The post Is Your Cat an Old Soul? Feline Myths by Dr. Lauren Demos DVM (Veterinarian) appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. Chances are you’ll not concentrate on it, but all of those articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they are not considered public domain. Nonetheless, we appreciate that you simply just like the article and would like it should you continued sharing just the primary paragraph of an article, then linking out to the remaining of the piece on Catster.com.
Hi, I’m Dr. Lauren! Read my introduction to learn more about me and my two adventurous cats, Pancake and Tiller.
This week’s topic is a light-hearted take a look at the myths about cats, and what makes them old souls. Cats at home are stoic, steadfast creatures. Sometimes to their very own detriment.
As a vet, I’ve seen cats in great pain, accomplish great things. From dental disease, where people might find it difficult to understand that their cat is in pain attributable to how well they’re still eating (top pointer: cats can eat just high-quality, even after they have some horrible dental issues!), to patients which were hit by cars in sub-zero temperatures, crawled home without with the ability to use their back legs, and lived to inform the story. (In fact, it took just a few weeks’ of hospitalization, and lots of TLC, as well). Or the cat who just showed up with 60% of her abdomen covered in third degree burns: like nothing had happened. Nobody even knew how she’d gotten them! (She also survived, with over a month of bandage changes, and intensive surgeries to scrub the wound, removing dead tissue after every few days and slowly closing the wound back upon itself).
Such heroic stoicism might mean that cats are perceived as old souls. Is there merit on this belief?
Pancake pondering the world from the deck of my sailboat.
What Is An Old Soul?
An old soul is defined as someone who demonstrates a maturity, understanding, or seriousness that’s typical of somebody much older.1
Some consider old souls to be synonymous with past lives. Cats are actually believed to have 9 lives, but can cats be old souls? (And for what it’s value, we don’t actually appear to know where the parable that cats have 9 lives comes from, though it might be linked to Ancient Egypt…)
Cats are believed to have begun living with humans around 10,000 years ago, based on a mutual need for food and vermin control. A beautiful Just-So story by Rudyard Kipling, creator of the Jungle Book, puts a semi-lighthearted tackle the matter, describing how dog became man’s best friend, while the cat remained useful, but aloof, preferring his independence to a lifetime of certainty. Entitled The Cat That Walked By Himself, it’s an allegorical tale on many levels, and well value a read should you’re a cat fan.
Closer to home, one apocryphal tale was told to me, unexpectedly, on a Friday night.
Some say they were sent for us…suggesting they’re indeed old souls with a purpose.
I used to be driving to my sailboat on a Friday after work. Each Tiller and Pancake were with me, and as we stopped briefly on the last food market en route, I purchased just a few cans of cat food and a few fresh chicken as treats for them in the course of the weekend ahead.
Tiller is at all times ready for a chicken treat.
The cashier looked knowingly at my cat food and enquired about my cats. We had a transient conversation in regards to the two and their antics, which included plans to go sailing with me that weekend. To which she asked me an issue that I might always remember.
Are they tabby cats?
Yes, they’re, I replied.
She smiled knowingly and told me I used to be indeed a lucky person. Tabbies, she went on to elucidate, were sent to people for very specific reasons, by the powers that be. The M mark on their brow was proof.
Her story went like this: When Jesus was a baby in a manger, on the night within the barn that fateful Christmas, he was cold, despite all attempts to maintain him warm. The cat jumped as much as sleep next to him, purring to comfort him, and keeping him warm. Consequently, Mary marked all cats with a M on their brow, to thank and bless them for what they’d done. Thereafter, any cat sent with a special purpose got here marked with the tabby M.
It’s stuck with me, ever since.
Either way, the tabby markings, and indeed cats basically, make for some great legends.
Are Cats Old Souls?
I read once that seagulls are literally the souls of dead sailors, come back to rest on the seaside, never truly to be parted from the ocean that may at all times call to them. I’d wish to think that cats will not be that far off. Whether or not they’ve lived a few of their 9 lives, or are a tabby that’s been sent back for some greater purpose, they actually are greater than meets the attention.
The post Is Your Cat an Old Soul? Feline Myths by Dr. Lauren Demos DVM (Veterinarian) appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. Chances are you’ll not concentrate on it, but all of those articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they are not considered public domain. Nonetheless, we appreciate that you simply just like the article and would like it should you continued sharing just the primary paragraph of an article, then linking out to the remaining of the piece on Catster.com.