Paw Prints
By Erica Hoffman
There are but a few things in this world that are unquestioned and widely regarded as fact.
It took several decades, but I finally found one. Not even Ebenezer Scrooge could ruin this incontrovertible piece of logic.
I discovered that rare gem that ostensibly holds our society together: The love we share for our furry, feathery, scaly, slimy, or hard-shelled friends.
Until now, I selfishly believed I gave my cat the life he deserved. Cardboard boxes as far as the eye can see, strategically placed hair ties on the wood floor to bat around, food, water, treats love, and a home to stay in.
Over the fifteen months we were home a lot with our pets.
Getting up to get ready for work, is still a thing of the past. If I so desire, I could turn off the alarm setting on my phone (nobody uses alarm clocks anymore). Besides, who needs an alarm when your rambunctious feline sits in the middle of your room, staring at you, almost willing you to wake up?
Our pets have taken on many new roles as we sheltered in place. Everyday my cat wears many different hats. Though some hats may be cute, I’m sure many pets aren’t happy being thrust into their new roles as we socially distance from everyone but them. And most are more vocal about their feelings than they have ever been before.
They have become more than just our most loved and loyal family member; they have been promoted to jobs that were never in their job description.
They became therapists, our sounding boards, and coworkers. They acted as our board game opponents and even our fashion advisors. ‘Which daytime sweats should I wear, Kitten? Is it time to put on my nighttime pajamas, or should I just stick with the ones I’ve been wearing all day?’ He always has the right answers.
So, since this pandemic and its rules of social isolation, minimal human contact and bedazzled face masks is still hard on us all, let’s take some of the emotional burden off our pets by giving them a little break from the constant overload of attention that we are showering them with.
We humans have myriad forms of entertainment. There’s Netflix, Hulu, some seriously heated games of Monopoly and several games of Jenga that may or may not be the deal-breaker of my (human) relationship after this is all over.
But when binging movies, television shows and food just isn’t enough to satisfy our human need to feel needed, let’s give ourselves permission to smother our pets with 24/7 attention and take thousands of pictures no one else will ever want to see.
And, since we’re there, why not give ourselves a pat on the backs for being the self-sacrificing, altruistic humans we are by tending to these animals that ‘rescued us.’
The experts say that, like humans, pets need their sense of normalcy and stability, too. So after this is over, we’ll all take a nice long vacation and our pets can “Risky Business” it up.
Until then, however, I’d like to thank the following places my cat has found to hide so we can’t smother him with love:
In the full laundry hamper of dirty laundry.
Tucked in the farthest corner of the closet.
The bathroom sink.
In a pile of clean ready to be folded laundry.
A Trader Joe’s bag.
The bathtub.
The sock drawer.
Inside the dryer.
I think he’s trying to tell us something, but overall, he is getting really good at sitting in the middle of the floor, giving us suspicious looks while making us feel guilty when we eat something we shouldn’t be.
Erica Hoffman was born in Atlantic City. She grew up in Margate where her first job was a tour guide at Lucy The Elephant. She lives in South Jersey with her fluffy cat and her brilliant boyfriend.
