The idea that cats don’t miss us is HIGH on my BS meter.
I adopted a cat, and had it for only about six months, when I was invited on a vacation. My brother said he would keep Cat while I was away, and I called the first night and left a message on the answering machine. Apparently the cat heard it, and my brother told me that for the rest of the week that I was away, the cat couldn’t be pried from the telephone and answering machine.
The same cat, when I moved in with some friends, would hear my car coming every afternoon at Five PM. He would run down, from the upstairs room where he stayed all day, to meet me at the door. (And it wasn’t because he was going to be fed; my housemates fed him as often as I did.)
We have two new ones now. Husband gets up in the morning about 1/2 hour before I do, to start breakfast and let me sleep a little longer. But as soon as he’s up and the cats have walked around his legs a bit, they are back in the bedroom trying to get ME up. “It’s awake time! Get your lazy human-self OUT HERE!”
People who don’t have long experience with them, don’t understand Cats. They are far more devoted than folks realize; and a lot smarter, too.
I don’t remember who, but an author (perhaps Cleveland Amory) once wrote something to the effect of “cats are Republicans. They don’t like things to change”.
When a cat decides that you are part of its life, it DOES watch you, and miss you.
Interesting book: ‘Dogs That Know Their Owners are Coming Home’, by Rupert Sheldrake (has some cat stuff, too.)
-JT
I agree with much of what you say. I also think it depends on the cat. I’ve known cats that genuinely like people and I’ve known many who were really, truly quite aloof. The cat I have now would follow me around all day if he could. He’s a cat of the people. lol
Those were sweet stories you shared about your own cats, especially the one that waited by the phone while you were away. They can be great pets. :)