I will be brutally frank and state boldly that I am not a cat person. Dogs are my preference. Now that I have incurred the wrath and enmity of all the cat lovers in South Africa, let me alienate another important segment of the population: the females. On what grounds would I do that willingly? It is simple: I equate cats with females and dogs with males.

The basic dichotomy between cats and dogs is that dogs offer unconditional love whereas cats are more detached, remote and complicated. Not to put too fine a point on it, cats are moody creatures.

Whenever I arrive home, all three of our dogs, a toy Yorkshire Terrier, a Maltese cross and a German Shepherd will, without fail, welcome me unreservedly. Whether they are hungry or tired, they will wag their tails and nuzzle me in expectation of no more than a perfunctory pat.

Izzy and Zaggy assisting me in writing a blog

On the other hand cats are capricious creatures. When they are hungry, they will wrap themselves around one and show affection by purring uncontrollably whereas when they are replete they will adopt a haughty manner and studiously avoid one.

Personally there are only two reasons why I will tolerate cats: their toilet habits and their dramatic gestures. On acquiring a new cat, the toilet training is significantly easier than that of dogs. By merely placing them in a cat litter, from that moment onward, they will without fail do their ablutions in it. The second reason is their dramatic expressions. As if they are divas, they will strut their stuff, curl themselves up into a ball endearingly or sulk around with pouting lips.

My sneaking suspicion is that they are surreptitiously attending Acting School has yet to be confirmed. It is either that or an innate ability to frustrate one and engage one in equal measure. If they were not so damned cute, soft and cuddly, maybe we would not be so smitten by them.

I was again reminded of this ability to be so winsome when Alesha showed me some pictures this morning [14092014] of our feral kitten, Cosmo, sleeping. His posture reminded me of a fairy in a pantomime because it was so poised.

Then I remembered these pictures that I received a week ago which illustrate the natural acting ability of these felines divas.