There’s a lot of Really Important Stuff our adventurous and clever cats can teach us

JUST having a cat about the place can relax us and lead to a longer life.

Often content to sit around, purring contentedly once they’ve had their food and cuddles, it’s a fact that humans’ blood pressure and heart rate can slow down, too, just by being near them.

But we can also learn an awful lot from our cats, as everyone from ordinary people to the great writer Ernest Hemingway have acknowledged.

A new book takes a look at what our feline friends can teach us, with wonderful photos to go with each lesson — and as author Cynthia L Copeland points out, one moggie even guides her owner up mountains!

“When avid climber Craig Armstrong adopted Millie, an abandoned kitten, from a Utah shelter, he never imagined that she would become his climbing partner,” says Cynthia.

“He felt guilty leaving her home alone, though, so trained her to accompany him.

“With no fear of heights, remarkable balance and a willingness to take risks, Millie often leads the way on their ascents now!”

The mystifying thing about our pet cats, compared to dogs, is that we often don’t witness their most exciting, death-defying adventures.

Left to go off on their own, unlike dogs, our cats may have thrilling lives, padding across impossibly narrow, terrifyingly high girders, leaping from one rooftop to another, but we never see it for ourselves.

“Deep within even the most spoiled house cat resides a feral and fearless wildcat,” enthuses Cynthia.

“Despite being creatures of habit with an affinity for comfort, cats crave adventure.

“They’re true explorers, setting out alone day after day with no fixed destination, driven by curiosity and an innate desire to discover something new.

“Always on the prowl, ready to pounce, cats take remarkable risks to defend their turf — or simply for a thrill.

“That their behaviour frequently defies explanation is part of their mystery and allure.”

Ernest Hemingway famously loved cats simply for their honesty — and extra parts!

“Hemingway admired cats for what he called their absolute emotional honesty,” Cynthia reveals.

“People may hide their feelings, but a cat, he declared, does not.”

He shared his home in Key West, Florida, with more than 30 cats, one of which was a polydactyl (six-toed) cat named Snow White, which was given to him by a ship’s captain.

Dozens of descendants of Snow White still live on the property today, also sporting six toes.

If only they could talk, our cats could also teach us how to find our way home, on foot, from hundreds of miles away, and how to survive while doing so.

“For instance, two months after slipping away from her owners while on an RV camping trip in Daytona Beach, Florida, in 2012, Holly, a four-year-old tortoiseshell cat, walked 200 miles back to her house in West Palm Beach,” reveals Cynthia.

“It was New Year’s Eve when a weak and emaciated Holly staggered into a backyard a mile from where she had lived with her owners.

“Remarkable as Holly’s story is, even more amazing is the tale of Howie, an indoor Persian cat from Australia, who in 1978 travelled 1,000 miles back home after being left with relatives while his family was on vacation.”

Which just goes to show that, for all they get up to and all they know, most cats are happiest just being at home with their loving owners.

Really Important Stuff My Cat Has Taught Me, by Cynthia L Copeland, is published by Workman Publishing, ISBN No. 978-1-5235-0148-9, priced £9.99.