We've all heard it.

“I'm just not a cat person.”

Fair enough.

Cats aren't always interested in making a great first impression. They probably won't run across the room because you walked through the door. You can't call their name and assume they'll come. And reaching down to pet a cat you've just met without first receiving approval can be, let's say, optimistic.

Cats have boundaries.

And maybe that's part of why they're so often misunderstood.

You don't really choose the moment

With cats, affection tends to happen on their terms.

You can buy the bed, and they'll choose the box.

You can call them seventeen times with no response, only to discover they've been sitting three feet away watching you the entire time.

You can spend all evening trying to get their attention, then the second you open your laptop, there they are.

But eventually, something happens.

They choose your lap.

They start waiting outside the bathroom door as though you've been gone for several difficult years.

You learn that one meow means I'm hungry, another means where are you?, and a third apparently means I saw something outside and everyone needs to know immediately.

And suddenly, you're in.

This is how it happens

One day you're saying you're “not really into cats.”

A few months later, you're comparing water fountains and somehow have opinions about nonporous, elevated glass bowls.

Your camera roll has 400 photos of the same animal sleeping in slightly different positions.

You stop moving because they're comfortable.

You have a preferred brand of treats.

You know exactly which cardboard box cannot be thrown away under any circumstances.

And somewhere along the way, you realize:

Oh.

I'm a cat person.

Maybe cats aren't hard to love

Maybe they're just easy to misunderstand.

Cats tend to ask us to pay attention. To notice the small things. To respect when they want space and appreciate when they choose closeness.

And when a cat does choose you, there's something pretty special about knowing they didn't have to.

So we'll keep saying it:

For cat people. And for those who don't know it yet.