I was asked by a reader of this blog if I believe in interspecies relationships. This reader was, of all things, a cat! The cat apparently has a case of puppy love for me and wants to know if I would be interested in a friendship with her.
All my dog-friends have told me to dislike cats. Cats, they say, are not like dogs and dogs are the most superior animals of all. If humans especially want to know what the full essence of being an animal is like, all they have to do is look at dogs. Dogs are the epitome of what it means to be an animal. Dogs are the best. They are superior. They can be both ferocious and loving. Without being a dog, you simply can't be considered an animal.
I must listen to the wise words of my dog-friends because after all, I am still a puppy and learning new things every day. They say to be wary of cats because cats are very different from dogs: they meow and purr instead of bark; they use the facilities in a little box and not outside like the rest of the animals; their food is so much more different than dogs' foods; they sleep so much; they jump and climb a lot; they are more concerned about their own space than that of a pack.
Silly, silly cats. How they must wish to be like us dogs, the truest animal there is! Dogs--the one and only way to be an animal.
But the more I think about it, I wonder if my dog-friends have their ideas about the superiority of dogs correct. Why would God make one animal more superior than the others? Didn't St. Francis of Assisi, my human hero, love all animals? Why should we not like someone else just because he or she looks, speaks, uses the facilities, and behaves differently than we do?
I met two cats once. Their names are Gus and Oreo. When I met them and got to know them, I must admit that I forgot about what my dog-friends said about cats. I just wanted to play with them. Because cats know how to jump and climb a lot better than I can, we had great chases together around the house. I took a bit of their food from their Food Dish and, I must say, it did not taste as bad as I had heard it would taste. Even though the cats showed me where they use the facilities, I just could not bring myself to use that little box, but I was determined to respect their wishes to use the box whenever they needed to. Most importantly, because cats are such great sleepers, we had the best nap together! Did you know they purr when they are content and sleepy? It was a nice sound and it put me right to sleep.
Getting back to what I think of interspecies relationships. Yes, I am all for it. I would like a friendship with a cat. We all share this world together, and I just don't think there is just one and only way to communicate, eat, use the facilities, sleep, or move around. We're all different. We don't need to focus upon what is different between us. Instead, we ought to know we are different, accept each other anyway, and try to learn from each other.
Take some time to walk in someone else's paws for a day and I think you, too, will have a change of heart. I hope my dog-friends will do that, too.
Thought for You Humans:
Is there something around you that claims to be the best and the only way of being and doing things? Is it political? Religious? Personal?
What harm does such a claim do to you, your family, your colleagues, your school? How can humans do a better job at trying to focus upon what we have in common, rather than upon what drives us apart?
