Friday, October 3, 2008

Pet Blessing

You know you're in a Catholic country when...

Coming up this weekend two places in Metro Manila are offering 'Pet Blessing'. One of these places is actually within walking distance from my condo. When I saw this sign I found myself wondering if my cat, Daphne, would appreciate getting a blessing from a Catholic priest. Although the blessing is happening within walking distance from where we live the act of getting her there isn't the most pleasurable in cat terms. I would have to shove her into a cage (which she hates), carry her outside into the loud traffic (which she hates), and stand up in a line up of dogs (which she hates) to wait for her blessing. That's a lot of effort from both Daphne and me. But then there is also the question of religion. Is Daphne religious? I have no idea. I've never seen her praying. I've never seen her reading a little cat-sized bible. And if Daphne is religious I don't even know what religion she is. I'm not Catholic so maybe Daphne isn't either. But since Aimee is Catholic maybe Daphne has decided to be Catholic as well. Or, maybe, Daphne follows a special cat religion. I think a cat religious bible would be rather short. The first first pages would talk about how Kitty God created Earth and all its comfortable places to nap. This Earth also has an over abundance of delicious kitty meals to eat and beautiful gardens to poop in. Kitty God then created humans to act as the personal slaves for the cats. And that's it; that's the Kitty Bible. I'm sure the kitty clergy originally intended to have more chapters written but since they spent most of their time napping, eating the occasional mouse and getting high off catnip the rest of the kitty bible never got finished.

I like the idea of a pet blessing. It gives pet owners the peace of mind that their pets are being cared for by God as well. Even if you're not Catholic it's an intriguing idea to think that some greater power is keeping your pets safe when you're not around. But shoving my frightened cat into a cage and dragging her down to the Pet Blessing? I don't know ... I doubt my cat would appreciate that. So no pet blessing for Daphne this time. Maybe next time but until then, I have faith that Daphne's own personal Kitty God will keep her safe.

Kitty God blesses you all (maybe not the dogs)...