In that journal she wrote, "They keep growling at each other for I don't know what reason. I can't figure it out, because OFCOURSE they don't TALK."
So I made a comment, "OF COURSE CATS CAN SPEAK."
And then she replied, "Haha I'll try to have a serious conversation with them today, but if they answer me, I might die of horror XD"
I think that most Japanese who have cats MUST say, "I always talk with my cat."
Of course cats don't speak human languages such as English and Japanese, but people who have cats believe that they and their cats understand each other. I don't keep any cats but I had a friend of stray cats, who has gone of somewhere now, and we often talked with each other.
I think that there is a difference of view of nature and animals between people from monotheistic religions, such as Muslim and Christian, and Japanese people.
We think that human beings are just a species of animals and there is no essential connection between human beings and other animals. Recently people who have cats call their cats "my child" and think that their cats are literally the members of the family. In an animal hospital a doctor calls an owner of a cat "Dad" or "Mum".
When I went to Western countries, especially the U.K., I found pets were much more trained. On the other hand pets are usually pampered in Japan. I guess that the owners of pets have responsibility to train their pets in Western countries.
I was very surprised when I heard about welfare of livestock in Europe. I had never thought about welfare of livestock before. Some stock rising farmers in Japan raise their livestock very carefully with love, but it might be different with the concept of welfare.
Today's journal has no special conclusion.
Anyway do you talk with cats? Yes, I do.
I think in America people have a weird relationship with animals. I think theres a hesitancy to get too into pets for fear of being judged by others. I think that culturally theres a strong belief that pets are pets and people are people. (Thats not to say that they aren't people who do have really close relationships with their pets, they just aren't the minority). My boyfriend and I had a pet fish for about a year (he passed away last week), and we were both really sad when he died. It was really hard to share this with our friends because to them it was just a fish and neither of us wanted to challenge this because we didn't want to come across as weird.
ReplyDeleteSome people talk to plants and flowers - my mother does it, so why not talking with cats or dogs? I often talk with cats and dogs when they come near me to get a kind tap on the top of their heads...However, I think there are people that talk with animals more than others (some people go a bit over the edge and even dress them for that matter...).
ReplyDeleteAlicia san and Pumba san, thank you for your comments.
ReplyDeleteRecently Japanese people treat their pets almost as their children.
Anyway it's fun for me and maybe many people to talk with cats and dogs (even trees).