Mine is a twist on Elizabeth Gilbert’s book title and subsequent movie adaptation. I didn’t read her book, and I didn’t see the movie. Here, I am thinking about the things that motivate Kedi and Maia.
All cats are food-motivated – some more than others. Maia, for one, is a total food slut. It’s as if she was deprived of food as a very young kitten and has been food-insecure since that time. There is no question that deprivation in early life, whether one is deprived of food, comfort, or emotional support has life-long consequences. Perhaps that explains Maia’s response to food.
Kedi, on the other hand, craves play. Kedi and Maia share a handful of wand toys with lures including a spray of feathers, a miniature Millenium Falcon, a feather boa, and some leather discs. Maia carries them from room to room around the house as if they were prey or perhaps kittens. Kedi, on the other hand wants us to pick up the wand and make the lure move about as if it were trying to escape her predatory prowess. I more often tire of the game than she does.
And this brings me to love. The bonds between humans and their pets rarely expresses itself in physical affection more than it does with cats and dogs. I’ve kept fish, and they weren’t especially affectionate. Birds can be – especially larger birds like parrots. Reptiles? I haven’t ever kept them. Kedi and Maia are very affectionate toward Susan. They’ll jump into her lap and curl up and allow her to pet them. Both sleep with us, and both are tolerant of my petting when they are in bed. Neither one volunteers to settle in my lap when I am watching TV.
I have always suspected that Maia had some adverse experience with male humans when she was very young. So it goes; there is nothing that I can do about the past – only the present and the future.
I try to give both of them food, play and love.