Today was a very animal heavy day – something I’m always pleased to say. In the evening my good dog friend Sascha arrived, ready for her week’s stay at my house. That also entailed doing some new things, such as cleaning her teeth, which it’s fair to say she was not a willing participant in, and walking around my dark neighbourhood in minus temperatures just before bed, which I wasn’t a willing participant in.
Before Sascha arrived though, I was at a friend’s house hanging out with her cat. Yuki is a beautiful and weird Maine Coone. For a long time I used to be so scared of cats, sometimes crossing the road if I would have to pass one. This isn’t unusual in my family either: nearly all the female portion of my mum’s side, spanning three generations, have a fear of cats. I have no idea why. Anyway, over the years I’ve had various friends with cats, which means I slowly got used to being around them, and now I don’t have a problem with them at all. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll always be a dog person, but it’s quite a big deal for me to say that cats are… alright.
Back to Yuki! I don’t have much experience with cats, but she makes me laugh so much with her weird ways: when I had hair she would quite often come up close to me and give it a sniff, but as soon as I’d go to stroke her she’d run off meowing. I’ve been told this is how she plays – what a flirt. My friend is very good with animals: she keeps rats too, and has taught all the animals tricks. I didn’t know you could teach a rat to spin or a cat to high-five, but I guess with a bit of knowhow and the right treats you can get an animal to do anything.
So with this in mind, I took a bit of food and, although she usually runs away from me, this time, Yuki eagerly came over. I lifted my hand and she gave me a high-five: amazing. We tried it a few more times, and even after we stopped she kept trying to high-five as she knew it would lead to a treat. Talk about cupboard love.
New Day, New Thing 