So, Sakhara, how are you enjoying being outside?
Sakhara is very different since she began going outside. She is calmer, and for this very calm, grounded, Earth energy kitty, that’s an amazing thing to even imagine, much less experience. She is also eating more comfortably – less frantically.
I asked Sakhara the other day if she was eating anything outside. “Insects,” she told me.
“What kind?”
“Crickets. They’re delicious.”
Sakhara is missing many teeth. While she still has her canines (although I always think in cats they should be called “felines”), she is missing all the little ones between them and many others on the sides, both on top and on bottom of her mouth. So while I know she can still hunt for small animals, she would not be able to chew or consume them.
In the past, on the rare occasions I would let Sakhara go outside, she’d head right for the grass and tear off pieces and swallow them. This caused her a great deal of digestive distress because she couldn’t cut the pieces small enough or chew them at all, and she would end up feeling terrible and then vomit. Her digestive distress would continue, and I would feel dismayed about it all.
Of course, vomiting is one way the body cleanses. Do you know that? Not long ago I was rereading a very old out-of-print book I have on hatha yoga. In one chapter on cleansing, the authors talked about eating things to cause yourself to vomit as a type of purging. Not exactly what attracts me to yoga, but interesting to know that this can be a cleansing practice.
As I observe Sakhara now, she isn’t eating grass and isn’t vomiting at all. Of course, she might be eating grass where I can’t or don’t oberseve her, and then vomiting outside, but she says that she isn’t, and I believe her. I’ve never known her to lie. Also, lots of times she isn’t out there for very long, so if she did eat grass, it would still be inside her when she came in and I would know if she were vomiting in the house.
I remembered the other day that Sakhara, who is a rather reticent personality, had told someone in one of the TWA classes that her job is to patrol around the house outside and protect the property. Now, I wonder whether, by keeping her inside all the time, her level of frustration and stress at not being able to do her job contributed to her being sick.
I don’t feel as though I want to ask her about it. I just want to hold this notion in my mind for awhile and feel the resonance of its energy. Some emotions can make us physically ill and others can heal us. Being continuously kept from your life purpose/job could have a very deleterious effect on anyone. So many subtle energies and experiences can influence our overall state of well-being.
So I continue to watch and observe Sakhara as she explores outside. She headed off across the street yesterday with Hattie (the mostly feral resident of my yard) accompanying her. I was outside at the time watering my small vegetable and herb garden. I had to hold myself back from interfering. She was gone quite a while and Violet had to be comforted. But she came back just fine, feeling really good and a bit tired. More lessons for me.
Namaste,
Nedda
A few of the things I’ve learned from my many cats: Cats do not lie. (I understand this is true of all animals.) Hunting is the biggest part of fun and very important to cats, be it for moths or moles or lizards; many do not care to eat their “kill.” Usually just bringing their prey in for show-and-tell so their human and animal friends can ooh and ahh is enough, or sometimes to toy and play with them. Sometimes they will take them back outside. Sometimes they leave them for me to clean up. Sometimes, they deposit them between the sheets in my bed. Many of my kitties do not chew grass well, teeth or no; sometimes it appears in vomit; sometimes long strings pass right through in their stool. I’ve always thought they ate grass purposely to vomit and cleanse their insides. Yes, I believe that cats do become nervous, frustrated, and act out in unbecoming ways if they are not allowed to fulfill their life’s purpose. They know what they’re supposed to do; sadly, too often we do not know or do not know how to help them. I also have a security chief in my cat family, and for years, living in a busy subdivision, he wasn’t allowed outdoors. He said that his job was security and it was very hard. He would run up and down two stories nervously, obviously upset and frustrated, window to window, when other cats or strangers came into the yard. Finally, he started spraying and he became very bossy with the rest of the tribe and sometimes appeared depressed, not eating, not being affectionate, sleeping too much. When we moved to the country and let him roam, setting boundaries which he and all other cats respect and observe, he became more settled, calmer, and happier. Alas, he continues to spray. Congratulations, Sakhara! God Speed into the outdoor world, but please, please be very careful crossing the street and choose your friends carefully. Maybe you will tell Nedda what you do and see on your forays, and what you and Hattie communicate about. We’d all love to hear.
Thanks for the update on Sakhara. She sounds like she is balancing so many things. You too! Love, Mary Helen