Sometimes I feel like my life is a full-time, 24/7/365 cat psychology lab, and the only thing missing is the closed-circuit TV cameras.

I had to take the cats to the vet for their six-month wellness check earlier in the week. I was able to drop them off and let the vet do his thing with them, which was easier for me, but apparently not so much for Solomon and Gracie. They called to let me know that they were ready to come home, and they told me that Gracie was cooperative, but Solomon wouldn’t let them near him. I guess I can understand. I don’t like it when doctors try and examine me either, though I don’t try and bite them like he did.

I have to take him back in a week so they can try again, only this time I’m going to stay with him. Plus they gave me an anti-anxiety medication to give him the night before, as well as 90 minutes before I bring him in. The vet tech told me it would probably make him a little drunk, which should be interesting, but it should also help to calm him down so they can treat him.

The last time I took them in for a wellness check I stayed with them, and there were no problems. So this time I think he probably got weirded out because he didn’t know any of the people who were trying to examine him, and I think if I’d been there to act as an intermediary they would have fared better with him.

Once I got them home he was fine. He acted like nothing had happened, he hadn’t just tried to bite the vet and the techs who were trying to treat him. For shame, Solomon! If you only knew, you didn’t get out of anything. Your time is coming. . .

My cats really are a lot of fun. They keep me constantly entertained. You’d never know that they’re brother-and-sister litter mates, because they’re a study in opposites. Solomon is an extrovert, while Gracie is an introvert. Solomon is Mr. Personality, where Gracie is shy and retiring. Solomon is a big, clumsy oaf, and Gracie is feminine and dainty. Solomon lets it all hang out with his tail flung out behind him like a flag, while Gracie has hers curled around her feet when she’s sitting, and close to her body when she’s moving around. Solomon is really good at that look of wide-eyed innocence, where Gracie always looks mysterious, which is why I call her Gracie the Inscrutable. Solomon talks all the time, but Gracie rarely, if ever, says a word.

There are times when they’re playing with each other that one of them, usually Solomon, will run towards Gracie, and to escape, Gracie will leap about six feet into the air, bounding over Solomon, and make it into the next room. It’s hilarious to watch, and invariably they make me giggle whenever they play.

You may be wondering why I’m focusing on my cats like this. I pondered the same thing myself, and I realized that I learn things about God by studying my cats. I understand more about the way I relate to God ~ and the way He relates to me ~ by watching them relate to each other, and to me, and I’m always interested in learning and understanding more about God. Anything that will further my understanding of God is of definite interest to me, and if studying my cats will help me gain an understanding of God, well then so be it!

¹My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands. ²Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. ³Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. ⁴Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. ⁵Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD, and you will gain knowledge of God. ~ Proverbs 2:1-5, NLT.

The godly care for their animals, but the wicked are always cruel. ~ Proverbs 12:10, NLT.