I love all kinds of animals. I have raised dogs, rabbits, chickens, parrots, crabs, shrimp, clams, golden snails, loaches, turtles, and grasshoppers since I was young. But I have never raised a cat before, this is the first time.
Its name is Luya, Luya from Hallelujah, a one-year-old Maine Coon. A friend raised two of them, but couldn't keep them anymore, so they posted on their Moments asking who wanted to take them. I volunteered and made a phone call.
On August 4th, I went to my friend's house to pick up the cat. It was far away, with 27 subway stations. I couldn't take the subway back with the cat, so I had to take a taxi. The cat was very well-behaved on the way, looking like it had seen the world, while I was worried it might rain.
I arrived home almost at midnight. When I let the little guy out, it was scared and immediately hid under the sofa. Following my friend's advice, I ignored it, prepared a litter box and a bowl of water, and went about my business.
Although it was my first time raising a cat, my experience with dogs told me that there was no use trying to catch it. I had to let it familiarize itself with the environment. The cat litter wouldn't arrive until the next day, and I was afraid it might choose the sofa as its toilet, which would be a disaster. So I decided to sleep on the sofa that night, to let it know the situation and give up any illusions.
Then, at 5 o'clock in the morning, it woke me up by stepping on me. I turned on the flashlight on my phone and saw its whole butt facing me.
In the following days, I observed it every day and gradually discovered that cats seem to have a real intelligence. It only took 4 days for it to go from being afraid to completing its patrol training. It even let me touch its belly and trim its nails.
I've heard from friends who raise cats that cats don't think of themselves as cats, nor do they think of you as their owner. They just see you as a big roommate living under the same roof. Come to think of it, animals don't have names themselves, they are given by humans. Many people hope to be someone else's cat in their next life, carefree, with food, drink, and someone to pet them. They constantly show those disheveled humans what real life is like.
If there is a next life, I wouldn't want to be a cat, as explained in "Cats and Dogs with Your Confidence". It's a life that is played with in the palm of someone's hand. But if I have the chance to continue being human, I think I would still raise cats. Animals have a unique magic, it's not you who chooses them, it's them who choose you. Just like a wand chooses a wizard.
