Today’s shock confession: My cat is shirking
When last we left Pancho, the friendly but somewhat dim orange cat who occupies my home with my wife and myself, he was still growing into his role as the only cat in the house.
Cats are not sentimental; they do not grieve very long for a missing chum, animal or human.
Maybe they don’t even remember them; research has shown that cats have very short memories.
[...] there are documented stories of cats traveling hundreds and even thousands of miles to get back home.
[...] I personally know of cats staring blankly at humans they have known their entire lives.
“And what is that worrying stick in your hand?” The spoon-holding homeowner is offended, but it knows that the cat can hardly be blamed for its tiny mind.
A tiny mind is not the only explanation for that behavior, but we tend to go with the less insulting theory.
The ceaseless wandering, the staring out the window, the disapproving looks when the humans become boisterous — that’s a solid 4.0, too.
Occasionally, he will consent to some rough-and-tumble love play, rowdiness that invariably ends with flashing claws and a thin line of blood on the forearm.
Like a king who mounts a citizen army to depose the old ruler, he initially tried to act like a good guy, a man who understood the problems of the common human.
[...] please no e-mails about a beautiful tabby who needs a loving home.
“They were learning to draw,” the Dormouse went on, yawning and rubbing its eyes, for it was getting very sleepy, and they drew jcarroll@sfchronicle.com.