By Dori Durbin
Undeniably, Covid 19 left a tidal wave-sized dent on the world. The pandemic greatly affected our daily lives, but some effects we are still discovering. This begs the question: Twenty years from now, what will you remember about your quarantine experience? Among my memories of more family time, higher frustration levels, Zoom visits, masks, off-brand groceries, and less toilet paper will be the sheer exuberance of our cats. Yes, I wrote exuberance. The cats were ecstatic: their human servants were home all day.
For non-pet owners this pandemic memory might seem trivial, but for pet owners their memories may be imprinted furever and, if they are willing to admit this publicly—their Covid cats may have permanently altered household routines. Without cats, we would have only been addicted to Netflix, Amazon packages, and waiting for the next official state order. Looking back, we can now reflect on how much our cats benefitted from our Covid lives.
During the pandemic, quarantiners with cats may have experienced life improvements:
AN INCREASED SENSE OF ACCOUNTABILITY
Humans could not hide from the whims of their cats. Those furry felines could directly connect to the source of their every need. Hungry? “Human feed me.” Food too hard? “Human add water.” Pillow occupied? “Human meow-ve over.” There were no maybes, no laters, just nows... and the cats loved it. As humans, we were much more accountable under our cat’s supervision.
EXPANDED RELATIONSHIP SKILLS
With limited in-person contact, humans and cats bonded even more. Cats may have learned to speak “human” more efficiently, but humans learned quickly to communicate in catisms. Humans became better at sharing things. This included sharing mealtimes (and often meals) with their cats. Humans were also forced to share their favorite comfy chairs, warm beds, or other lounging areas with their furred pals. Where once fur was a light and easily removable layer, it became an almost plastic coating. As a matter of fact, moments without a lap cat were few and far between. Cats and laps were like kindergarten art and a fridge—stuck for life.
SPONTANEOUS DISTRACTION
Humans couldn’t be bored with a Covid cat. But could a human focus with a Covid cat? It was our cat’s unspoken, almost machine-like mission to cause “spontaneous distractions.” These were moments when a cat appeared literally out of thin air. If cats found our workspaces over-crowded, they initiated “clutter deletion.” All unessential objects became cat ninja targets until the open space was cat-sized and cat-occupied. Screen time was handled by police-like cats. Humans bleary-eyed? Police-cat patrolled in front of the screen... and stayed posted. Human, were you trying to write something down? That’s too bad... your pen was repurposed as a cat toothbrush. Zoom meeting going too long? The cat shifted into a squawking “food now” mode. By the way, to cats “Zoom” refers to cat speed and agility training across human workspaces and keyboards. Now you know, just in case there is a next time....
Read related article: All Creatures Great and Small: Pippen—Our Own Little Mafia Boss
CAT CO-CONSPIRATOR OUTCOMES
Speaking of next time...humans and cats were less frequently at odds with each other. In fact, humans and cats were often scheming together. However, there are some lingering effects of the Covid cat-human connection. For starters, the chronic overconsumption of favorite foods resulted in weight gain for both species. Humans often had visibly unfocused attention spans—a direct result of spontaneous cat distraction. Lap catting had a direct influence on human’s poor, slouched posture... and finally there is the time warp: a human’s lost sense of time due to a cat’s demand for excessive attention. Despite these minor nuisances, the Covid cat-human connection was undoubtedly an overwhelming benefit to both humans and cats.
In the end, humans benefitted from having cats during the pandemic. We gained an increased sense of accountability, expanded relationship skills, weathered through spontaneous distraction and cat co-conspirator outcomes—all of which make us more well-rounded people and pet owners. But, what about the cats? What would they say about the Covid 19 pandemic? Perhaps it would be something like this:
Pandemics are purr-fectly fine.
Don’t baby talk me… I can speak human, human.
Next pandemic, please place Amazon cat food orders earlier.
Quarantine? Let’s do it again!
Dori Durbin grew up in Adrian, Michigan. After earning a BA in English and a secondary teaching certification, Durbin taught middle and high school English and Science classes for ten years. She is the author of two picture books, Little Cat Needs Space and Little Cat Feels Left Out. You can learn more about her on her website doridurbin.com.
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3:00 p.m.: I just arrived at my sister Deb’s for my pet sitting gig. The cats are wary and stand-offish but I’m sure I can remedy that. I begin by reading the little sticky notes left by my sister. Everything is efficiently tagged and labeled, then I see it—the notebook. As I scan the many pages of instructions, I can only marvel over how these animals have her trained. I will not be dictated to by a pack of felines!