This morning, Mike did his usual thing of picking up Seth and carrying him around and petting him. Seth has come to expect that and when Mike is in a hurry, Seth will pace in front of him crying for what we call Pick-Me-Up time. As usual, Mike carried Seth like a football, if a football reached out and put his front paws around Mike's wrist in a hug. Nick and I gathered around them so Seth received love with five hands, six if you count the football clutch.
"Petting, petting, petting," Nick said in a robot voice.
"Too. Much. Petting," Mike said.
I put my hands on Seth without petting him so it wasn't really too much petting. Seth loved when we gathered around him in this family embrace. I used the time to pat Nick on his shoulder and back too. I didn't like bugging a seventeen-year-old for hugs, but he and I both needed the contact. I just had to try to be cool about it. It was almost impossible for me to be cool, but Pick-Me-Up was the perfect time and Nick didn't pull away.
Blitz paced back and forth around us, crying.
What the heck? Blitz hated being picked up, except when it was time for him to eat. I'd been picking him up to hug him and he almost always groaned as I tucked my arm under his butt the way Mike did with Seth. Blitz wouldn't let me roll him over and cradle him like a baby. There was a whole lot of wrestling and clawing going on when I tried to cradle him, so I usually tucked him in like a football. Still, he groaned, accepted it, then wrestled with me to get down when I hugged him too long.
This morning though, Blitz paced and cried.
That cat was so incredibly worried about getting fair treatment, even treatment that he didn't like, especially when he could see Seth reveling in it. Pick me up into the family embrace.
So, I picked him up and tucked him under my arm. Then, while Mike still held and petted Seth, I stood with Blitz and Nick turned to pet him too. The family embrace. This was what we did. Blitz grew up thinking this was how cats were supposed to be treated. I think Blitz would be surprised about how different life might be in another family.
I always thought that fitting in was such a human thing or maybe a dog thing, you know, pack mentality. But I never thought it went further than that.
I was wrong. After watching Blitz, I realized that animals worked to fit in, to do what everybody else was doing. It wouldn't surprise me now, after the Blitz lesson, if you told me that all animals worked to fit in, to do what everyone around them were doing, just so they could feel the family embrace. Their survival might depend on it or maybe it was love. How was I to know?
Thank you for listening, jb
"Petting, petting, petting," Nick said in a robot voice.
"Too. Much. Petting," Mike said.
I put my hands on Seth without petting him so it wasn't really too much petting. Seth loved when we gathered around him in this family embrace. I used the time to pat Nick on his shoulder and back too. I didn't like bugging a seventeen-year-old for hugs, but he and I both needed the contact. I just had to try to be cool about it. It was almost impossible for me to be cool, but Pick-Me-Up was the perfect time and Nick didn't pull away.
Blitz paced back and forth around us, crying.
What the heck? Blitz hated being picked up, except when it was time for him to eat. I'd been picking him up to hug him and he almost always groaned as I tucked my arm under his butt the way Mike did with Seth. Blitz wouldn't let me roll him over and cradle him like a baby. There was a whole lot of wrestling and clawing going on when I tried to cradle him, so I usually tucked him in like a football. Still, he groaned, accepted it, then wrestled with me to get down when I hugged him too long.
This morning though, Blitz paced and cried.
That cat was so incredibly worried about getting fair treatment, even treatment that he didn't like, especially when he could see Seth reveling in it. Pick me up into the family embrace.
So, I picked him up and tucked him under my arm. Then, while Mike still held and petted Seth, I stood with Blitz and Nick turned to pet him too. The family embrace. This was what we did. Blitz grew up thinking this was how cats were supposed to be treated. I think Blitz would be surprised about how different life might be in another family.
I always thought that fitting in was such a human thing or maybe a dog thing, you know, pack mentality. But I never thought it went further than that.
I was wrong. After watching Blitz, I realized that animals worked to fit in, to do what everybody else was doing. It wouldn't surprise me now, after the Blitz lesson, if you told me that all animals worked to fit in, to do what everyone around them were doing, just so they could feel the family embrace. Their survival might depend on it or maybe it was love. How was I to know?
Thank you for listening, jb
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