Catscapades

As we discussed recently in a post, all cats come with unique and charming traits and may develop some interesting habits. I’ve known dozens of cats—each with something different about them. You probably have, too.

I’ve shared a lot here about Olivia. She almost always crosses her paws when she lays down, no matter what position she’s laying in. I don’t remember ever having a cat that crossed her paws like Olivia does. She also does this paw-waving thing before she jumps up into my lap. It’s almost like a greeting or she’s trying to pet me. I don’t know what it means, but it’s charming as all get out.

All cats stretch after a nap or a stint at the window or a frolicking playtime. We could learn from them–stretching is good for bodies. Olivia has a magnificent stretch that she does where she stretches out her front paws and arches her magnificent tail across her back. Love seeing her do that, but I haven’t been quick enough to get a good photo of her doing that. That’s another thing, cats are good at sneaking in one of their cute moves when we aren’t prepared with a camera.

Sophie, our tortie, is a shredder. She used to run into my office when she heard the fax machine, snatch the paper and shred it. She still likes to shred paper and make a “nest” out of it to lay in. Sophie waits every morning for a sun puddle to appear and she curls up in it.

Our sweet tabby Lily used to bring me her toys—all the time, every day, she’d bring toys to me or just decorate the room with them. She also played at my feet while I worked at the computer. She loved to bat a toy mouse around the wheels of my office chair and my feet.

My Himalayan, Katy, wasn’t a lap-sitter, but she loved being close. She’d sleep on my pillow and she’d hang out near me, always with a paw on my leg or my arm. Always touching. Katy would also put me to bed at night.

Max, our snowshoe type cat who appeared in our yard with his mother as a kitten waited excitedly each night around bedtime for a lively game of catch. He had a ball that he could get his claws into and he’d catch the ball when I tossed it, and he’d throw it back to me. How Max loved that game and he became quite good at it, too.

I’d love it if you’d share some of your cats’ interesting and quirky habits and traits.

In recent days, a team of researchers from China, Malaysia, Russia, and the US learned something new about cats. The domestic cat does not share any DNA with the Chinese Mountain Cat.

I hadn’t even heard of the Chinese Mountain Cat (also known as the Chinese Desert Cat), and that’s not unusual since it’s considered the least known wild cat in the world and one of the top 5 most vulnerable.

Which cats are most endangered and declining? According to some sources, it’s the Borneo Bay Cat from Indonesia, the Andean Cat that lives in the Andes, the Liberian Lynx in the Mediterranean (there are only 156 left), and the Flat-headed Cat from Asia.

Having done this research, I then wondered how many wild species of cat there are. According to the experts, forty. When I checked stats to see how many of those cats are vulnerable or endangered, the tables showed that pretty much all of them are. It doesn’t paint a pretty picture.

So where did the modern day housecat come from? The conclusion is that they evolved solely from the African Wildcat.

While I haven’t had an outdoor cat in years, I’m always happy to see cats out and about while I’m walking, or to see neighborhood cats lolling in my backyard or curled up in my birdbath. I always wonder where the cat has been, where she’s going, why she’s outside—is it a house rule or does she prefer the out of doors during the day? Has she had any close encounters of the dog/raccoon/hawk/coyote-kind? How does she protect herself? Is she streetwise? Does she have a cozy place inside where she can relax and feel safe?

All cats have stories to tell. Those who are allowed outdoor privileges, even more so. Olivia, for example, experiences stray fly encounters. The fly shows up, buzzes her a couple of times, and the chase is on—down the hall, up and over the sofa, on the windowsill, across the kitchen counter until either the fly finds a way back outside or is consumed. Ick.

Other than that, her outdoor activities are limited to trips to the vet in a carrier from the house to the car, and lingering hours at the windows watching birds, other animals, cars, and people with great interest.

When you talk to your cat, does she understand? Does she know by the words or the gestures that it’s time to eat? Sophie actually seems to figure it out by what’s on TV. She stares at the TV sometimes in the late afternoon and if she sees Judge Judy, she continues her nap or playing or whatever. If it’s the news, shestarts bugging us for dinner.

Both cats recognize their name when we say it—whether we’re addressing the cat or talking about them. Is it the actual word they understand or do we give each name a little different tone or cadence? Experts say that cats can actually understand 25-30 words.

Olivia seems to understand a lot of words, but she’ll react most exuberantly to “Play!” A couple of days ago she was bumping up against me, pawing at me, mewing. Finally I said, “Olivia, do you want to play?” She leaped off my desk and tore out of the room. I followed and found her looking at her favorite rubber bouncy ball in anticipation. She loves chasing that ball up and down the uncarpeted hallway.

The one word the cats either don’t get or are too stubborn to respond to is “NO” as in “stop clawing the sofa,” or “leave that plant alone.”

Saturday, June 19, was Garfield’s 43^rd birthday. That date is now a national holiday celebrating the famous cartoon character.

Jim Davis created Garfield in 1978 using his grandfather as the model—yes, in name and in character. His grandfather was named for President James Garfield. Evidently the first few newspapers Jim contacted with his idea for a comic strip were rejected, but by 2013, the strip was being published in over 2,500 newspapers, giving Garfield the honor of being one of the first cats to go viral—following in Felix the Cat’s pawprints. Yeah, I grew up with Felix, Sylvester, and Tom (of Tom and Jerry), all of which were well known on many levels, but I don’t think any other cat has reached the heights that Garfield has.

In 1984 he was depicted in a gigantic balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and he was on the cover of People’s Magazine in 1982 as America’s number one personality. And Garfield is still one of the most popular names for real life ginger cats.

Happy Birthday, Garfield. Thanks for the smiles.