CATS.

Shannon News, 20 May 1924, Page 4

CATS.

A EULOGY. I lind it very hard to praise cats without dispraising dogs, the more so as 1 am as l'ond of dogs as I am of eats, writes. W. E. Pugh in “John o' Loudon.” Indeed, I am fond of all animals that it is possible to be fond of, even human.* beings. And here again I tind it hard to agree with the man who said that the more ho knew of men and women the better lie liked dogs. If he had said “Cats” —I But cats are very unpopular. And be either very popular or very unpopii lar is to be misunderstood. I think I like and admire cats for the same qualities that I like and admire itUCk'iO generally. First: Beauty. \Vhen IvcSaS wrote that a thing of beauty is a joy for ever, he uttered the immortal truth, although it was mostly the inanimate rather than the animate that he worshipped. If only ho had watched a eat with the same intensity that ho listened to a nightingale! A cat is perhaps tho most beautiful creature on earth. Those who cannot distinguish between grotesque and ugliness will say that some eats’ colouring and markings arc ugly. But that might be said of any natural animal that man has interfered with and tided to make as domesticated, counterfeit and artificial ahimself. What fault has that man to find with the colouring and marking of an orange tabby? In -motion! there may be some birds and insects as beautiful as cats. In repose, no. The cat alone is as beautiful in repose as iii motion And that is because of its perfection of form. Every part of a cat seems specially made to serve every other part of it. Its head, its body, its legs, even ns tail, are all ini accord Avith. its exquisite proportions. That is Avhy I do not wonder at ancient loA’ers of beauty regaru. ing cats as something god-like, or at the high priest Avho cuts off his sleeve rather than disturb a cat that was sleeping on it. Cats seem so beautiful to me that I ivould no more think of turning one out of a chair than I wouul think of painting a- moustache on La Giooonda. .

Then, their courage. The .finest courage is a sublime form of hy] erisy. Those who hai’e no fear hav \ no courage. Only those Avho are mo afraid can be brave. That is the cat’s case. A dog may catch a cat unaware and kill it at a stroke. But no dog 1 have ever know’ll, and I have known many dogs, will seriously tackle a cat at bay.

The cat is essentially-; a fighting, hunting animal. Startled, it explodes like a squm and wheels about to face any threatened danger or indignity. And Avhen it fights with its own kind it figlits to the death, never to Avin oil points.

There is no domestic animal more intelligent than- the cat, unless you class tin> monkey among-domestic animals. That is because the cat is never wholly famed. That is why-she cultivates that skill in the craft of hunting \yhich is necessary to the wild beast's existence. The wholly tamed beast is dependent lor its daily bread, so to speak; on its master, and so, having had no need to exercise its old half-, forgotten faculties, has lost them, and Avith them - the greater part of its intelligence. This is Avhere tho dog, which still retains traces of its age-old instincts and habits, approximates in intelligence to the cat—incidentally, however, losing its self-respect.

The cat that tortures a-mouse is no more cruel than the man who plays a fish. There is no difference between a man stalking a deer than a cat stalk-' ing a bird. They are sportsmen both. They begin- by playing the game for practice and end by playing the game for the game’s sake. In the matter of patience, perscrverance, and indomitable fortitude, there is no creature tkj match them. Their so-called slyness and cunning merely mark the superiority of their methods as the mentality of a-Baffles marks his superiohity to the brutality of a Bill Sikes

Tlie cat has one trait among others that I dislike; its ruthlessness in vengeance. It never forgets or forgives. If you tread on its tail and say, roughly, “Get out of the way, you stupid tiling!” it stalks off in silent rage and I for ever hates you. But If you tread on its tail and apologise, for your clumsiness by saying, “Poor pussy, then!” it understands and pardons you. - Not even a child is a better judge of than' a cat. So fine is its discernment that it may fall in love with you at first sight. Otherwise, you must feign and lawn, and pet and woo a cat before you can hope to win even , its lightest favour, and to continue im the same until you are at last above suspicion before its perfect love is yours.

And there is no love quite like the love of a cat. It is not the blind senseless love thati will enduro outrage, insult, neglect, or contumely for your sake. It is a jealous and exacting love. It is a love that brooks no rivals. At the same time, though it gives you its whole heart, it neither desires nor expects a whole-hearted', devotion from you. It is reasonable in love as in all things. It is never importunate or inopportune. It knows when It is wanted and Avhen it is not wanted and behaves accordingly sympathetically.

There is no animal on earth sojike a real good fellow, or so unlike a woman, good or bad, as a cat.