I must confess that from time to time I have been known to fall down the proverbial Internet rabbit hole. I’m not necessarily proud of it, but I can lose a lot of time just flipping through videos.
Well, the other day, I found myself caught in that spiral and I was lost in the arena of animal videos.
Oh my word, there are some of the cutest, most creative works out there for people who love pets.
First, I found two Corgies who were voiced by humans. One appeared a little older and a little heavy and didn’t seem to want to do much of anything. The second one was younger and a little more spry and was jumping all over the place.
The dialogue they put together for this was so funny, I actually laughed out loud.
I’m guessing I don’t need to mention my addiction to the cat ones, do I?
They were all just so cute and true. Cats of every size, shape and color being, well, cats.
One would attack his sibling no matter what his mom said or how many times she asked him to stop. Another would poke and poke and poke at the human until he or she got up to feed them. Another one was a video where the person filming creeped into the kitchen – presumably in the morning – to find two cats hovering on the counter above the empty food bowls literally with an open-eyed stare that bordered on creepy.
Then there was the woman who had obviously never been around a cat before in her life and had one climbing into her lap. She was freaking out like this feline was some type of jungle creature sure to rip her throat out (although some of the videos showed cats smacking people around, so you have to wonder who’s the fool here?).
She literally did not know how to interact with the cat and he was as loving as he could be. She was sitting on a porch with a steaming cup of coffee in her hand and this sweet cat hopped into her lap and started purring. He began climbing her chest and rubbing his chin against hers and the woman at one point looked over to the camera operator and kind of gasped, “What do I do?”
I’m sure all the cat lovers out there who watched that were (like me) practically grabbing at the screen wanting to snuggle.
Then I found a cat that I think may have been a cross between a Main Coon and a Norwegian Forest cat. Oh my word, this cat was enormous! He could reach above the doorknob on the front door. His owners would walk him on a leash outside.
There was something a little unsettling to me about this cat – and that’s coming from someone who absolutely adores the feline. Maybe I would just need to hang with him and I would fall madly in love, but that cat had eyes that seemed to say he knew how big he was and how much damage he could inflict.
So wild.
Finally, the one that really got me was about something called the cat and kitten distribution system. It basically says the universe sends people cats, either when the cat needs them or when the people need the cats – and I think the universe knows to whom to send the cats.
This video was nothing but people petting their cats and talking about how cats just showed up on their doorsteps or they went to a local animal shelter just to look around and ended up coming home with a new feline friend.
That one really resonated with me because that’s exactly how pretty much all of the cats in my home came to be there and the more I think about it, the more I really do believe they were sent to me, either by the universe or maybe by the spirits of my cats who are waiting for me at the Rainbow Bridge.
It was at that moment that I put down the phone and sought out my lovebug Grayson for some snuggles, so I could physically appreciate what I had been seeing, but he wasn’t feeling it – even when I explained the video to him. Sigh. Cats are still…cats.
And I absolutely love them for it, as well as the people who make videos that allow all the cat lovers in the world to unite and appreciate the value of our four-legged friends.
I should likely feel guilty how much time I spend watching animal videos on the Internet, but when they makes my heart feel as warm as they do, I’m hard-pressed to let the regret flow.
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Jennifer Vanderau is the Publications and Promotions Consultant for the Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter and can be reached at cvascomm@cvas-pets.org. The shelter accepts both monetary and pet supply donations. For more information, call the shelter at 263-5791 or visit the website www.cvas-pets.org. CVAS also operates a thrift store in Chambersburg. Help support the animals at the shelter by donating to or shopping at the store.
