Cat Attack

I have a big, fat, orange cat named Rosa. She is a gentle kitty and enjoys roaming around the back yard, especially in the evening when there are plenty of bugs to chase. There is a gray tomcat on this farm circles his territory every morning and evening, hunting. He is scrawny, only half Rosa’s size, but whenever they cross paths, the gray tom attacks. He’s a better fighter, and usually sends Rosa home bleeding.
I try to keep these two cats apart, and usually if I sit outside the gray tom won’t get too close. But last night, sitting in the grass with Rosa within arms reach, I turned around and saw the gray tom getting ready to pounce on Rosa’s tail.
When I tried to break up the fight, the gray cat just wouldn’t leave. I shouted and chased him. This usually works, but he just arched his back and growled, refusing to leave and let me get Rosa to safety. Instead, he lunged at my shin. I have several deep scratches and four puncture wounds that still haven’t stopped bleeding.
It was a stupid move, for the cat. He could hurt me, but he couldn’t stop me. I got a piece of wood and walloped him good. He finally ran off.
Why would a cat do something so dumb, like attack an animal ten times its size? In that moment, blood running down my leg, I really hated that cat. I would have crushed its head under my heel if I could.
Before he ran off, the cat ran around me and picked up a half-dead bird. He had been hunting, and I, unwittingly, was between the tom and his kill. He had fought to be able to get to his food, his sustenance.
How often do people lash out at us, and we don’t know why? How often does someone provoke us with unkind words or rude behavior, and our response is anger and hatred? We can’t see beyond our own pain. We want to crush its source, to prevent anyone or anything from hurting us again.
How often do we react without understanding what we are reacting against? In nature, unless you’re talking about a rabid or demented animal, every behavior has a logical reason. The gray tom was protecting his territory, and his food.
The next time someone hurts you, look beyond the action. What prompted the bad mood, the mean comments, the rude gesture? That person may be hurting far worse than you can imagine. They may have lost a job, lost a fight, lost a friend. They may have endured hurtful experiences that go ten, twenty years into their past and were never reconciled. They may simply be having a bad day. They might be on their way to an important job interview when you, unwittingly, block their way.
The next time someone attacks you, look beyond your own pain. Try to see the whole situation. Hold out a hand of healing instead of a hand of hate. If I could have given the gray cat his bird, he would have left me unscathed. I couldn’t see what he wanted--the food he needed to survive. Make sure that you never block someone’s way to the love and support they need to steer them through life.