Shelley, The Cat Who Loves Rock!

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My youngest cat, Shelley, is a musical cat.

He keeps me company when I’m listening to music. Often, it’s loud but he doesn’t mind a bit. In fact, he really loves listening. When the music starts to play, he assumes his position on the back of the sofa and remains there throughout.

In part, it may be that I’m there and he just wants company. But it’s not the whole truth. Often, I am there, but if no music is playing, he does not show up. However, when the music starts, even if he’s not in the room, he will very frequently appear and take his place.

My cat Shelley loves listening to music. As you can see, he has great taste! (He also likes Fleetwood Mac very much)

Posted by Asoka Selvarajah on Sunday, October 20, 2019

It’s a beautiful and precious thing. In truth, I have nobody else to listen to music with anymore. And even though he and I cannot discuss the music as such, I know he’s listening and liking it all. What more could you possibly ask?

Who could have imagined this, the day he showed up thin, starving, desperate alone? Just another hungry abandoned or wandering cat. Yet, within lay dormant the seeds of a special quality, ready to burst forth with blessing if watered and encouraged.

He sits beside me right now on the sofa as I write, with the Bruce Springsteen rocking in the background. What does he make of it all I wonder?

He has his favorites too. He seems quite fond of Fleetwood Mac! Maybe I should write and tell them? He hears a lot of Dylan and Springsteen, and seems content to do so. Right now, we’re listening to a live version of Thunder Road. As Bruce sings the opening verse, Shelley’s little eyes are lidded and his tail moves gently back and forth. Now he has laid his head on the sofa, his eyes open and attentive, as the pace of the song picks up.

I first noticed this tendency shortly after I took him in. He was such a timid little thing, and still very nervous. He didn’t even know how to play in the early days. So, when I wanted to watch my home cinema projector, I usually did so when he was on the other side of the house, so as to minimize the trauma of the loud volume.

Hence, I was astonished when he showed up beside me on the sofa, in the midst of a very noisy film! This was the first indication that, far from being afraid, he actually really liked it. Now by contrast, Hermes was almost never around when I watched my home cinema. Not out of fear, but he just prefers peace and quiet to loud racket.

Shelley is always a blessing. But especially, it’s a lovely and precious thing to me that he does this. It nurtures me to have him there when the music plays. I no longer have anybody to talk to about it. Nobody around here is remotely interested. So, in a way, he helps me by having this love of music in common with me.

No, he can’t talk or comment about it. Yet, I know he enjoys it, and that’s all that really matters.

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