At first, I thought the same way. When Tuanzi, my cat, first came home, I took care of it all by myself. I was in charge of feeding and cleaning the litter box, just like having a baby. I wanted to give it the best of everything. I would accompany and hold it every day when I got home. Whenever there was something wrong with it, I would immediately consult a veterinarian.
When it needed to be neutered or got sick and had to be hospitalized, I would carry it all the way to the hospital, being extremely careful not to hurt it. However, there was one thing that I think I did really wrong at that time. I treated it like a puppy. When it scratched or bit me, I would spank its bottom and then give it a lecture, really hitting its little bottom hard. But the situation didn’t change. It still bit me as usual. It just became more afraid of me. After biting, it would immediately hide in a corner, and every time I would pull it out and spank it hard.
Later, because it gained weight after being neutered, I took it to the place where my husband and I lived. It’s a duplex building, where it could run around and lose weight. My husband and I were in a long – distance relationship, with a distance of 20 kilometers between us. I work in a hospital with a three – shift system and only have 3 – 5 days off a month. Naturally, my husband took care of Tuanzi. He treated Tuanzi like a child and educated it just by talking. At the beginning, it was the same. My husband didn’t like it either, thinking it was unaffectionate and selfish. But as time went by, the two of them actually became very close. Now, it neither bites nor scratches. When it gets angry, it pretends to give you a scratch. If you don’t move, it won’t move either. It follows you wherever you go.
At night, it must enter the room to sleep with us. If we don’t let it in, it will meow at the door. As soon as it meows, my husband will eagerly open the door for it. When sleeping, it’s even worried that my husband might pass away in his sleep, so it uses its paw to touch and check.
So, I think a cat’s heart is really fragile. It really requires a great deal of patience to accompany and understand it, and only then will it gradually open up to you. In a blink of an eye, my baby has been with us for two years. Now, there’s also a second – born American Shorthair kitten in the family. The two cats play and fight. It’s really a happy thing to have two “welcoming” kittens when I open the door every day.
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