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I have a friend who has a cat named Snowy. Perhaps, you
would have guessed correctly that the cat is all white.
When it was a kitten, it was picked up from a drain
below a HDB flat and given to my friend. I remember
visiting my friend when the cat was still a kitten and
how we would play with the cat using just a strand of
woollen string. All it took to entice the nimble cat was
to dangle the end of the string in front of it. The
flurry creature's lovely eyes would be fixed on the end
of the string and it would try to pin down the string.
Its obsession with the string never ended each time I
pull the string away. It seemed so innocently gullible,
cute and adorable. It was fun and entertaining for both
player and 'victim'. After
playing with it, I would stroke it and tease it
affectionately. I did not visit my friend for a number
of years and when I finally did, Snowy had already grown
into a lovely and majestic-looking feline creature. It
regarded me with suspicion and no amount of gentle
persuasion could endear myself to it. When I tried to
stroke her on the head, she snarled and raised her paws
threateningly. It had grown into a mean predatory
creature that its species are well-known for. Cats like
the lion, tiger or cheetah are known as the ultimate
predatory machines. They hunt and kill their prey in a
truly magnificent manner. They also mark out their
territorial boundaries and defend them vigorously
against intruders. However, I found out that the
difference in its behaviour went beyond the simple
explanation of growing up.
"She's not very friendly, is she?" I remarked to my
friend. My friend picked up the cat and scolded the cat
tenderly. In the hands of my friend, she was
as domesticated as can be.
She knew and acknowledged her master. My friend then
explained Snowy's behaviour to me. It turned out that
its behaviour had been borne out of the cat's
experiences with visitors to the house. In fact, it was
one particular visitor who had caused the change in
particular.
This person is my friend's younger brother who
dropped in occasionally. He liked to play with the cat
excessively. Snowy was still a young cat then. There is
a saying that a cat has nine lives and it is quite
likely that Snowy might have used up some of them
already. This cruel visitor liked to throw the cat up in
all kinds of manner just to see how the cat would land
on its feet. A cat has an innate ability to always land
on it feet somehow and this feline's ability was a
source of cheap entertainment for him. Other times, he
would pounce on the cat unexpectedly to frighten it.
Thus, Snowy developed a distrust for visitors to the
house and one could hardly blame her for it.
One lesson we can learn from the story, is that
experiences play a great role in our lives. In many
ways, we are conditioned by our experiences. Can we
expect Snowy to greet visitors in a friendly manner
after being bullied by a cruel visitor? In the same way,
a lot of our reactions to situations are conditioned by
our past experiences. If someone treats us kindly, we
learn to treat others kindly. If we have been cheated by
a stranger, we would always view a stranger with
suspicion. When we experience rejection, we become more
careful not to face the hurt again. If we examine our
past experiences, we can always find links that explain
the way we are now. It is a
learned behaviour. Consciously or otherwise,
we all learn from our experiences. |
