I swear, I get the vibe from my cats that
- they’re my daughters
- one i get the vibe from that she’s my old lady (which literally she is but the wife connotation is highly questionable)
What is the relationship in the felid mind? I’ve never gotten the sense that I’m a “master” despite the fact they know when I get annoyed with them or what is forbidden and they mostly come to honor that (turns out nobody or anything likes getting hassled)
They’re my buddies, who I decided should live with me, so they do. And they love it. :)
Yes. Mostly mutually beneficial roommates.
I swear to god, my oldest (“my old lady”) literally pesters me at “bedtime”. A cat dictates my bedtime lol
Unlike dogs where you are part of their “pack”, for cats you are their mother - seriously, your petting them is their mother licking their fur to clean it, and their purs help you realize that they are alive and well.
The odd part is that in the wild, the kitten doesn’t stay with the mother all that long. So unlike dogs, we keep cats in a permanent juvenile state - that’s why they don’t (so much) “obey”, bc they are confident in their special status of being loved by mother.
I figure that’s the only thing stopping her from tearing me to shreds when I clean her eye boogers