Loving Cats In A Latino Household
I don’t know how many of you know this, but more old-school, traditional Latinos don’t like cats, in my experience. This is especially true in my family, where most older relatives can accept a dog as a pet for protection, but don’t understand the American way of babying and pampering pets.
Pets are seen for their function. Dogs protect. Cats hunt mice. No animal is allowed to sleep inside.
Right now, a stray cat I adopted is having a tumor on his paw removed. I know my older relatives have no idea why I took in a stray cat, got it vaccinated, gave him a name. I hear scoffing and snorting when I say I’m taking him to the vet.
I’m American. I come from a very pro-pet culture. And not every Costa Rican is like this, either…it’s typically the older ones. Younger Latinos adopt and pamper animals. There’s a big generational divide here, in my view.
Take an animal off the street? I can see how it’s a slippery slope. There are a lot of stray cats and dogs out there, and there’s no shortage of bad things that can happen to them. Loving these strays can and has resulted in heartache. When I was a child, I found and bathed a stray dog who was covered in fleas. I named him Bruiser.
He was hit by a car and killed shortly after.
