On a leash

The dog and the cat seem to have their territorial thing going. I think they are curious about each other. But fear of one another is greater than coexistence and familiarity. The dog chases the cat away, and the cat, instead of hiding completely, safe from the dog, he taunts the canine, showing his face from under the sofa. The dog inspects, careful now, and not as uninhibited as he used do, in part, I suspect, because they have already found a moment or two alone, and the cat, defensively, probably scratched some fear into him. I like the discretion that the cat imparts, and detest the mild aggressiveness with which the dog relentlessly searches after the feline. There are certain traits in cats that belong to an accomplished superior being, his centered approach as if he was saying, “Mind your own business, just like I do.” We can’t make cats do tricks. In this reference, dogs win the day. They seem to be a lot more open, and willingly, to get your attention. The cat is usually looking for something, a caress, food, etc. Here too it depends on the submissive animal, in this instance the pet, to win over the affection and good disposition of his master. And here, too, we acknowledge that two means, or approaches, to one singular end, or purpose. Of course, I won’t deny that there is an allusion to the thin line that separates the cat from the dog, or vice versa, in their relationship. When we take dogs out for a walk, they react rather dramatically to encounters with their own, and mainly because they are taken tied to a leash in public, as I dream of having Isabel one day in private. If we were to let them loose, then things would be different. They’d generally stick to smelling each other in the exultance trigged by such magnanimous occasion. It is fear that binds us; freedom makes things so much easier.