World Cat Day celebrated on August 8 is a day of recognition and veneration of one of the humanity’s oldest and beloved pets – Cat. In the year 2002, the International Fund for Animal Welfare announced this day to celebrate the most popular pet on the earth. Owning a pet cat has been shown to improve mental health and to relieve stress, anxiety and depression in human beings, say the observers. No longer associated with the evil in India, many people are taking cats as pets in homes and offices.
Very popular pet in UK and US, after dogs and fishes, these cats are ranked the third most popular pet in the UK and second in the US. The popular nursery rhyme perhaps draws from its popularity in UK ‘Pussy cat, pussy cat where have you been/ I've been to london to see the Queen/ Pussy cat, pussy cat, what did you do thereIJ I frightened a little mouse under her chair’. In India they are gaining popularity too. It does not matter if one is a pet lover or not, every human being has some childhood memories of the domestic cat which walks softly around you and loves to rub her body with yours when in mood.
Rusty-spotted cat, leopard cat, Himalayan cat and Bombay cat are some of the popular ones. Many other common cats known across the world are black, ginger, Persian, Siamese, Burmese, Bengal, Shorthair, Munchkin, Balinese and Raga Muffin. There are over 70 varieties of these furring friends frisking in our gardens across the world. Besides, the playing kittens are simply irresistible, say the pet lovers. One such pet loving couple is Saroj Joshi and her husband Subhash Joshi from Defence Colony. The retired IFS officer cuddles with the cats which take his anxieties away while making small purrs and rubbing their face against his. “We are having three generations of cats in our home. Just a fortnight ago, our cat gave birth to two kittens which have recently opened their eyes. We had one cat which gave birth to two and both further had two kittens each,” tells Saroj Joshi holding together the two small kittens in her hands.
The cats have a separate resting place made of sand in the house where they pass their faeces and urine which the couple changes every month. Fond of cleanliness, they never pass their faeces, other than in the marked place. The morning starts with the meow call from the pussy on the side window of the house. The son Anurag Joshi who is an academician says, “When the catties wish to go to my parents’ room they would scratch at the window mesh and meow twice.
This gesture asks my father to open the door and let them in. The tom cat would rub his face with my father’s and would sit beside until he fully wakes up.” Sometimes the pussy cat climbs microwave and sits over the cover and while watching TV, they sit on the legs of their caretakers, while the kitten sleeps in the lap of Saroj Joshi. At times, one stroke like a handshake or a greeting is desired by the animal and that benefits both the human and the animal in coming out of emotional hang-ups. Purring is one way a cat signals that it feels sociable and wants attention.
Calling it a myth that cats as ungrateful and thankless animals, Anurag Joshi says, “The cats are loving and affectionate. They are not at all associated with evil. In several instances, they have proved lucky for our family.”
The mother pussy cat eats up any blood rot or the chord after giving birth to her kittens. She licks her kittens clean with her tongue specially designed by nature. Safety is another concern for the mamma cat with her newborns. “The mother cat keeps changing location of her kittens seven times till they are strong enough. This is because the male cat eats the young ones. We do not let any male cat enter our house when the younger ones are being reared,” says Saroj.
Cats being moody, they close their eyes when not in mood. An angry cat has narrowed pupils, while an excited or frightened cat has eyes wide open, with large pupils. A city- based doctor Aruna Kulkarni says, “Petting and stroking a pet cat can stimulate the release of chemicals called cytokines which in turn signal the brain to release natural painkilling chemicals called endorphins. These hormones are released by the human body in response to stress or pain as a natural reaction. So, they help a person relax internally. Many activities like intense exercise, eating hot peppers, eating chocolate release endorphins, something that increases the release of feel-good hormones in our bodies. A human touch relaxes the animal and releases feel-good endorphins in the human body, reducing the heart rate. Cats love to be petted. If it meows or purrs it may be communicating enjoyment. Regular visits to the veterinary doctor and checkups ensure a good life to the pets.”