I’ve always preferred cats because they’re less demanding, less destructive, and less in-your-face than a lot of dogs. Their personalities are also much like mine. Except for these two. There are anomalous cats here and there, so maybe once in a lifetime there’s the expectation of a cat who’s a little different. I got that cat on December 23, 2019. Then another of those cats on December 17, 2021. Two. They’re not just a little different; they’re a LOT different.
They’re demanding. Well, Rudy is demanding. As I type this, he’s roaming around the house howling because he wants to go outside. Why? Because I take him for a walk every day to make him shut up and to reward his bad behavior.
He’s destructive. If I ignore his sad pleas, he tries harder. Electrical cords, furniture, his sisters, the strings on my backpack–whatever is closest to his big mouth gets embossed with some decorative teeth marks.
If I continue to ignore him, he gets in my face. Well, technically, he’ll get in my lap and act all sad and dejected like he’s just the most mistreated being on the whole planet.
During this paragraph, I can hear him working through his destructive phase by chewing on the large plastic cover for the tray of tomato seedlings that are no more because they once became the objects of his destruction.
All this to say he wants to go outside. And he will. I will eventually walk him around the neighborhood so he can tell all the people and dogs he meets just how poor his living conditions are at home.
Rosie also loves going outside for walks, but she doesn’t demand to go. When she sees me pull a leash and harness out of the drawer, her little eyes light up and she starts meowing her squeaky little meow, then she’ll stand there proudly as I buckle the harness around her. I’ve been taking her a little farther every day and she loves it. She doesn’t like when cars go driving by and kind of wigs out, so I have to be very alert to what’s going on around us. She’s fine if I’m holding her as a car passes, but I’ve been trying to avoid the higher-traffic areas for her.
She walks pretty well and loves rolling in the dirt. She’s definitely less carefree and less oblivious to her surroundings than her idiot brother, but she also gets over little things (like cars) pretty quickly and goes back to focusing on the aroma of dog piss on the leaves of a nearby shrub.
So I have to walk not one, but two cats every day. Yesterday, I went for four walks. Two for each cat. No, I can’t (or won’t) walk them both at the same time because that’s just stupid. Maybe someday I’ll be able to do that, but not any time soon.
