#and the great crisis of both a rainstorm AND the vacuum (The Horrors)

[curiosity-killed]

i know i’ve rambled about this before but I think about it a lot with the various like “can reptiles/fish/non cat/dog pets ACTUALLY love you back” posts and articles about how to tell when your cat loves you and I just sometimes think it’s a little silly to act like love is both this grand ineffable mystery in regards to pets (or people) and something to be measured and assessed

like does Baloo let me hold her paw for a long time (a Measure of Trust according to many articles)? No, she doesn’t really like having her paws touched. But when she gets her head stuck in the back of a chair or her scarf’s caught on something, she stills the moment I touch her head and lets me—a big, strange creature (who frankly often runs into furniture and doorframes)—manipulate the most fragile and vital part of her body in order to help her.

love is an action imo. your dog doesn’t need to be able to comprehend the words ‘I love you’ to feel loved, and your snake doesn’t need to purr to show that it trusts you and likes being around you. love is going to look a little different in every setting and trying to both box it in and demand it meet certain criteria is just...kind of dumb

#my sister's cat insists on sleeping curled up in my sister's arms every night #meanwhile baloo often likes to sleep on this one corner of the living room rug she's obsessed with #do i think that means baloo loves me less? no?? #idk i think why this type of thinking picks at me is like #i think if we had a broader and less....not distrusting exactly but insecure #view of love #we'd be better /at/ loving both pets and people #people wouldn't dismiss cats as being too aloof and unfriendly #or dogs who don't match up to their doting ideal #and in the same vein #people would be better at recognizing love as it's offered in its myriad forms #whether that's clinging or from a distance #ANYWAY #baloo is currently passed out on her favorite rug corner but positioned so she can check on me periodically #after her grand adventure of briefly trying to run away to the hallway (she laid down outside my door and refused to move) #and the great crisis of both a rainstorm AND the vacuum (The Horrors) #and soon i'll go to bed and she'll hop up and hyper purr directly into my face until i turn off the light #she is very stupid and full of love #personal