Tuxedo

Some folks are pet people. Others aren’t. Some pet people are dog people; some are cat people. I’m a cat person.

It is not that I do not like dogs. I do. In fact, we have cats and dogs and fish and a goat. I would say we are pet people. But if you take me to a room that has both a cat and a dog, I’ll gravitate to the cat. I know lots of people that would gravitate to the dog.

In my sixty plus years, I have had a cat that I have declared as mine almost the entire time. I have had 4 cats. Before I go on, I need to clarify that during my marriage, we have usually had more than one cat and, for the most part, the cats sensed that I was a cat person and gravitated towards me. While my wife, a dog person, would have dogs gravitate toward her.

I got my first cat, Thomas, when I was 3 or 4.  He was a tuxedo indoor/outdoor cat.  I’m not sure how it happened but he would sleep tucked into my arm most nights.  The only time he didn’t come in to sleep with me at night was the occasional hunting trip, usually during a snowstorm, when he might be gone a few days and return smelling like the hay loft in the neighbors cattle barn (yes, there is a distinctive smell).  I even had a call for him that I would go out some evenings to encourage him to come in (kitty, kitty, kitty, Thomas with a big inflection at his name).  He finally passed away in my final year in college and I occasionally wonder if the separation had an influence.

My next cat, Omega, was a Persian (the first and last long hair cat we got) that we got shortly after we got married.  He was gotten from a cattery (real term that means a cat breading operation).  He had a fungal infection as a kitten so his people contact was limited to applying medicine before we got him.  He was a shy cat but after about a year, he accepted me as his owner and would come and sit on me.  In fact, he would occasionally come when I’d whistle a tune.  Eventually, after many years, he socialized with my wife, but I was definitely his.

My third cat, another tuxedo, was Sabrina.  Sabrina was the spitting image of Thomas (at least my more than 10-year-old memory of him).  She bonded with me to the point that she’d come and sit on my lap if I whistled the Star Trek, Next Generation theme song. I have a lot of wonderful memories about her but they just don’t seem to fit this devotion.

My fourth and current cat, another tuxedo, is Trixie.  After Sabrina passed away, I thought and prayed about whether to get another cat.  Some internet sources suggested that tuxedo cats were more intelligent, playful and more deeply bonded with their owners. This matched my limited experience.  My hope was to find another tuxedo after having such positive experiences with Thomas and Sabrina. 

I happened to see a picture on Craigslist of a kitten that was the spitting image of Sabrina.  My son and I drove down to Wichita to check it out.  When I saw her, I knew she was destined to be my cat.  Unfortunately, the family that had taken in the pregnant female cat had children that were hoping to keep her for themselves.  After I showed them a picture of Sabrina, they reluctantly agreed that she was meant for me.  I don’t have call for Trixie nor a whistle that brings her. However, I believe I’m as close to her (and she to me) as any person/cat relationship can be.  She gets up with me in the morning and lays on my lap while I have my daily quiet time (in fact, she’s laying on my lap now).  When I get up to get another cup of coffee or whatever, she’ll wait at the chair until I return and she can get back on my lap.  Most nights, she sleeps at my feet.

Of the three tuxedo cats, I can say that they have all been similar and all been unique. As humans, we tend to group people for our own ease in thoughts and communication.  There is a lot of statistical science that has been applied to look at large collections of things to determine likely outcomes which most people intuitively (and sometimes incorrectly) believe.

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” – Matthew 7:1-5 ESV

We need to resist making judgements of people by their being associated with one group or another.  Each of us are similar to others and unique in our own ways.  Sometimes, their reaction to something is influenced by the way they are treated before that.  Other times, they may surprise you.

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” - Matthew 7:12