Before I get into the regular post, I’d like to give a short update on the critter in the wall story.  According to the exterminator, there is almost no way we have anything bigger than a mouse in the wall.  I don’t know how something that small can make so much noise, but maybe being in a hollow wall really does amplify the sound.  We didn’t hear much noise last night, so either it got unstuck (and hopefully to the bait) or it is now too weak to move.  We still may have to cut it out of the wall.  Now on to our regular post.

It struck me yesterday how much accidental abuse our cats take.  Actually, it struck me at about the same time I punched Quincey in the head.  The head-punch was, of course, accidental.  I was in the closet getting dressed for work and Quincey was in the closet eating the laces on my shoes.  I called to him a few times to leave the laces along, but he didn’t listen.  I finally bent down to pick him up and move him away from my shoes, but he decided to run away at that same moment.  The end result was me swinging me hand in to grab him, and him running away right into my hand.

I doubt this contact hurt much, but Quincey still squeaked and ran away from me.  I tried to give him a hug and apologize, but he wouldn’t let me close to him.  I’m not sure if he was mad at me, or if he thought we were playing.  Either way, I felt pretty bad.

Quincey seems to be involved in most of the punches, but all of the cats get kicked on occasion.  They are always following us around and settling down in the middle of the floor, so we can’t help but kick them on occasion.  So far, I don’t believe anyone has actually stepped on a cat, but I’m sure that will happen eventually.

I really wonder how the cats feel about these moments of accidental abuse.  Do they feel surprised and hurt?  These actions are less rough than how they play with each other, but they don’t generally get this kind of contact from the humans.  Do they realize that they were in the way and accept the contact?  That sounds like a lot of reasoning to expect from a cat.  Does it just not register at all?  I’d like to hope this is the case.

Whether the cats feel bad or not, I certainly feel bad whenever one of these events happen.  I never want to show the cats anything other than love, and I have a hard time believing that a head-punch can be love.