Bling Panics. Says No to Leaving.

Bling panicked when the adoptor came into his room. It wasn't fear of her, it was fear of leaving here. He's already decided he's staying. He's a very smart cat and he knows when a stranger comes through the door, somebody leaves with them. He doesn't know where they end up or what happens to them then. He is really really insistent he wants to stay with me.

How to deal with such a cat and his fears. He has found sanctuary from a hard life here. He loves me. He has great fear of the unknown out there, and rightfully so. It is very tough.

I've come to realize how hard all the traumas cats face are on them. Some show it more than others but they all go through it.

Being abandoned by the people they have known is terribly hard on them. Ending up sitting in a cage at a shelter is desperately difficult on a cat. They know when others suddenly are gone something has heppened. They know when cats are killed at shelters and I cannot understand how anyone would think they don't.

Cats communicate with each other. They form strong bonds and friendships with each other.

When I see these ads on craigslist, about people treating them like trading cards or just getting cats on a whim, then wanting them gone, all I think about is how that cat is being affected, whether the average person can see it or not.

It's the curse of understanding. It's the curse to know all animals go through the same things. We like to think they don't. That's because we treat animals like a commodity, so we can butcher them and treat them like they're not not living beings.

It's been a hard road for me, to realize how complex the animal mind is, how deep their bonds are, to places and to other animals within and without their species and how tragic, often, are their encounters with humans.