In article , John F.
Eldredge wrote:

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On Sun, 18 Jul 2004 19:41:42 -0500, "Pat"
wrote:

EOM

Sorry - again ---- How TERRIBLE of me.



I mostly take showers, but, one night recently, I decided to take a
tub bath. Cinders came into the room, hopped up on the edge of the
tub, and got a good head-scratching. I was amused that she didn't
seem to notice, or at least care, that the last two inches or so of
her tail were dangling into the water.


Clifford (RB) was a large cat, coal black except that the last inch of
his extra-long and thick-furred tail was snow white. As far as we could
tell, the tail had some autonomy. He never completely worked out who
was in charge, after, for example, his experiences as a kitten when a
white blob would chase him, no matter how hard he ran, no matter how
many times he looked over his shoulder.

One of my luxuries is a bubble bath. Clifford would climb on to my chest
and curl up, purring, and forget the status of his tail. As it got
increasingly waterlogged, and he cheerully switched it, it would start
to feel as if I was being clubbed! So, I'd have to reach down
periodically and wring out his tail.

Clifford definitely understood the game of hide and seek, but considered
it very much a rules violation if he was found merely because his tail
stuck up. He made it clear that he believed his tail to be invisible
when playing such games.