Empathy is the ability to feel, understand and be sensitive to others by vicariously experiencing another's thoughts, feelings and experiences. Would you say you're empathetic? I am, probably to a fault. I can't see anybody cry and not get teary eyed myself, even if I don't know why.
My cat, Tiger, fell down the stairs during the night the other day and has been at the vet most of the week. She peed in her bed because she couldn't walk to the litter box. I can almost guarantee you that at some point in your own life, you won't make it to the bathroom either. If you don't believe me, a little pill called Lasix will prove my point. She also bit my dad as he tried to put her in the cage. So? I refer you to the caption above. I think patience was lacking and so is my sympathy--for him. Tiger is getting better and hopefully will be able to come home tomorrow.
Are you a good patient when you don't feel well? Does a headache make you grumpy [bite]? Does a lack of sleep make you short-tempered [bite]? We all bite on occasion but if we show a little empathy, we might get a better response from the patient.
Angie is too kind to tell why her sympathy is lacking for me ----but I was trying to put the cat in a pet carrier at Angie's request and the cat bit me, an as a natural reaction (on my part) I slapped the poor hurt cat in the face, and did not get her into the pet carrier, my finger bled for a while and still hurts two days later. No sympathy from Angie to poor Dad, who took the cat to the vet the next day. "The cat should not bite Dad, Dad should not slap the cat", we are even. Dad
ReplyDeleteHmmm......Angie, I agree with Dad on this one. Pain can definitely cause one to be a bit defensive of oneself, even when one feels sympathy for another. I'm sure he felt sympathy, but it was probably a little hard to be empathetic when he was hurting as well. I think you need to give a little grace on this one. (You said you always wanted me to tell you what I really think.) Hopefully Tiger is mending and will soon be home and active again--and staying away from the stairs. You are a jewel, Angie!
ReplyDeleteYour blog is multi-faceted:) Somehow the plight of the cat and your dad's response - been there, done that... Note: cat should not jump rom the top of the fridge onto my husband's head when we are hugging... Unless he likes to do acrobatics in the air... At any rate, what I got out of this is a lesson on my own mortality. I think we all fear the lasix days of our old age but somehow, it helps to hear someone say it. Maybe we pussyfoot too much around topics that should be plainly discussed. Thanks for your straight-forwardness...
ReplyDeleteOkay, I am totally on your dad's side here! Maybe because I am not a "cat person", and they make me very uncomfortable sometimes, so I can definitely say that I probably would have knocked the cat halfway across the room if it had bitten me...out of pure fear!! Sometimes, we react quickly (and defensively) when we are "taken unaware". We don't have time to stop and think, "awww, poor kitty". So be glad you have your Dad to help take care of Tiger...some of us would not be so patient, LOL! And, by the way, another thing: At my age, I do not have to wait on lasix to prove your point about not being able to make it to the bathroom in time....enough said! You are still one of my favorite people in the world...cat lover that you are....and I hope I am still one of yours!! Love you, T.
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