![]() ![]() Sure, a cat might not love you like a dog does, and neither is a replacement for people. ![]() But, as someone who has been cautious about taking a leap in love, or sought it from the wrong places, caring for Vlada reminds me that I am capable of it – and that it can come in very funny-looking packages. It’s not that I have quit being a dog person, just as I haven’t given up on ever having a partner (though, compared to Vlada, they do both now seem shockingly slobbery). I was perturbed to realise that I also had this tendency in relationships. By dreaming of a dog, denying myself until some distant date, I had been investing in a future, unattainable vision of happiness over the one that’s possible now. I have also learned something about love. Now I go away less, but plan it better and enjoy it more. Last year I was constantly travelling, not quite switched off on holiday but not quite focused on work. But the biggest revelation has been the stability Vlada has brought me. Every night she sleeps next to me like a very bony Beanie Baby.Īs a dog person, I could never have dreamed that a cat would have so much personality. When I have friends over, she goes from lap to lap, evenly apportioning her audience no matter how rowdy we get. She head-butts me to get up when I’ve slept in, or shoves me off the laptop when I’m working late. ![]() Nearly three months in, I have been quietly astonished by the impact this little cat – more a big rat, bless her – has had on my life.Ī lot of it is the companionship. My thinking was, if you are going to get a cat, why not get one that is very funny to look at? Plus, Cornish rexes were said to behave more like dogs. As a Cornish rex, Vlada is not quite hairless but has a very short, downy coat. Six weeks later, after a six-hour journey by car and train, I welcomed a very angry Vlada, a four-year-old rescue, into my flat. I had at least put down enough roots that I had friends who would be happy to drop by and put some food down when I went away. Cats’ only advantage over dogs, as I had always seen it, was that they were lower maintenance. That is, until early this year, when, with a sudden, piercing clarity, I realised two things: first, that it would be at least 10 years before I would be able to get a dog. Over time, a dog emerged as not just a symbol of stability – pushed out of reach along with home ownership – but a prize to be earned, one day, when I was sufficiently “settled”. I rent, I’m single, I travel for work and to visit family overseas – and, though I work from home now, who’s to say about the next decade?Įlle Hunt with Vlada. Fifteen years after moving out from my parents’ house, I don’t seem to be getting closer. In some ways, Ruby the Hungarian vizsla proved to be a life coach as much as she was a companion an ever-present reminder to go for walks, chat to strangers, assume the best in people, enjoy my life.īut since Ruby (who sadly died young), I have not been in a position to get a dog of my own. ![]() When my parents finally conceded defeat to my decade-plus campaign, I was 14 years old. Of course, it’s a rosy view – some dogs (beagles mostly) are just bastards – but I see in them something to aspire to, not to own. What I have always loved about dogs is their free-flowing affection, their openness to new friends, their sincere appreciation of simple pleasures. Mostly, though, they’re just cats: aloof and capricious, with fast-flying claws, acting all scandalised when you stop to say hello in the street. Cats have only been of interest to me when there were no dogs around. It was never going to work out: he was a cat person ( not that kind!). ![]()
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