Writers and Cats

Strange subject for a blog posting here - but bear with me. Three weeks ago my husband and I adopted a year and a half old black cat from the SPCA shelter. And ‘Captain Hook’, named thusly for the hook in his tail - has taken over our lives and our hearts. At our SPCA the cats are given categories from “I will be your computer assistant” meaning - I will jump all over your lap and walk on your computer and purr in your lap when you’re trying to write, to “I’m aloof but want to be your friend” which means, I tend to hide under beds but with the right treats I’ll come out and try to be your friend.

Well, we got the “computer assistant”, and he is just that - our computer assistant. If he’s not up walking all over my computer keys and purring, he’s down at my husband’s office doing the same.

I can’t tell you the number of times my work in progress suddenly ends up with a couple rows of Z’s.

And now I get to why I am posting this. Since getting ‘Cappy’, which is he now called, I’ve done a lot of ‘cat research’ online. (Oh, I am SO becoming a cat person), and did you know that having a cat reduces blood pressure and calms anxiety and that stroking a cat’s fur for twenty minutes calms yourself (not to mention the cat). Writing can be stressful. Rejections - in the form of rejection letters - or bad reviews - can cause one to flee to the chocolate jar. I have now discovered why so many writers are cat people. We need the soft fur and a face nuzzle from one of God's special creatures who loves us.