My success as a self-employed person relied on my reputation and availability. Jumbling my schedule was second nature. I always found myself in the company of pet owners whether I was working at school or out in the community. Animal lovers seek out people of the same compassionate nature. Relationships were built on shared experiences. It was interesting to me
to find other like-minded people who opened their wallets and pulled out photos of their pets and not their children! If their galleries were digital, scrolling and swiping across the screen was always highlighted with animated conversations.
One of my colleagues was the owner of four very large cats. It's been too long for me to recall the cat' names, but they rhymed. The felines were not siblings and each had territorial places within the two bedroom house. One preferred under the master bed, another the kitchen counter, a third wanted nothing to do with anywhere other than the three cushion sofa and the fourth one claimed the entire Florida screened porch.
Food bowls were lined up in a specific order and the cats knew which ones were theirs. Their diet was exactly the same, but I couldn't coax one to another's spot. So every day, I would follow a predestined pathway around the kitchen and respectfully place a bowl of kibble between
bar stools, walk a few feet and place another in front of the refrigerator, the next one in the northwest corner of the kitchen floor and the fourth one under the piano bench.
The litter box was shared and for good reason. It was a Tupperware storage box, a very large one.
If you can imagine pouring a dozen or more buckets of sandy litter into one container, you'd be
close to understanding how generous this litter box was. Its location was in the center of the
Florida room - which was really the designated cat's playroom. Truthfully, in this house, every room belonged to the cats...
I couldn't stand it. So on one of the morning visits, I cleaned the house; which confused the cats.
I felt better and during that afternoon's visit, I stayed to watch a favorite television program.
The phone rang. I didn't answer - it was a rule of mine. Clients do not wish to advertise their absences
and almost always have an answering machine which they check on from where ever they are.
A familiar voice began a dialogue with the cats "Hello, this is mommy. And daddy...how are you all doing? We miss you. Today we are in ......... and are telling everyone about our babies."
The cats came from all directions and lined up on the kitchen counter to wait their turn to talk.
Each began to mew and wait for a response. I'd never seen anything like it! Once the owners had finished talking with one, it would jump down and resume it's activity. Never once did my clients inquire about me. I looked forward to more eavesdropping on subsequent visits. I wondered if the cats were keeping their owners informed about the sitter.
I've known dog people and cat people. I've written about those with aquariums and cages with perches. I understand relationships and the underlying reasons an animal companion makes a house a home. This family was exceptionally close. The daily conversations were just another example of how animals complete our daily existence; how they fill voids and balance the stressors in our busy lives.
The language of love is truly universal, even at the other end of a telephone call.
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