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I’ve read your article regarding “cat walking”, but I’m afraid
I’ll have to disagree. I have two cats that walk with me every day for
long distances, through areas of our neighborhood that are probably
unknown to them. Before I began walking Caeser and Dante, I had a Russian
Blue named Yoda who walked with me the same way. Yoda lived for 20 years
and walked with me for the many of them. Of course, toward the end, he
couldn’t really walk very far. He did try, though.
I picked up Dante and Caeser at the pound about three years ago, following
Yoda’s passing. They were very playful kittens and bonded well with each
other, but they were not from the same linage, and look quite different
from each other. Caeser is a white and gray American medium hair, and
Danta is so deep a shade of chocolate brown that she appears black. These
cats have completely different personalities, one being skittish, but
inquisitive. The other, Dante, is a slow, patient hunter. They are two
completely different animals, yes, but they share one commonality. They
exhibit pride mentality, and they like to walk and explore with humans.
I’m not sure if they’re hunting or not, but seem to be out for nothing
more than a good walk. These cats, also follow my son to the bus stop in
the morning, so it’s not like it’s just me luring them with a fish in my
pocket, or something cheap like that.
We live in a suburb of Detroit in an older, pretty quiet subdivision. My
cats alternate between walking on the sidewalk with me and traveling
closer to the houses we pass in the shrubbery. They like to be stealthy,
avoiding sources of loud noise, especially barking dogs and cars. Indeed,
they are hard to spot when a car passes, crouching on the sidewalk below
the grass line, or in the bushes. If we’re crossing a street, they wait
patiently for the danger to subside, then leisurely cross on their own.
When walking with cats, you can’t expect them to be right there with you
every minute. They will often remain behind me for a house, or two, or
three. I make a “cluck, cluck” sound to get them moving. They panic if
they lose sight of me, like if I turn a corner. I often stop and wait for
them. If one is lagging, the other usually begins looking back for it, not
resting easy until they catch up. I stop a lot when I walk my cats. When I
do, they like to lay on people’s driveways and porches for a few minutes
while they rest, or listen to the sounds, or to sometimes bathe. People
know my cats and I, and they like to watch us through their windows. I
think a lot of people feel sort of honored when the cats stop for some R &
R on their property. Indeed, I tell people that they are honored by being
able to even see the cats. They tend to dive for the bushes when someone
is loud or annoys them in some way.
I was really sick in 2003 and didn’t move a lot for two years. I gained a
lot of weight, but I caught myself in time and began walking it off. The
cats walked down the street with me the very first time that I tried, and
they’ve been with me just about every time since. Moreover, when I’d try
to sneak out to work without my morning walk, they would both meet me at
the car door and let me know that I was being neglectful. I think that
they really did save my life by keeping me moving and making me stretch
further and further. I think the world of them, and so do many of my
neighbors. People watch for us and they seem really happy. I don’t know,
maybe having fat guy and a couple of cats prowling the neighborhood makes
them feel safer. I guess they are
Jon Behler
Detroit, USA
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