Vive l'difference

My cat caught a bird this morning. No matter how I bang on the window to distract him, send the dogs outside to blow his concentration, he still goes back to the feeder and stalks the birds. It matters not how high I place the feeders because his vertical jump seems to match the distance necessary to take out an unsuspecting chickadee. On one hand, I just hate that he does this. One of my favorite things about our property is watching the birds. And, I don’t like creation being injured or killed. On the other hand, this is how the cat was created. He may never change, not matter how hard I try to get him to stop taking out the birds. (Plus, he doesn’t seem to understand reason…) How does one hold the tension in that?

Sometimes it seems there simply isn’t a “right side” to take. In this case, there is definitely a side I want to take ~ one that I am more prone to take. Stop killing the birds! However, when I think of it, I can’t really expect him not to do so – it is part of the make-up of a cat. If I considered both sides, there is simply not a “right” or “wrong.” Rather, there is a preference involved. I prefer he not kill the birds. He prefers to kill them. If I look at each side of the situation, each has merit. Each has value to the holder.

I wonder how many times we are faced with situations in life could be considered “both/and” instead of “either/or.” How many times do both sides carry valid points? Maybe it is about a preference, one that differs from another. Sometimes it is about opinions or beliefs. What it things aren’t as black and white as we experience them? What it both sides of some issues hold merit? How would it change the way that we live if we considered the merit of each side of a situation instead of only looking at our own preference?

As far as me and my cat ~ there is a bit of a middle ground to our relationship. I continue to try hard to get him to stop killing the birds. If he gets obsessed with stalking I pull out the “cat bib” and put it around his neck which slows the stalking process. I send the dogs out in an attempt to distract him. His part seems to be to pull the cat bib off, watch for dogs and continue to stalk the birds. I feed him, and he sits on my lap. In this, we seem to get past our differences, and have a relationship. Neither of us is willing to bend on our “preference” however, it certainly does lowers anxiety. We kind of have a mutual understanding. The mutual understanding is this ~ I try to understand how nature works and try not to get bent out of shape about the parts of it I do not appreciate. He stalks the birds. Who knew that you could live in peace with someone so different from your self?