“I have a faith, I am a practicing cat-cultist believer, and I think that the cat is a divinity to which one must submit. And I would love to live in a world governed by cats, which would govern much better because unlike humans they are not hypocrites, they are very efficient and I believe they are also fundamentally right “. The above ode to the cat is by Alberto Mattioli, music critic and journalist of ‘La Stampa’, as well as author of the cult book ‘Gattolico Praticante. Exercises of feline devotion ‘(Garzanti) who, on the eve of the National Cat Day, which occurs tomorrow, explains to Ruetir the reasons why the feline is, in his opinion, a “superior being”.
“Why superior? Simple, who would not want to be someone who does absolutely nothing in life but eat, sleep and be pampered? Only the cat has succeeded”, the journalist jokes. That he observes: “But he is not bad, the cat; if you behave properly, that is, you obey, he recognizes him. He is magnanimous, after all.” Mattioli then reveals that he owns two felines, “two males, which of course I adopted because cats can’t be bought”, he is keen to specify, “and they come from a cattery near Naples. This implies that they have two official names, Argante and Goffredo. but in reality they are known as Ciro and Salvatore, the protagonists of Gomorrah “.
The difference between a cat and a dog “is the difference between Einstein and Toninelli”, says Mattioli, who then gives some tips on living with felines. “It’s not difficult, under certain conditions,” he explains. “It is useless to try to tame the cat, we must hope that the cat tames us. The relationship with the cat cannot be equal, the cat is a superior being and you must adapt to this circumstance”. And his book ‘gattaro’, the only one on this subject among many of a completely different kind, was born because “I wanted to say what I thought, to put a little dots on the ‘i’s. That is, I think it is not enough to be believers , but it is also necessary to proselytize, and convert the greatest number of people to this faith “. How will you celebrate tomorrow? “For cats it is a party every day – Mattioli replies without hesitation – In life, I would like to be my cat”.
