![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ilove.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/O5A2640.jpg\" "\\"_O5A2640\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nLove at first sight at the animal shelter<\/h2>\n– It seems that a lot of cat-related stuff is featured within \u2018Bilingual News.\u2019 How did your life as a cat-owner begin?<\/h3>\n
\u201cI had always wanted to live with a cat. But honestly, there was also a kind of fear. To care for a life other than your own is such a huge responsibility. As a kid, I used to have goldfish and insects as pets. However, I inevitably let them die and ended up crying so hard. My mother scolded me by saying that it would be impossible for me to ever take in a cat or a dog. But I could never get the desire to have a cat out of my head. I even continued to tell the people around me how much I wanted one. Finally, one of these people said, \u2018You\u2019re an adult now \u2013 why don\u2019t you just go get one?\u2019 So I went to an animal shelter in Otsuka and found one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I was to get a cat, finding one at a shelter was my only option. So I searched for shelters in Tokyo online and found one in Otsuka. The website had pictures of cats that needed to be adopted. And there was one cat in particular that just had the most beautiful fur \u2013 it looked like an Abyssinian. So I was actually on my way to get her when I encountered Kuma-chan. Though I wasn\u2019t even looking for a black cat, Kuma-chan was the only critter that was looking at me and meowing. It was like he was talking to me, all the while the other cats were busy minding their own business. He was only about three months old back then, but he definitely knew how to promote himself. A staff member at the shelter quickly intervened, asking me if I wanted to hold him. The moment he was in my arms, I knew he was the one.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I used to fantasize about having a cat, I imagined how I would name it. And for some reason, I always felt that \u2018Kuma-chan\u2019 would be the right name if I ever got one. Then once I actually had him, I started to think maybe it\u2019s not a very stylish name. So I actually re-named him \u2018Koa,\u2019 which means \u2018courage\u2019 in Hawaiian. However, maybe because of all those fantasies about the name \u2018Kuma-chan,\u2019 every time I tried to call him \u2018Koa\u2019 I\u2019d end up going \u2018Ku, Ku, Kuo-a-chan?\u2019 It only took two days for me to decide to go back to the name Kuma-chan.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJust as I had imagined, it\u2019s been a lot of fun. Our relationship is not \u2018master-slave\u2019 like it is with dogs. There is more freedom. However, I\u2019m surprised by how tame he has become. He follows me wherever I go. I\u2019d imagined cats to be more distant, but he likes to be get close. I\u2019ve also found that I\u2019m not as fastidious as I thought I was. I realized that I don\u2019t really care if my couch and curtains get all torn up. That\u2019s what cats do \u2013 and that\u2019s the way Kuma is. I am surprised at myself for not feeling any anger about the damage. See, this couch is quite new, too, but I don\u2019t care at all about the way it looks.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, indeed. I think they smell very good. It\u2019s like the smell of a futon left in the sunshine… I love the way his paws smell, too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe is mischievous and stubborn. And yet, he never acts out of spite or raises his voice. I suspect that he doesn\u2019t know how to get angry. Once, when I hired a pet-sitter, he wasn\u2019t afraid of the stranger at all. In fact, he was soon fawning. However, sometimes when I am working, he\u2019ll come right in front of my computer and refuse to move. I ask him kindly to move over but he completely ignores me. To put it nicely, I guess he is very strong-minded.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think he sees me as his mother. He\u2019ll raise his tail and bat his paws on me. Because he\u2019s lived in this house since he was a baby, part of me hopes that he kind of thinks of me as his parent. But right now, I think we are more like roommates. I cannot train him to be part of a master-slave relationship like you can with dogs. At the same time, I must turn on the vacuum cleaner every now and then, which must be very inconvenient for him. So I guess we are equal in that sense.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know\u2026 I think he understands his name, though. Or I should say rather, that I hope he does. I think I understand most of his meowing with some degree of accuracy. Most of the time he just wants me to pat him it seems.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI use Japanese most of the time. But when I\u2019m in a hurry – like when I need to warn him about a danger, I turn to English. This is another thing that has kind of surprised me \u2013 but when I talk to him, I use baby language. Until recently, I didn\u2019t understand the people who show off pictures of their cats and dogs. I had thought they all pretty much just look the same. But now I notice that the photo album in my iPhone is filled with photos of Kuma-chan. And I consistently talk to him. For example, when I was changing the bed sheets, he jumped up on them and I said, \u2018Oh honey, you don\u2019t have to help me with this.\u2019 I know it\u2019s ridiculous, but this is what happens to everybody once they get a cat. That was a discovery for me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt pet shops, kittens are separated from their families and kept alone in cages even though that\u2019s when they\u2019re supposed to be learning about sociality. My friends abroad are usually shocked to see how pet shops are run in Japan. They are disappointed to see the way living creatures are sold in a supposedly advanced country – Japan. I think it is simply because of ignorance. If people knew about what is going on in pet shops, I\u2019m sure they would prefer to go to shelters. So I basically try to talk about the facts I\u2019ve discovered.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cToxoplasma does not effect cats so much, since they rarely come in contact with rats. But the disease is still being researched. I don\u2019t feel my own cat is unsanitary – and I think a lot of cat owners feel the same way. I don\u2019t mind him drinking out of my own cup, but there are still some things we have to be very careful about.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIndeed he does. Everything I do turns into a cat-related event. When I go through the news, I stop and carefully read anything related to cats and animals. I used to just skip over these things after a quick glance. And every time I find an article like, \u2018Twenty things all cat lovers do when\u2026,\u2019 I just can\u2019t help but read them even though I know they are pretty much the same every time. Moreover, after I was featured on that famous radio show, I found out that one of the show\u2019s host (Tanaka-san) is a total cat-lover. Once we started talking cats, he was completely absorbed. Even during the commercial breaks, he showed me his cat photos and I quickly came to feel very close to him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think dog-lovers are more active. They have to go for walks. It\u2019s too much trouble for me to have to always do that. The way dogs beg for my attention also tires me out. I like the way cats stay independent. It\u2019s like a friend you share your room with. We don\u2019t bother each other. That\u2019s the kind of relationship I like. But then again, I do talk to him in baby language… so I don\u2019t really know\u2026 (laughs)\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor one thing, he has the power to heal, which makes me more relaxed and easy-going. I have a habit of keeping myself too busy with things all the time. But then I look at the cat, and all he does is eat, play and sleep. It makes me realize that\u2019s the way animals should be. Holding Kuma-chan also makes me sleepy from time to time. It\u2019s like I am forced into \u2018relax-mode.\u2019 Another important thing is that I became aware of how much responsibility it takes to care for another life. Before I had Kuma, when I was searching online for info about caring for cats, I read some stories about people who treated their cats violently after becoming irritated with them. So when Kuma came to live with me, I was a bit relieved to find out that I\u2019m not the type of person who would ever do such a thing. Living with Kuma-chan gave me self-confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n– So you knew about animal shelters beforehand\u2026<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n– How did you come up with his name?<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n– Have you made any new discoveries since you\u2019ve started living alongside a cat? <\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n– In your podcast, you mentioned how much you love the way cats smell.<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n\u2013 Can you tell us a bit about Kuma\u2019s personality?<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nCats and People as Equals<\/h2>\n
– How do you define your relationship with Kuma-chan?<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n– Do you think he understands your words?<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n– When you talk to him, do you speak Japanese or English?<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n– You talk about pets during your podcast, such as shelters and pet shop information.<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n– Another recent topic during your show was toxoplasma, an infection that originated in cats\u2026<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nLiving with cats gives us confidence<\/h2>\n
– In your serial column, photos of Kuma-chan make a regular appearance. And the \u2018Bilingual News\u2019 t-shirt features the \u2018Neko Seijin\u2019 (\u2018Cat Planetarian)\u2019 design, which takes its motif from Kuma-chan. It seems that Kuma-chan plays a variety of roles\u2026<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n– Do you feel there\u2019s much of a difference between cat and dog owners?<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n– What is the biggest change you\u2019ve undergone since you started living beside a cat?<\/h3>\n