general idea. I am a sap when it comes to my animals.

Hehe... Those were funny posts... TimeliestKitty, you wouldn't be a Trekker by any chance ?

Mishmish is definitely the ruler of out home. She has us very well trained. She has verbal commands for "open this closet door", "open the window", "pick me up", "turn on the tap - I want a drink" and lots more. She also doesn't like it if someone yells in the house... It almost never happens, except when we play with the Sony Playstation. I always scream and shout when I play, but Mishmish is there within minutes. She gets really close, looks into my face as if asking "have you gone mad?" and then gives me a warning bite

Gezer is more the passive-aggressive type. He loves being petted and can keep you petting for hours. He sometimes joins me when I'm at the computer. He doesn't beg for attention (he's not a dog, God forbid ). Nope, he simply lies down on the mouse...

Several of my cats like a little dab of margarine in the morning and even if I'm not having bread with breakfast, I still have to get out the marg and give them their treat. It's the only way to get them out from under my feet so I can move around and get breakfast. Guess that makes me a slave.
Also have a couple that have to have a drink from the bathroom sink every morning even though there is always fresh water in their bowls in the kitchen

[Edited by Kaaren Sander on 03-10-2001 at 09:53 PM]

Oh I have really enjoyed reading htese posts!!!!

I think I am Merlins slave...he too only wants petted when HE wants petted....and he lets me know when that is.

He also loves to play fetch!! I was wondering if anyone else's cats did that...and now I know!!!
He does it with little wads of paper! (about the size of one sheet of paper wadded up) He will bring it to me, jump up into my recliner with me, and drop beside me, and look at me. So then I take the paper ball and I throw it across the room...and Zoooom.....there he goes!!! And then he brings it right back and drops it in my chair beside me again! It is so cute the way he brings it back! He literally STRUTS with it in his mouth, with his tail straight up in the air!! (he is so proud of himself!!)

So we play this several times, with me throwing it in different directions each time!

These are funny stories. Wow, I didn't realize so many kitties played fetch. How cool.

So, Timelieskitty, are you going to name any future cats Geordi or Dianna or how about Ro? LOL. I love Trek! I'm not a trekkie, but various syndicated reruns of Trk run every night here, so I have to record it and watch it to unwind after work. I have to have at least 1 weekly Trek fix.

You can't own a cat and not be a slave to it. Squirt makes his wants and needs very apparent through a variety of meows that mean different things. One sounds exactly like "Ma". The one that makes me laugh the most is when he sometimes runs out into the hall through the open apartment door. As he shoots down the stairs, I always yell, "Squirt, get back up here!" And he always says this one type of meow that sounds exactly like "NO!"

Meanwhile, Joey doesn't exactly fetch, but he has this old sneaker that he like to fish things out of. He will bring me any little thing he finds lying around so I can put it in his shoe for him. Then he digs it out and starts again. This could go on forever.

The Trek cat names are cool. Squirt was Spock for a short time in kittenhood before his final name stuck.

As for reruns, our station is slowly but surely getting rid of them. I can still count on falling asleep to Voyager every night though. It's better than nothing.