What is an Anipal?

Hello friends!  Welcome to my latest Scribbling.  Do you remember some time ago I wrote about my social life on Twitter?  I thought I’d tell you a little more about it and try to define a term which will be familiar to many of you.  If you don’t have a social media account please bear with me, read on, and I hope you’ll be inspired to join our online community of anipals.

The anipal community is nothing less than a global phenomenon, one that I am honoured and proud to belong to.  But what is an anipal?  Who are anipals?

There are many who would say an anipal is a human who, on behalf of his or her pet, interacts with others online.  Rumour has it that there are even some who actually are humans who just have an affinity with animals.  Nonsense!  Well ok, perhaps it’s true that a human hand types the words on the screen but according to Staff (who’s had a lot of practice!) the persona of the anipal creates itself and evolves without any conscious thought from the human in question.  Each anipal has his or her own traits and personality and the ones we ‘talk’ to regularly become as well known to us as a member of our own family.  Anipals are drawn to other anipals and lifelong friendships are made; true, profound friendships that endure through good and bad times.

Anipals are all individuals yet in many ways they are very similar.  Many have their own way with words with some highly original spellings!  But no one ever has to explain what they mean because we are blessed with a mutual understanding that has no need for explanations. 

What defines an anipal?  If I had only one phrase to sum this up it would be ‘caring and sharing’.  We share the good times and the bad.  We laugh together at our ‘pawties’, we mourn together when a beloved friend passes OTRB (Over The Rainbow Bridge).  If an anipal has something to celebrate we shout it from the rooftops!  If someone has troubles or problems, we all gather round to support them.  We are bound together by an unspoken sense of community and, unlike some humans, we are not afraid to show we care.  If you read anipal tweets or online comments you will see hugs and kisses by the bucketful, we’re not embarrassed to express our feelings.  Above all else you will be struck by the humour in our conversations.  The anipals have their own brand of humour which is probably a manifestation of that touch of madness that lurks deep within us all!

The anipal community is a big worldwide family.  No – it’s more than that, much more.  Perhaps it can be explained as being part of a ‘global consciousness’.  Read a newspaper, watch the TV news and you will see so much about what is sad and bad in the world.  Is this the world we really want for ourselves?  No?  Well, we made it what it is and it’s up to us to change it.  Anipals understand this and I think that is why we have created an online world where we are bonded by the good and not the bad.  Every Sunday at 8pm UK time / 3pm EST a Twitter phenomenon occurs called Purrs For Peace.  Using the hashtag #Purrs4Peace many of the anipals post tweets aimed at spreading hope, comfort, gratitude and support for all those that need it.  We express sympathy for those who are sick or affected by world events.  We show support for the oppressed and afflicted and tell the world that we would like peace and understanding to reign.  We thank those who help anyone in need, we tweet about anything that we think would make a difference to the global community.  #Purrs4Peace only lasts for about ten minutes but our tweets are ‘liked’ and retweeted by many people who are not anipals which proves that it isn’t just us who wish for a better, fairer world; our words resonate with other people too.  This is what I mean by a ‘global consciousness’ and it’s heartening that non-anipals share our concerns.

To sum up, I would say that an anipal is a manifestation of that part of each of us that yearns to make the world a better place for everyone by sharing love, hopes, dreams and laughter.  If you are an anipal I hope I’ve done our world justice.  If you are not an anipal we would love you to join us!  Please follow me @SquirtTheCat to meet my friends and become part of the world’s biggest, happiest family.

I think that, for now, I’ve done what I set out to do – try and define anipals and what it means to be one.  I could write so much more about anipal life!  It’s not all serious stuff, there are the adventures, the regular gatherings, the glamorous pawties, the clubs…. If you’d like me to write more about Twitter and my pals, please say so and it will be my pleasure to do it.

Do you know what?  Before clicking ‘save’ I re-read this Scribbling a couple of times and you could be forgiven for believing that it was written by a human!  It wasn’t of course, it was written by me, a cat.  I am an anipal and I am proud and privileged to be one,

Your friend,

Squirt.  

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