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Weasie has been gone since mid-January, but - maybe due to the change in seasons - I've been going through a new wave of bluesy nostalgia for her. Today my thoughts have turned to remembrances of her uncanny ability to judge the character of a person. She was never wrong!!!
A goyguy post to the "Cats" forum would never be complete without anecdotes, so here goes.
If Weasie decided she liked somebody, she would walk right up to them and start a rambling introduction of herself while giving the person ankle rubs with her head. This took place inside the house, or if we were in the back yard. Should she have been outdoors on her own when a stranger approached, the object was to score a treat and the MO was to dash up to the individual from behind or block their path in front. To the best of my knowledge she was never seriously mistreated in all her 19 years. What DID transpire was that she made dozens of new friends (and had many more of what in human terms would equate with "hook-ups." ) On other occasions she would take a neutral attitude, as if to say "I can't tell what it is you see in him/her, but whatever." Without fail she "just knew."
Only once did she have a strong negative reaction towards someone in our house. A new acquaintance had come over. Instead of starting to schmooze, she jumped to the nearest elevated spot she could reach and began what could only have been an interrogation. When I heard, "This cat is weirding me out. I'm gonna have to leave" I didn't question Weasie's take on the guy. He hadn't approached her in any way, but there was something which didn't agree with her. And it didn't escape my notice that he didn't try to talk to or otherwise placate the feline who was firing meows his way. No one could've been part of my existence in any form if they weren't going to include my cat! Weeze "just knew" that this was somebody we were better off not knowing.
On the flip side of that, Weasie and I were in our usual places on the front stoop one fine summer evening in 1996 when the couple who'd recently bought a townhouse in the complex next door drove up. She walked along with me as I greeted them and we humans introduced ourselves. All of a sudden, Weasie made a 180-degree turn and scurried off down the street. The wife said, "Maybe she senses that I don't like cats, not that I would ever harm one but I just don't like them." The three of us shrugged it off and continued chatting. Lo and behold, a few minutes later here comes Weeze trotting purposefully back in our direction with a bird in her mouth! A hapless young house sparrow had settled down for the evening in a hedge somewhere not far away, low enough for the cat to capture it. Complicating matters was the fact that the poor avian was still alive. Mortally wounded internally and likely in tremendous pain, it gave off loud rasping noises as the proud huntress dropped it at the feet of our new neighbors. The husband stepped back cautiously, while the wife SHRIEKED and took off running halfway to the other end of the block. We men burst out laughing at her overreaction - there was no bringing her back to where we stood until it was certain that the sparrow was dead. I praised Weasie for her stalking skills and for taking a non-native, nuisance bird out of the population. Then I explained to the newbies that a cat would bring hunting trophies to the person(s) s/he owned, or wanted to get to know, as a sign of loyalty and affection. "And when the prey is still alive, there can be no higher praise." Before long it was proven that Weasie's instincts had once more been spot-on. These nabes are not only still in the same place after 15 years, which is saying a lot in this heavily transient community. They've been what all neighbors ideally should be and the kind of one I try to be: socially inclusive, watchful of others' property and personal well-being, and most importantly fun to be around. But how did a cat "just know" all this the very first time she saw them?
My cats have always been able to read people who came over who did not like cats. These people they would not leave alone. Most people I know love them. I don't know many others who don't but one person who disliked cats was my mom so I couldn't very well tell her not to come and visit.
But it was kind of funny that a couple of my cats would just sit and stare at her. They didn't do this to anyone else who liked kitties but my mom and one non-loving cat friend of mine got this treatment.
My mom would ask me "Why is that cat staring at me?" I told her I had no idea other than the cat was trying to figure out how anyone could not like cats.
My cat is very observant and alert and will go to the window and door an look to see who is coming or watches when you leave. When someone comes into the house he jumps them in a fun playful way with with a lot of ummmp where he can knock you over if you are thin and not ready.
Jasper keeps his distance, until he decides to accept you into the "pack". Once you are in though, he will greet you, and put his head under your hand. As for men, he is fine with them, he knows that they are all temporary, and he is permenant, and of course, all men are verbally told of their "status" in the pack.
The man who is now my husband was the only man my first cat ever liked!
There you go! They "just know."
Just now I remembered something funny that occurred in January of 1993, when Puppy was still with Weasie and me. One weekday evening the doorbell rang. As I headed for the door, both of my catolescents took off running in front of me. They sat down in the foyer and blocked my way. So I stood on tiptoe and looked through the peephole in the door. On the steps was a young man toting a clipboard. My neighborhood is popular for petitioners and solicitors, but few visit during the colder months. None had canvassed the area since the cats had moved in. Something told them that I shouldn't be opening the door regardless.
OTOH they (and from March '93 on, Weasie) never did prevent me from getting hit up by Jehovah's Witnesses or any other signature/donation collectors. My hunch is that it had to do with how cat-friendly those folks were perceived as. The clipboard carrier who was led to believe no one was home but cats must've had a dog. Of course it's more fun to think that my felines had sales pitch detectors that were sounding off.
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I have a friend who is a wonderful & a very gentle person , but, well, he is over 6'6" and sort of looks like Herman Munster and he walks like him, too. Whenever he comes into the house, Sophie's hair stands straight up like Alfalfa's and she makes a mad dash for under the bed where she hides in a rolled up braided rug. Nothing I can say, no cat treat will coax her out of her spot.
The thing is is that this is a guy who loves animals and was very kind to my other cats & would never hurt a single soul. I guess he is just so huge..... I'm not sure.
__________________ ******************
People may not recall what you said to them, but they will always remember how you made them feel .
All cats are different. We had a Siamese, he pretty much disliked everyone but his "Mama". Jasper bolts at the sight of kids, whereas Beau, gleefully jumped in the middle of any loud melee of kids. He had to be right in the middle of the noise.
Cats intuitively pick up on emotions, I once saw a man who was very angry, he went to sweep a cat off the table, and the cat dug its teeth into him. I had never seen that cat act that way before. It was not my cat, I was at a friend's home. No one would throw one of my cats of of their perch.
My cats have always been able to read people who came over who did not like cats. These people they would not leave alone. Most people I know love them. I don't know many others who don't but one person who disliked cats was my mom so I couldn't very well tell her not to come and visit.
But it was kind of funny that a couple of my cats would just sit and stare at her. They didn't do this to anyone else who liked kitties but my mom and one non-loving cat friend of mine got this treatment.
My mom would ask me "Why is that cat staring at me?" I told her I had no idea other than the cat was trying to figure out how anyone could not like cats.
My vet told me that cats are more secured with people that don't like our dearly felins because they usually don't look them in the eyes. For a cat, beeing looked directly in the eyes is read as an act of agression.
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) On other occasions she would take a neutral attitude, as if to say "I can't tell what it is you see in him/her, but whatever." Without fail she "just knew." 
We men burst out laughing at her overreaction - there was no bringing her back to where we stood until it was certain that the sparrow was dead. I praised Weasie for her stalking skills and for taking a non-native, nuisance bird out of the population. Then I explained to the newbies that a cat would bring hunting trophies to the person(s) s/he owned, or wanted to get to know, as a sign of loyalty and affection. "And when the prey is still alive, there can be no higher praise." Before long it was proven that Weasie's instincts had once more been spot-on. These nabes are not only still in the same place after 15 years, which is saying a lot in this heavily transient community. They've been what all neighbors ideally should be and the kind of one I try to be: socially inclusive, watchful of others' property and personal well-being, and most importantly fun to be around. But how did a cat "just know" all this the very first time she saw them? 
