My Roommate is a Cat

Episode 4

With every new week, My Roommate is a Cat feels more like a "how to" for new cat owners. Each episode explores different struggles that come with owning a cat and how Subaru learns to deal with them. This week, the focus is collars and taking your cat to the vet, as well as making sure not to feed your cat too much! Along the way, we continue to encounter the heartwarming moments that make this show such a sweet diversion every week, even if it's a few less than before.

So, the collar thing. My own cats (like Casey here, who originally arrived with one) do not have collars because they're strictly indoor cats, but they can be very important for outdoor cats or those who are prone to escape attempts. Cats are significantly less likely to be rescued than dogs are when they go missing, because of the assumption that wandering cats are just strays or outdoor pets who went a little too far from home but will return. Kawase seems to think it's essential for Haru to have one, and since she does go outside sometimes, I would concur. This prompts another stressful trip for Subaru to the pet store, where the clerk encourages him to get a cute collar because Haru is a girl.

I like the way the clerk offers her own advice for dealing with cats. She advises Subaru to see how Haru reacts, so she won't have to wear the collar—or can wear a different one—if she doesn't seem to like it. On his way up to the counter to pay for it, Subaru encounters another aspect of cat ownership he did not consider. An old woman behind him comes in with her calm old Persian, and they end up talking about vet visits. It's quickly revealed that Subaru hasn't taken Haru for a check-up yet. This is especially important for new cats, triply so if you found them as a stray. Stray Cats can carry diseases, and at the very least need to be vaccinated and spayed/neutered. The clerk recommends a vet connected with their store, so Subaru takes off there with Haru in her new cat carrier. The one thing I wish My Roommate is a Cat had shown this episode is the incredible ordeal it can be to get a cat into those carriers, although of course, Haru is new enough not to know that they mean a scary trip out of the house.

The vet visit is where Haru's portion of the story begins when we revisit these events in her flashback. Like most cats, she's terrified of this place. It isn't just that cats hate medical exams (cats always vary in how well they respond to a checkup), but that cats tend to be much more attached to their familiar territory than dogs. A trip outside the house is stressful because they're surrounded by the smells of other animals. This leads to a cute discussion between Haru and the neighbor's dog, who is far less afraid of the vet's office because he remembers times that he was hurting and couldn't go on walks, and the vet made him feel better. In typical dog fashion, he encourages Haru to look on the positive side of things. He also shares memories of Subaru's mom petting him, and now he looks across the yard at Haru and hopes that they will be friends. Unfortunately, Haru's still not too keen on playing with him, and Subaru takes notice.

Before that, we get the actual check-up, where Haru growls and hisses at what she thinks is torture. This seems to reinforce her idea that all humans are bad; she even wonders about Subaru, because he stands there and watches instead of "helping" her. From his end of things, we hear the vet mention that Haru is a little pudgy, likely due to overfeeding, and then he makes a crack about how skinny Subaru is by comparison. Subaru wonders how he could have overfed Haru when he never gave her treats, but then he realizes that he was filling her bowl too often to reinforce certain behaviors. This is not uncommon with pets; in my house, treat bags are shaken when we can't find a particular cat. Still, as the vet says, you have to be careful because of the health risks associated with obesity. While Haru isn't yet close to obese, it does fill Subaru with anxiety about how to properly care for her—especially when it turns out there was so much else he didn't know about how to be a cat owner.

Luckily, there are other people to help him out, including the clerk from the pet store. I think his interactions with her make it even clearer that Subaru's difficulty with people is due to social anxiety rather than actual misanthropy. He clearly wants to have a discussion with her about how he can feed Haru better, but he feels awkward about it. He worries that he's asking her to basically do her job while she's not on the clock. The clerk realizes what's going on and offers to talk to Subaru another time about cat diet tips, so all ends well. I think we'll continue to see ways that Haru helps bring Subaru out of his shell and closer to other humans. We already have the pet store clerk, but I'm guessing that Subaru will also get closer to his next-door neighbor thanks to their mutual pet ownership. After all, her dog really wants to be friends and misses Subaru's mom's attention.

Even as Subaru warms up to others, Haru's perspective remains the best part of the episode. It's just so much fun to see what the creators think a cat's opinion on all of this would be. I like the way that she tries to be "strong" at the vet in order to "protect" Subaru. The cutest part comes at the end with her collar. We found out she likes it so much because the jingle bell's sound reminds her of a pretty Siamese she saw wearing a collar once, so Haru thinks the bell's sound means "pretty." This causes her to roll around in delight, which unfortunately makes Subaru take the jingle bell away because Haru is annoying him while he's trying to write. Poor girl! I hope he gives it back later. Every little kitty deserves to feel pretty.

Rating: A-

My Roommate is a Cat is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Rose is a Ph.D. student in musicology, who recently released a book about the music of Cowboy Bebop. You can also follow her on Twitter.