Cats are an odd choice for humans to choose for companions. On the surface, all they do is cost money and silently judge us for the ways we fall short of their expectations, but on the other hand, it's part of their charm, and you couldn't imagine living without your kitty. You may have a stronger than usual bond with your feline pal, but you know you're a real best friend if you meet any of these conditions.
Friends these days take selfies with each other, no matter how obnoxious this can be for everybody else. If you don't have at least half a dozen blurry, portrait-oriented pictures of yourself grinning next to a cat that's quietly enduring you, you have to question how devoted a kitty buddy you are. Bonus points if you apply Instagram filters to your cat-selfies to make you both look like dogs.
Cats are great cuddlers and fun to have around, but to be honest, they can be taxing roommates. If you come home to shredded drapes, bathroom tissue all over the floor, and maybe a dead bird in your shoe, it's a fair bet that wasn't your goldfish. If you're a real friend, however, you can't actually be mad. Cats do what cats do, and it's probably your fault for being a human.
When you bring someone home, and your cat hates them, how long does it take you to make an excuse and get the other person out of your house? Cats judge humans constantly, and their opinion about what is and is not a good human for you to spend time with is infallible and should always be trusted. If you're your cat's closest companion, they make an outstanding wingman when you're meeting new people.
Yes, it's okay to vent to your cat about your day, and nobody will listen to your deepest neuroses like a domestic shorthair curled up on your chest. Talking to your cat about how your day went is a sign of close friendship. If you catch yourself practicing what you're going to say on the long commute home, however, things may have gone too far, and you might want to take a break.
Sometimes you catch your cat through the kitchen window, out in the yard, trying to act out a primitive hunting fantasy with a squirrel or a bird. You don't really want them to catch it, but at the same time, you want them to be happy. Honestly, you never root for your cat harder than when there's a fly in the house, and the tabby goes full hunter-killer mode. It's still gross when they eat it.
There's a story that Mohammed once cut the sleeve off his own robe rather than pull it out from under a sleeping cat. As a cat's best friend, you understand this story well and may have done something similar yourself. Without thinking about it, you catch yourself speaking quietly into the phone so as not to disturb your cat's beauty rest. It's not necessary since cats will sleep through asteroid strikes. Still, it's a nice gesture.
Some cats are pretty vocal and like verbally issuing their orders to humans. "Feed me," "pet me," and "go away now, human" all sound different, and if you're doing your job, you know the differences without taking thought. You probably even know your own cat's meows from random screaming alley cats under your bedroom window, and if you're hardcore, you've even tried meowing back at them. They were not impressed with your effort.
You know you're a real cat buddy when you split the choice between buying new stuff for yourself and picking up that catnip-dispensing jingle ball with the goofy-looking mouse stitched into it. While it's probably harmless in small doses, watch out for the times when you unconsciously decide you can't buy new underwear because your cat needs a scratching post retwined or you're all out of fishy treats, so you skip lunch yourself.
Litter boxes are part of living with a cat, and there are ways to handle it that vary from house to house. Putting it on the porch is a mediocre solution, while in the kitchen is just gross. Putting the box someplace company will see it, however, is the kind of thing a cat's best friend might do. Ditching plastic and building a fully enclosed kitty privy from pallet wood is the next logical step.
Cat videos do great on YouTube, and Twitter likes fun gifs of a kitten in the yarn. You know you're smitten when your LinkedIn bio has you listed as a cat mom or dad. Maybe those 340 Pinterest ideas for quilted pet beds are a bit much, even for you. Go ahead and spam your social feed with your cat, though. It'll give you something to do with all those selfies you took.
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