Watching the Complexity

Relationships among cats are interesting to observe. I have commented recently about the friendship between Moxy and Sable, probably predicated upon their acquaintance previous to coming to live with me, which may be one of the reasons why Sabe hasn’t developed any significant comradeship with Brazil and Valkyrie, while Mox, priorly an insider/outside cat, has.

Something I have noticed about Sable and Moxy just recently is that Sable seems to have more invested in the friendship than does Moxy. While the latter will approach the former, brush up against her, sniff her, Sable is the one who usually initiates physical contact. I have watched her numerous times as she comes up to the Mixer and pushes her head against his, and even licks his face. She also ‘talks’ to him; giving her distinctive short yelp several times when she sees him.

Is this the natural progression of the comfort that came from a familiar face in a strange environment? Moxy, much more socialised than Sabe, was correspondingly comfortable with being in first the Cosy Apartment and then the Cosy Cabin, and less reticent to accept as friends other cats that he found there. Sable, on the other hand, has been chased a couple of times by Brazil, and seems to have interpreted Valk’s attempts to play with her as vague threats.

And so Moxy’s appeal to Sable is understandable, just as is Moxy’s less needy response to the other cat’s displays of friendship. I don’t expect Moxy to grow tired of Sable; he doesn’t appear to be the sort to shed relationships, but rather the sort to collect them. This dynamic, though, will give Sable the time required to explore the possibilities of growing closer to other felines, and to me, while giving her an anchor in her new world.

It is clear that those who claim that cats are naturally aloof and distant simply haven’t observed, or couldn’t be bothered to observe, how these fascinating animals interact with each other. Though there may be the loner among the species, cats, like humans, enjoy and thrive in friendships, and I am fortunate to experience them in the Cosy Cabin.