When I was 12, my mother decided to help a coworker's father. He had befriended a stray alley cat and regularly fed her when she'd show up at his door. One evening, his sweet molly came home a knocked up queen. Her tom was nowhere to be seen; but, he had performed admirably. In due course, as these things go, she produced a litter of unwanted kittens. My mother's friend's father wasn't interested in full-time cat care, so he was trying to get rid of them. This is how we came into possession of a beautiful, tiny, blue-eyed alley cat that we promptly dubbed "Tigger." She was black, white, and gray with cat show-quality markings. She was playful and energetic until she went crazy in her dotage. She now lives under the china cabinet in a small box of ashes with a bronze plaque with her name on it.
Cats are truly amazing animals. The Talmud, (Eruvin, 100b), quotes Rabbi Yochanan, who says that we can learn modesty from cats since they prefer to do their business in private and subsequently cover it all up. Very hygienic, these independent little creatures. When we took Tigger to the vet for the first time, I remember the doctor telling us that all a cat really needs from people is to open closed doors and clean their litter boxes. God only knows what we would be facing if cats had opposable thumbs! They would probably be running the planet (as they were in New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York). If we didn't learn modesty as R' Yochanan suggests, we certainly would learn curiosity. Besides humans, cats are probably one of the most inquisitive animals on Planet Earth. They are such fun to watch as they explore from one end of the house to the other...then do it all over again the next day as if the whole world had changed while they slept.
As I watched Rotem crawling around the apartment yesterday, I couldn't help but see a kitten on the prowl and not a little girl crawling this way and that. Our apartment is not particularly large, and I'm sure that even at 11 months, 3 weeks, she can probably get around blindfolded. Still, she explores every nook and cranny as if it were her first time looking in that corner or around that chair. She could probably spend all day rooting around in the kitchen, just to do it again the next day. When she's not exploring or upending everything in sight, she's sleeping, just like Tigger. I guess one burns a lot of calories with all that snooping.
She eats like a cat too. Tigger and Ella (our other cat) were both very delicate eaters. Neither was a pig, and neither would take larger bites than they needed. Rotem, too, is very dainty when she eats. And, like a cat, she will lean down and eat directly from the palm of your hand (although she can feed herself when she chooses). Fortunately, her diet consists of more than just boxed cat food (if it were on the floor, though, I'm sure it would go in her mouth—much like Ella, who would try to eat anything in sight).
While she doesn't purr like a cat, she definitely moves her head around to ensure you rub or kiss the right places. She stretches just like a lazy cat. Her delicate and demure cooing can sometimes be misinterpreted as the soft mews of a hungry kitten. Last night, we discovered yet another similarity between our sweet baby Rotem and Felis catus. We go gaga over every noise and evocation of her angelic bella voce; yet, we were surprised—but certainly not pleasantly—to learn at 3 a.m. that this little 18 lb. ball of joy can shriek like a cat in heat.
