All Cats Have Asperger Syndrome 2014-02-09

[Silverwhistle]

I think it's a great way of explaining Asperger's to people who perhaps don't know much about it, and also, for anyone who loves cats.

 

[Mr Allen]

I might have a look for this one, despite not being a big cat lover, sounds quite comical!

 

[Southern Discomfort]

I was given this book by a guy with AS who I went to meet. He also gave me 'All Dogs Have ADHD' because I mentioned I was thinking about getting that book to my brother as a present, nice of him.

It's a good read and the author makes a great comparison. She does however refer to the person in question as a boy so that might be a little frustrating to females.

 

[Lee954]

I haven't read the book but I certainly agree with the statement that's the title.

 

[scrp14]

and dogs have anger management issues

 

[pjcnet]

That's probably partly why I love having a cat so much, but it all started unintentionally...

I once would never have considered having a pet, but a neighbour had a cat that he later couldn't cope with. I felt really sorry for the cat because eventually he got so sick of her that he often shut her in the back room where she would whine for hours. That said she would still keep returning home after he let her out, but he didn't seem to care about her and would often shut the front door leaving her out all day without even checking on her (I used to check on her a lot and sneak her treats). One day he'd had just enough and wanted to "get rid" of her so much that he called around cat sanctuaries while I was there, but every single one was full. He then told me that he couldn't cope with her any more and if someone didn't take her off his hands he would have to dump her away far from home somewhere. I was very angry at him which caused an argument that ended in an ultimatum to either take the cat off his hands for good or else he would have to get rid of her in his own way. I was very worried how I would cope with a cat myself, but I couldn't see her dumped and abused like that, so I took the cat in, her name was Christine or Chrissy for short.

Since my special interest is computers, my biggest worry at first was that she could damage my computer, but she was surprisingly always very respectful of it and never knocked anything down from any shelf. I was very surprised how well and quickly I adjusted to having a cat being around and before long she became part of my normal routine. I realised that I actually started loving having her around and that I seemed to relate more to the cat than most people, I grew a very close bond.

Very sadly a few years later Christine died of cancer and I was absolutely heart broken and devastated when there was nothing else that could be done for her, she was now in pain and I was told that she would had passed away anyway within the week. I still feel awful and very guilty about it and also because I couldn't cope with being present in the vets room for her when she was finally put to sleep (I had to walk out in tears, but my neighbour who actually hated the cat before believe it or not was very supportive in her final days right up until the end when he was there). I paid to have her ashes sent to me and I still have a feeling of guilt about her, thinking that maybe I could have done something different for her to survive longer as she died quite young at only 8, my only comfort is I know I treated her like royalty and she had a reasonable life until she became ill and even then she she seemed to enjoy life right up until the day she died when she suddenly took a dramatic turn for the worse. During the time from her terminal cancer diagnosis when she was said to only have a few months to live I was still optimistic that the vet could be wrong, especially when she still seemed well after double that time, her only issue was diarrhoea which seemed to be completely resolved by specialist vet food. I even tried getting her spiritual healing and she seemed perfectly fine for ages, going out and running as normal for instance.

After my first cat very sadly passed away, against all advice saying that I should wait a while, I immediately went to a cat sanctuary to adapt another cat I called Chloe, it still hurt and I will always miss Christine, but this did help me cope and now 2 years on I have a very close bond with her. Chloe was the very first cat I saw in the sanctuary, the sanctuary owner asked me if I wanted her and that she had no tail, I accepted straight away. I was told that she'd asked everyone and they'd all refused her because of her missing tail, meaning she'd been there for quite a few months. They didn't know how she'd actually lost her tail, only that it had been removed properly by a vet and that it was most probably a car accident because it's illegal to cosmetically remove a cat's tail in the UK. They also didn't know her actual age, but a vet said she was between 18 months to 2 years when I had her. Again I treat Chloe like royalty and I relate to her better than I do most people. In fact I've always said how well I related to a cat before I saw this thread and their association to autism. I now feel that I will always have a cat while I am healthy enough to look after one.

The only disadvantages of having a cat is that they only live a fraction of the time we do, so we have to likely go through the pain and grief when we lose them, the other disadvantage is worrying about her all the time when she goes out, it's feel almost like I'm a parent worrying about their young child. Luckily I don't live near a main road and there's quite a large communal garden she can run around in with lots of bushes she can hide under, but I am always trying to discourage her from venturing further to a fairly near small road, but as much as I try I can't constantly watch her and I occasionally can't find her for a little while which makes me panic, I suppose having ASD doesn't help this anxiety and worry, but the benefits of having her far outweighs the disadvantages.

PS: Chloe's missing tail has proven to be no disability to her at all, she can jump and perfectly balance on walls Etc. just like any other cat and in some ways it gives her extra character, I can't understand why anyone would have rejected her for that reason, but I feel lucky that they did because now I have her.

 

[AHuman]

I must get this book.

I relate better to cats than just about anyone else. I really do think of them as little pointy people, they have distinct personalities and everything about them is wonderful to me, even when they're jerks, at least they're honest about it.

Cats are one of my special interests.

 

[GeminiSagittarius]

I need this book!

Explains a lot haha

 

[Hollow Horse]

The Cure told us that all cats are grey but only last week I saw a ginger one.

Here is my cat by the way...