Pet of the Month: Jack (and his many lives)

Jack, always ready to charm you (Photo by E. Feldman)

By Eliahu Feldman *

I have a cat. He is a very special cat (of course, all our cats are special, aren't they?)
He used to be a street cat when very very tiny, until children brought him to us, with a broken paw.
As cat lovers we treated him, and he was operated on. And he recovered.

Wow!, what a joy to have a tiny little cat at home! He was fun, lively and very lovable. He also became very loving. He used to wait for me at the door of my office, and when he heard that a patient of mine slammed the out door, and I came in home, he would be seated, and would raise his paws in order that I catch him in my lap. It was fun and happy.

He was very demanding and full of wishes. We thought of sending him back to the street. Sometimes he would sit by the door of our room, crying and asking to come and sleep with us. We allowed frequently. Once, he meowed and meowed in front of our son's room, but was not allowed in. Next morning, we searched for him, no sign. We live in a flat on the 6th floor. After many searches up and down we found him downstairs, hurt.

We felt very guilty, took him to the vet, and he remained with us, for good. Now he has only seven lives. He already lost two of his lives. We decided to name him Jack. This is his name, because he reminded us of Jack Bauer (24 hours) who so many times was dying, but survived. He is a very sensitive human (sorry) cat-being, and he is sometimes very moody.

We all love him, and he is still funny, and loves to disguise as one of my violins. Sometimes he comes to my office and sits in the patient's armchair. He seems then to be willing to have some psychotherapy. Sometimes he comes to my office and lies down on my couch. Is he wishing to be psychoanalyzed? But sometimes, nevertheless, he comes to my office and sits in MY chair. Is he wishing to become a psychiatrist, or psychotherapist or psychoanalyst?

Waiting for the next patient on the chaise long...

Jack slowly became part of the family, and nowadays he has a “girl-friend”, Mimi, who is a lovable kitten that provokes tons of jealousy in him. But they get along quite well. He sometimes attacks her, sometimes she hits him back. It's OK. Now the hard part: Though lovable, and loved, Jack has some “little things” that annoy us. Jack is very greedy, is always asking for food (hummm, Tuna? Little cans with delicious cat food?). We very often (too often) give him some (lots?) of these superb dishes. But Jack vomits a lot! No hairball food or paste helped him.

Handsome and handful (Photo AMugg)

Take him to the vet? Mission Impossible!! He becomes a savage tiger. Jack is as lovable as he can be ferocious. As I am a psychiatrist, I wonder if Jack hasn't got some (too much?) paranoid features. Black and white, super-loving or super threatened. As he is on the fat side, we have to diet him. But it's hard, almost impossible. We are two weak parents. We pet him a lot. Maybe too much. But who can resist a beautiful, special, lovable, tender and loving cat. We are doomed to be attached to him forever...








* Our guest blogger is a psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. Before Jack and Mimi he raised two labrador girls together with his 3 sons.