The more I tend to love an animal, the more I project my neuroses and anxiety onto them.
I think this is true of animal love in general. The people who love animals the most tend to eventually believe that animals are just like them, think like them, and know them inside and out..
The e-flap over Zip being cold and coming inside is an excellent example of how I sometimes – even though I know better – assume that animals feel the way I do about things and feel the way I feel.
Scores of cat lovers wrote to Maria and me to argue that Zip must be cold and should be permitted to come into the house.
They sincerely believed he must be suffering the way people suffer. Maria didn’t buy it, but I became increasingly worried about him.
He’s a small cat and a young one, and since I could barely go outside in this subzero weather, I thought he MUST suffer and I argued for a heated cat house in the big barn. Maria agreed, mostly because she saw I was worried.
I was worried because I put aside my own experience and knowledge of animals and succumbed to my anxiety, for which I have been treated all of my life. This is because I love Zip and want to ensure he is well cared for.
But it was clear to me yesterday and today that Maria was right and so are my original ideas about animals.
Since we turned on the heat in the barn, Zip has spent very little time in there, racing around the farm, looking to hunt, hunting, hoping for a scratch or a cuddle.
This morning, it was just below zero, and I was freezing. Zip was on the back porch sunning himself. He was comfortable, playful, and quite relaxed.
When he came to the door to look for me, as he always does in the morning it was not clear he was looking for me or Maria to feed him. Once he is fed, he goes off about his own business. If the cold bothers him at all, he doesn’t know it.
When it is coldest, Zip lies in the sun, not sitting by the door. He is fat and happy and healthy. I misread him out of love.
I guess – I don’t know – that he might have spent some time in the heated cat house.
Why not? He was hanging around hoping for food, not entry to the house to be warm. animals do get hungry in the cold.
I’m sure he enjoyed the heated cat house, but there’s no evidence that he needed it. The people who wrote to me and Maria about our cruelty and callousness for keeping Zip outside were, I believe, mostly just wrong.  Second guessing other people is one of Social Media’s great sports.
They were doing what I have argued about for years and mostly avoided – anthropomorphizing animals and projecting our feelings and concerns onto them.
I can’t speak for anybody else’s cat – I am sure some cats need a heated house to sleep in. But Zip is not one of them.
As is often the case, the problem is the human animal lover, who constantly struggles against the false idea that animals are just like children to us and that we need to treat them in the same way. That would be me this round.
There’s no harm on its own in getting a heated cat house for stray and outdoor cats or barn cats. The only harm it can do is to continue the epidemic of emotionalizing that has swept the pet and animal world. Like Boomer children, animals are not allowed to have their own problems, we have to fix all of them .
It isn’t good for them, even if it feels good to us. Overeating is one of the leading causes of death for dogs.
The people who love them often worry that they have enough to eat and shower them with unhealthy treats and medications.
I know better than to listen to all of the amateur vets out there, but as often happens, the thing I needed to consider was me, not him.
I love this cat quite a bit, which triggers the human need to put our needs and fears aside onto our dogs, cats, and even donkeys. Something chemical turns on inside our brains and tells us our worries are theirs. I’ve had barn cats for years, and I never thought of getting a heated cat house for them until they were ancient and fading. It was like our hospice for cats.
I suppose this is one of the reasons hundreds of thousands of dogs and cats are now on Prozac, something they didn’t need for thousands of years.
Bud is just fine outdoors.
I have once been told by a vet that the best way to find out if a cat is cold, is to feel the ears. Just keep it between your index and thumb. If a cat is truly cold, the ears will tell. Probably because they are so thin and blood is right at the surface.
You know, I think Zip would love to come inside, but not for warmth or comfort, but just because he likes to be where you are. Does not mean you have to let him in. I was thinking about your view on this with regards to our own previously feral cat.
She is an inside cuddlebug right now. Never had a sweeter cat. Maybe it is a form of appreciation to no longer having to fend for herself. And there is the difference with Zip. He has you and Maria as a steady source of food and attention. He is not in dire straits. He has found his own place and it seems to me he is enjoying the heck out of it!
Our Mitsy had no source of food. We don’t know her story, but looking at how she has grown into adulthood now, she must have been a kitten Zip’s age, when she appeared at our back door begging for… food? Attention? She was pregnant at the time, so that is another difference with Zip. She needed all the food she could get for her litter. We assume she lost the first one, which may have been her very first one. We never saw those kittens. Cats can get pregnant from 2-4 months of age! It may have been why she ended up on the street…
When she had her first (and last) litter in our unfinished basement, and we started to try and find out if she was truly fully feral, she was sleek and all muscle. There was not an ounce of fat on her. By the time we were able to touch her, 6 weeks later, giving her a cuddle on the back and neck was like touching a body builder.
Today, almost 2 years later, all of that is gone. She has softened in all aspects. And she has gained some weight, we have to watch out. That is probably a remnant of having to fend for herself for quite a while. She loves to eat.
Her nature has changed. I like to think she has blossomed, but is still afraid of other people. She is fascinated by our bird feeding station. But whenever I step out to refill, she has no inkling to come out with me. So, she likes being an indoor cat. I do think she would come out if we left the door open.
But I feel that the main difference, apart from the physical things, is that she is, like all felines, opportunist: she knows where her warm bed is, she knows she can get the cuddles she likes and she knows there is play in the house as well.
Your Zip has a steady food source. He has the whole farm for hunt and play. He connects with the other animals and with his people. You give him love, he gives it back to you. He likes being on the farm. I am sure he would be interested in seeing the inside of the house. But he is not human. He cannot miss what he does not have. He does not self-reflect like a human. So as long as you do not let him in, you are not withdrawing anything from his life. You are only enriching it. Would he have a different life if he had to find his own food and never get a cuddle? Sure. But nothing says that that has to be his life. You have committed to being his caretaker, but you also respect the wildness in him. I think that is awesome.
I like that you have fallen for this smart guy. Your relationship with him is out of the box. Which is probably why some people cannot get their heads around it.
Thanks Nicky for your thoughtful comments. I have no idea what the zip really thinks or whether he really wants to be with me or come inside or not. I think that’s just a projection. He’s fine visiting me. He’s fine hunting. He’s fine in his barn but no signs of unhappiness anywhere
Jon,
You surely seem to have Zip’s best interests in mind, while adhering to the point he IS an outdoor barn cat. The provision for heated shelter is in the barn, if he chooses or needs it on frigid nights…….you are allowing him to ‘seek if he needs’.
Like you, I kindly invite intrusive, mean people to stay out of my business. Like you, I love my pets often more than some humans. Like you, I try to do what I feel is best. I, too,live on a farm where Pennsylvania winters can be harsh. I, too, suffer from lifelong anxieties and find myself a stranger in today’s world, at times.
I respect you, I trust your judgment, and I KNOW you have your animal family, AND Maria in your heart, Always. Be well, my friend!
I would just let him enjoy the warm shelter.
He is
Our cats go out for short walks but like being curled up next to a heater. However, we have a visiting cat these days. We aren’t sure where he is from but he’s a lovely boy and gets on fine with our gang. He comes for a snack and a snooze on a soft blanket but when he wants to leave, he’s off like a shot. He wants no part of being permanently indoors. In my experience, all cats are different but they are very good at getting what they want.
Jon, I think you would know if Zip was cold and suffering – his behavior would show he was uncomfortable. He sure looks happy and content from the photos. And what a great life for a cat — a cosy barn, a heated house, all those hay bales to hide in and 2 humanoids who love him.
Zip is living the life that works perfectly fine for him. He is content and comfortable with his environment and for the present that is sufficient to make him happy. There may come a time when this will change and he will exhibit indicators of that alteration. Until then, he is enjoying his life.
When I had horses and it was unseasonably frigid, the horses were in a clean stall with plenty of food/temp controlled water and protection from the elements. Their lives were never in jeopardy. But, I wanted them to be as comfortable as possible: I would put a horse blanket on them. It was not about their “survival” but more about their comfort and quality of life. I would always do whatever I could to minimize their stress.
Luckily, you had a great heated cat house available to use. Your decision to use it, in case your Zip wanted it, seems like a prudent thing to do. If he wants it, there it is. If he doesn’t want it, no harm done.
Projection – it is a mental device that allows humans to “take their uncomfortable inner feelings and give them to others.” so sayeth the dictionary. It’s like my Mom used to say, “I’m cold, so you must need to put on a sweater.” When a person can be healthy enough to offer help in ways that are specific to the person or the animal, that would be the definition of true stewardship.
It’s true about horse’s ears too.
Jon, what are your daughter’s thoughts on the cat kept outside in below freezing weather? maybe you wuld listen to her, you sure won’t anyone else.. It is only COMMON SENSE to know it is abuse to not provide warmth and comfort for a non feral cat in below zero temperatures. How wonderful for Zip if your daughter would rescue him and provide a home for him, one that he deserves. (or anyone, for that matter, who has common sense).