October

[Linkup to Simplicity]

No, not the month, the cat.  We have a very, very large cat named October.  I'm a dog person and a bird person (more on that another day) but not a cat person, so October and I have a somewhat wary relationship with one another.

I suppose he's a nice cat, as far as cats go, but I'm not sure that any cat could truly win my affections.  I think this goes back to childhood, and I can pin it on my dad, who hated cats with a passion and pretended to be allergic to them so he'd never have to see them, if he was at someone else's house.  (We always said "pretend," because if he didn't know the cat was there, surprise, he didn't develop any symptoms.)  Of course, my mother didn't like birds, she said they were dirty and spread disease, and I got over that one.

I think what gets me about cats is that (at least as far as I can see) they don't really care whether you like them or not, and for someone with the character flaw of needing everyone to like her (that would be me), cats just don't fit the bill.  A dog or a bird will be utterly devoted to you, to the point of defending you against intruders, saving your life, etc.  I don't think I've ever heard of a cat saving anyone's life, or chasing an intruder off -- our cat generally disappears the moment anyone sets foot in the house.  I'm sure cat people out there will rush to set me straight about cats not caring -- maybe it's just that cats don't care about liking me.  I guess that could be the case.

October and I try to stay out of each other's way (except when he lies in the hall in the middle of the night -- a black cat in the dark) and generally tolerate each other (except for that time when he peed on the quilt on my side of the bed).  We get along all right.