Missy Kitty delivers her annual Christmas wishes

When you are a cat, you can only do so much.

Sure, you can twist your resident humans around your little paw with no trouble at all. But there are bigger and more important needs out there. And let's face it, cats are limited. Why God didn't give us opposable thumbs is still a big mystery.

While most humans are dealing this week with last-minute shopping, the real struggle will come when the credit-card bills arrive at the end of the month. That's when the real test of the "holiday spirit" begins.

So it will come as no surprise to many of you that cats aren't all that worried, if that's what "holiday spirit" is really all about. If you don't have a credit, you don't have bills.

But most of us cats do care -- about a lot of things.

No. 1, naturally, would be food. Have you ever met a cat that wasn't begging for more food? Of course not. That doesn't mean we're hungry all the time. It's just in our genes to see how much food we can get, even if we don't want it.

But there are a lot of you, cats and humans, who don't get enough to eat. Or you don't eat the right thing. Even though I've never paid a cent in taxes in any of my nine lives, I am aware that some tax dollars are spent to help many of you who need food. Recently, those funds were cut. My understanding is that less food assistance is supposed to be an incentive to go find jobs so you'll have enough money to eat. I don't buy that argument, but I'm just a cat.

Thankfully, there are many, many humans out there willing to help out. They donate to food pantries. They volunteer at church-sponsored dinners. My humans say a lot more churches are getting involved in this ministry.

While cats aren't all that religious, they understand how important it is to feed the hungry. So, on behalf of all cats, I applaud any human who understands this need and does something about it.

Another big need when temperatures stay below freezing for days at a time is keeping warm. I have my winter fur now, and I like playing in the snow, particularly when the birds gather at the feeder in the back yard.

But not all pets -- or their humans -- have warm clothing. So God gave humans opposable thumbs but took away their fur. Go figure.

Thankfully, many warm humans understand the need for proper coats and shoes and other clothing. If you haven't been through your coat closet recently, you might want to see what can be donated to those in need. Count that as part of your "holiday spirit."

Food and clothing are rock-bottom fundamental needs. Any cat knows that. But there are other needs that might not be so apparent, and the one that jumps out at this time of year is the need to care for and about one another.

Do you have any idea what a gift it is for a cat to snuggle into a warm human lap and have its ears rubbed and its fur stroked? Well, there are a lot of humans who need special attention, too. They are the lonely -- often by choice -- and the alone -- often not by choice.

Humans who are so quick to pet a cat are sometimes reluctant to reach out to another human. Isn't that amazing? All it takes is a few kind words, a couple of smiles, a gentle touch or a simple telephone call. Those old phone company ads had it right: "Reach out and touch someone."

So there you have it. These are my wishes for Christmas 2013. Feed the hungry. Put warm coats on those who are left in the cold. Take a moment to share whatever you want to call it: compassion, caring, attention.

I call it love.

You can too.

Merry Christmas.

Joe Sullivan, retired editor of the Southeast Missourian, is pleased and honored to be Missy Kitty's typist for her annual Christmas message.