KittyPeter's Big Adventures 2
How perfect can life be for a cat?
MetPet.com Staff Writer and designated Peter
Feeder
Supernatural happenings
Every now and then we find KP
sleeping snugly in the back of the hall closet. It's a very
deep closet and in the back, behind an assortment of bikes and
umbrellas, is a rolled up summer rug underneath a stack of folding
deck chairs. KP sleeps back there in the near darkness
probably listening to everyone in the house looking for
him...again.
We know he's there because that
is the only time the closet door is ajar. In fact, that's
the only time the door is open for any length of time.
Now we have tried to open the
door by pulling on the handle without turning it. The door
stays shut. We are sure that the door doesn't pop open of
its own accord. We are also sure that everyone snaps the
door shut when they've done their business and checked to make
sure that there is no cat inside. We know that because
everyone is on the look out for KittyPeter.
Nevertheless, every few days,
when we are unable to find him anywhere else, he appears inside
the closet. We have seen him open sliding closet doors by
working the edge with his paw. This new trick about turning
the handle and slipping inside and closing it again is quite an accomplishment for a 15
pound cat. It would be quite an accomplishment for a 30 pound
cat.
Candycane Tails
How happy is
your cat and how can you tell? Well, we've figured out that
KP is happier than he has ever been.
We're not even taking it on just
gut feel. We've actually tracked how often he whizzes
through the house with his tail curved like a candy cane (a sure
sign) and how frequently he play attacks the dogs. His
whizzing is approaching three times a day and his attacking the
dogs is up to once a day on average.
Given his generally sleepy
nature, that's a big deal for KP. What has caused this shift
in personality? We think it's the change in season.
The longer days with more sunlight and the general warmth of
spring. We're also expecting even more happy cat days in the
summer.
TV skewed
We've always
been amused by how other people's cats watch TV endlessly. They
try to catch race cars on the screen, watch documentaries about
rodents and even watch bouncing tennis balls.
KP has ignored the TV completely
even when someone sets him directly in front of it and points at
moving objects. Pictures of other cats, mice, birds, balls
of yarn, etc. haven't moved him at all.
Lately though, we've noticed an
odd thing. When he sits next to the TV and turns to look at
it from the side, he suddenly becomes interested. His eyes
become huge and he watches the screen as if he's never seen it
before. Perhaps that's actually the case.
Instead of seeing the images head
on, he sees them flat, from the side. We can't tell if this
is because he's nearsighted or if there's something else going on
here.
We have read about research that notices that how quickly a cat
thinks affects his ability to see TV images. The faster a
cat processes information, the less likely he is to be able to
register TV images. We don't know about watching TV from the
side though.
Self-taught hunting maven
Having always read that cats learn
hunting techniques from their mothers, we are always surprised by
KP's acquired skills. As a kitten, he couldn't catch a mouse
if you stuck it on a plate under his nose.
Today he will, when given the
chance to play outside, nab a field mouse like the expert he
is. The question is, where did he learn those skills?
There is the chance that he
learned through trial and error. The problem is that there
have been few trials and few errors.
Maybe he's catching up on
episodes of Nature or Animal Planet while everyone else sleeps.
Maybe that's where the remote went to.
The danger of burbs
Now that KittyPeter has changed from an urbanite to a suburbanite, he does enjoy more access to the outdoors than
ever before. That
access, however, shouldn't include being out all night carousing
in the mice-rich brush lining the creek.
However, after searching and
calling for him for about 3 hours recently, KP got his first
camping experience. Early in the morning, he was rubbing
face against the glass patio doors patiently waiting to be let in
to sleep it off.
He wasn't any worse for wear
which is more than his human companions could say. As the weather
turns warmer, we're expecting more late night arguments about his
outdoor camping urges.
Hot air heaven
Having come from
a house with overhead vents, Peter has been finding a bit of
heaven on the floor. He's discovered that great space right
on top of the floor grates when the heater's pumping.
It's an even better space when
there's carpet on the floor and he can roll over onto his back and
just bask in the warmth. Ideally, he can waaah loudly enough
to get someone to play with his new favorite Plume toy.
He gets all four feet up in the
air and waits for someone to come by and wave a feather
just out of reach. He won't even move for the sound of cans
opening or the smell of expensive liver treats.
The only thing that moves this
fat cat is the heater being turned off.
Related Information:
KittyPeter's Big
Adventures 1
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