I’ve been reading the Pootie diaries for several months now (before I finally registered) and every once in a while someone shows up demanding to know what cats and dogs have to do with the Daily Kos site. The assertion is that cats and dogs have absolutely nothing to do with the serious business of politics and all of the other more “substantive” issues that generally get reported and discussed on Daily Kos.
After observing them from afar for awhile, one of the things that I’ve noticed about the people who frequent the Pootie diaries is that they are a tight-knit community who care about each other. It’s a community that seems to be made up principally of animal shelter volunteers, wildlife lovers, pet owners, people concerned about nature and the environment, and people who are interested in animal welfare issues. In addition to sharing amusing pictures and/or anecdotes about their pets, they also spend a great deal of time checking in on each other, as one would with a neighbor; making sure everything is going well and that everyone in the family is in good health. I find the camaraderie displayed every day very endearing. They give each other helpful advice on topics related to everything from their own health issues to issues regarding their pets. One of the reasons I enjoy visiting these diaries is that I feel a sense of solidarity with these people. And I know that just because they love their animals does not mean that they are not politically minded or that they are not as serious or relevant as any other diarist. Some of us come to our politics through the experiences we have had with some of the most important members of our families – our pets.
If you’ve ever had a pet with cancer or some other hard-to-treat and expensive illness, you quickly recognize the value of comprehensive health care even if you’ve never had to worry about it for yourself or for the other humans in your life. It makes the issue real to you and gives you empathy for people who find themselves in that situation. Pet health insurance is extremely expensive and not many people are able to buy it. I have 2 dogs and 2 cats right now. I’ve lost both a dog and a cat to cancer in the past. When my dog was diagnosed about 6 years ago, paying for the chemo and radiation therapy was not easy. It was put on a credit card and paid for over several months. After going through that experience, I started putting $30 a month into a savings account for my pets so that I would be prepared if it should come up again. Two years ago, one of my cats was diagnosed with lung cancer. Fortunately, I had enough in the savings account to pay for her chemotherapy treatments. Both of my animals eventually succumbed to their disease but I said goodbye to both of them knowing I had done everything I could to make the end of their lives as comfortable as possible. I do not want to imagine what people without health insurance go through when one of their children gets sick. That’s one of the reasons I vote and do everything I can to make sure that our elected representatives understand how important this basic necessity is for everyone regardless of socio-economic status.
Another basic necessity some of us are extremely concerned about is food safety. I am constantly writing to my senators and state representatives urging them to vote for better food regulations. I think it’s interesting that it took an organization like the Humane Society of the United States to bring the issue of food safety to light recently when it exposed animal cruelty in meat processing plants. The Humane Society is a highly political organization that is made up of and supported by the same kind of animal lovers who frequent the Pootie Diaries. Until actual footage of the animal abuse that the HSUS uncovered was televised, many people were not inclined to show an interest in how their food was being raised or processed. Even if you don’t subscribe to the notion that it’s just bad karma to mistreat the animals that will ultimately end up being a part of you, I would hope that the idea of downed cows ending up in the food supply would at least make you worry about food-borne pathogens. In any case, the people who helped make this issue public are the sort of people who care about animals and who feel that animals deserve as much respect and attention as the humans with whom they share this planet.
Some of the daily trials some of us experience with our pets and other animals are a microcosm of what is happening in the country as a whole. These experiences often help us to put things into perspective. Everyday lessons in generosity, gratitude, and the golden rule can come up unexpectedly and they don’t necessarily have to be taught by people.
A few years ago my sister had an experience that made a big impression on her. She had some leftover casserole that she didn’t know how to dispose of without it attracting unwanted destruction from any of the various critters living in the woods that border the far end of her backyard. She knew that if she put it in her outdoor trashcan, it would only be a matter of time before a squirrel or raccoon made a mess trying to get it out. The ingredients included cheese and sausage and would have definitely attracted some interest. Instead of putting it in the trash, she decided to just put it all on a paper plate and set it out in her backyard so that any critter that wanted to help itself could get to it without making a mess. A few minutes after she set the food out, she looked out her kitchen window just in time to see a big housecat wolfing down the remains of the casserole. She had set this food out intending to supplement some poor wild creature’s meager diet, not feed what appeared to be an already overfed cat. Nevertheless, she was happy to know that it was not going to waste. The next morning as she was leaving for work, she backed out of her front door as she locked up her house and she felt something soft under her foot. She looked down to find a little dead mouse lying on her front steps. When she told me about this later on, I exclaimed, “Oh, how sweet! You shared your dinner with the cat – so, he was sharing his with you.” My sister has never owned a cat and has never really been a big cat person but she had to marvel at this cat’s obvious display of generosity. “They really take this whole reciprocity thing seriously, don’t they?” she asked.
Although this seemed to be a classic example of the trait that cats are said to possess that compels them to bring hunting trophies to their humans, I would prefer to think of it as a show of gratitude. I don’t think this cat seriously thought my sister would be interested in making a meal of the little dead mouse. Instead, I think this was his version of a thank-you note. Perhaps this cat understood, as we were taught by our mothers, that thank-you notes are classy and de rigueur no matter what the circumstances. Or, maybe this cat was just doing what Obama would call “spreading the wealth around.” Whatever his true intentions were, we just don’t know what goes on in a cat’s little head. That’s why I think it’s so entertaining to look at humorous lolcat and loldog pictures and to create them, imagining a cat or dog’s thoughts based on their expressions and personalities.
I’ve learned a lot from reading the Pootie Diaries. I’ve learned that pooties are cats, woozles and goggies are dogs, and furbutts are animals of any persuasion. As a vegetarian, I’ve never had occasion to buy my cats a cheeseburger, but apparently, cats really like them. There is also something known as “pootie porn” – that is when cats get their picture taken in a spread-eagle, belly-baring pose. My cat, Ethel, poses like this all the time and I wasn’t aware (until I read it in the Pootie Diaries) that this was considered pootie porn. I have to admit I am now a little ashamed of my Ethel. I thought I had raised her better than that. But, in an effort to salvage her reputation, I have made the lol below. This is Ethel’s response to the mean people who criticize the Pootie Diaries.
Since I don’t have any dead mice lying around, this diary will have to serve as my own personal thank-you note to the Pootie Diary people. Thank you for bringing some much-needed levity to this very serious world.