On 1/13/2017 9:37 AM, John Kasupski wrote:

This kind of branches off from Joy's "Rain" post, but...anybody beside me ever
have a cat that could literally go all the way around a room or from the middle
of one room to the other end of the next room without touching the floor?

I've had two. My very first kitty, a calico named Natasha and usually called
Tasha for short, used to do that in the living room. She'd start from the couch,
jump onto the TV, and from there onto the playpen. She'd walk along the edge of
the playpen until she got to the other end and jump onto the table next to the
recliner in the corner, then leap to the recliner itself. From there, she would
launch herself at the bathroom doorway, catching the molding on one side to
propel herself across the doorway in mid-air...and upon getting to the molding
on the other side of the doorway she'd repeat the process to redirect herself
again...landing back on the couch where she started from. Then she'd sit there
in the middle of the couch looking at me as if to ask, "Wanna go around again,
fool?" And if you tried to grab her off the couch, she would indeed repeat the
entire act. This, of course, was part of her training the humans in the house,
and it was LESSON ONE: If a cat truly does not want to be caught...

That was when I was in my early twenties. I'll turn 59 this February - provided,
of course, that my current feline companion lets me live that long. She's a gray
Tabby named Minnie who just joined me in October, and she often goes from the
table in the middle of the dining room that my computer is on all the way to the
couch at the far end of the living room without touching the floor (by way of
three other tables and two recliners). Furthermore, from there she can easily
get from the couch to the adjacent hallway and finally land in front of the door
to the sun porch. Now, since the shortest distance between any two points is a
straight line, she could get from the computer table to the door and only put on
a third as much mileage if she went directly across the floor from the computer
table to the door - but what fun would there be in that? :-)

This has become part of Minnie's daily routine. We get up in the morning, and
when we get to the kitchen, she eats while watching me make coffee. Once I have
a hot cup of coffee in hand and head to the dining room table with it, she jumps
up to look out the dining room windows, and if I've neglected to open the blinds
so she can see outside, she'll remind me by banging noisily on the blinds with a
paw until I open them for her. After she looks out there, she goes to the living
room in the manner described above and stands on the back of the couch to look
out front - and again, if the blinds aren't open, she'll demand in her customary
manner that I open them for her immediately.

She gets downright indignant about it if I haven't opened the blinds before
sitting down with my cup of coffee! This morning, I remembered to open the
blinds for her. She's standing over there on the back of the couch as I'm typing
this, alternately looking out the window and over at me, giving me those slow
kitty-kiss winks when she catches me looking at her - but you know what? I don't
get those slow winks on mornings when she has to remind me to open the blinds!

I've only had her since October, but already I could write a book.

John D. Kasupski
Niagara Falls, NY


Yup. There's no education like a cat, is there?

A few months ago I did a humorous speech about cats and dogs. I started
by saying:

"Whether training involves a dog or a cat, the first and most important
thing is that the animal understands who is in charge. Once a dog
understands that you are the boss, he will do everything he can to
please you. Once a cat knows that you understand she is the boss, she
will be pleased."

Joy
Simi Valley, CA