Smart humans know that a cat has a mind of its own and in many ways can be as full of humor, intelligence and kindness as any human mind.

What's this "mind of its own" all about? It really frustrates some people who want a cat to act like a dog, slobbering and slaving over its master. Duh. No self-respecting cat would dream of behaving like that!

The cat is the most independent creature of all domesticated animals. To some humans, the cat's behavior can appear selfish and self-centered. Tsk, tsk. Such moral judgments ignore the reality of how a cat's mind works:  the cat behaves like number one....because it is number one!  Humans could learn much from this attitude; if you want to be perceived as strong and self-confident, then good grief, act like it!

Here are just a few of the many facts that make the feline mind so fabulous when compared to the human mind:

• The cat is self-cleaning; it's barbed tongue is ideal for getting out the dirt -- and its saliva even contains antibacterial solution! No need for deoderant or Dial in the cat kingdom.

• The cat is a naturally hygienic animal; a kitten's instinct to use a specific site for "going to the bathroom" is fully developed by 3 weeks of age! Way to go, kitty-cat.

• Cats have heightened senses; a cat can hear sounds a human ear is simply unable to hear; and they can detect the faintest high-pitched squeaks (all the better to hear a mouse in the house perhaps?).

• A cat's protruding eyes give it a wide angle of vision and superior peripheral vision.

• Cats noses are twice as senstitive to smells as human noses. In World War I, the British Army employed cats to act as gas detectors and a superior alarm system in the frontline trenches. Cats saved countless lives.

• The cat's pliant muscles and flexible spine allow it to curl in a circle to sleep or to rotate its body 180 degrees in mid-air! This snake-like (eeeks!) flexibility also gives the cat many graceful leaping movements, superior even to a gymnast or ballerina!

• Scientists have investigated the human relationship with cats and found that cat owners visted the doctor fewer times than NONcat owners. In the United States, fewer cat owners died during the year following a major heart attack than those in similar circumstances who did NOT own a cat.

  So humans, get a life --- get a cat!