Chapter Nine of Cats Are Cool

Baby Gets a Sister

Baby was creating quite a problem at our house. He REALLY hated being alone. When I left for work in the morning, he followed me to the door and then he began to bite me at the heels. In fact, whenever we got ready to leave him, he became quite aggressive, biting us. It was beginning to worry us. Obviously he was unhappy about being alone, but we couldn’t stay home all the time, just to be with him.
One day my husband and I came home with a big box. Inside the box, was supposed to be the solution to our problem with Baby. When I walked in the door, I sat the box on the floor. As usual, Baby was waiting for us. When Baby saw the box and what was inside of it, he lost interest in us. He began to examine the box and its contents with a thoroughness I had never seen. He sniffed. He looked. He got close. He backed off. He cried a little. He acted absolutely terrified and was very nervous.
You probably have already guessed what was inside the box. It was Baby’s new little sister. She was a small white cat, with black patches all over her body. She was ten weeks old, just the right age to be Baby’s little sister. Her name was Dolly. She was so small and scared to be in this new house. All she wanted was to be loved and cared for. On Baby’s part, nothing doing! It was definitely hate at first sight.
I was so disappointed. I thought that he would be thrilled to have another cat to keep him company. I should have known there would be problems. After all, Baby hadn’t been around cats very much. Remember, he was abandoned by his mother and raised by a dog. Poor Baby just didn’t know what to do with another cat. Dolly wasn’t a dog and wasn’t a human, so what was she? He decided very quickly that she was the ENEMY! He was terrified of her, but determined to be rid of her as soon as possible.
During the first few hours, Baby didn’t exactly get close to Dolly. He circled her, he smelled her scent, but he didn’t touch her. He just wasn’t sure what to do with her. He soon began to growl and arch his back. He didn’t take long before he attacked. He quickly reached out his paw and gave her a good swipe across the nose. Dolly simply cowered in the corner. Soon we began to think we would have to change her name to Scar-Face.
Baby just wouldn’t accept Dolly because he was afraid of her, because he wanted to defend his own territory and because he just didn’t know what to do with another cat. He actually was showing prejudice. He didn’t know what she was, so he rejected her.
We sometimes do exactly the same thing. When someone has skin a different color, speaks another language or even has different habits than we do, we may feel curious, but we may also reject them. In most cases we don’t growl or scratch them, but we may tell a joke, make fun of them, or simply snub them as a friend. Sometimes we may even demonstrate fear when a person is really different.
The Bible teaches us that “if you show favoritism, you sin”. That means that you treat people differently based on appearances. And that is prejudice – forming on opinion about someone without really knowing him. That’s how Baby acted when he met Dolly. I felt kind of ashamed when I remember the times I had rejected someone that I didn’t yet know. I am, after all, a person who can think before I act, different from a cat!
Things got so bad between the two of them, that I couldn’t leave them alone. Dolly slept and ate in a room that was separated from Baby’s. Too bad, for Baby was missing out on a lot of fun and some very good company. Still, I couldn’t very well force him to be Dolly’s friend. God doesn’t force me to treat people fairly, but he does help me to conquer my prejudices. Why don’t you look around and see if there isn’t someone near you who needs a friend? Hopefully you can be different than Baby!