It is a beautiful day in Boulder, which means that I am stuck indoors blogging - I mean, cleaning. I realized earlier this week that despite my cleaning efforts not too long ago, I am yet again living in a bizarre mix of fur, catnip remnants, and plastic bags turned into impromptu toys. This has occasioned a number of reflections about cats and cleanliness.
First of all, I am impressed by how far from the litter box the cats are able to drag pieces of kitty litter. I don't want to think too hard about how this happens. Let's just assume that the cats are engaged in the installation of some complicated, abstract work of art - perhaps entitled "The World is My Litter Box." Well, they'll be disappointed to discover that it is time to start all over again. The Stupid Human and her scary stick-object that she scrapes across the floor making a combination of hissing noises and interesting piles of stuff to play with have yet again undermined their artistic endeavours.
(I have been deeply suspicious that my cats are cleverly disguising their artistry since I read Why Cats Paint. I haven't yet tried to get them to paint, but that is because I am convinced they are expressing their talents in other ways - for example, by the ritual scarring of my body.)
I am also impressed by the amount of food that accumulates around the food bowls in the course of just a few days. Like many cats, mine seem to dislike eating the food right out of the bowl. Our bowls are hopelessly inadequate means for serving food. Obviously, it is much better to pick up the food, drop it next to the bowl, and then eat approximately half of it. This frustrates the Stupid Human, which gives the cats much amusement. (I wonder if this isn't subtle psychological warfare: they may be trying to teach us that this is normal eating behavior which we should emulate - that is, leave half of our food uneaten, and conveniently off the plate, where cats would have no problem grabbing a bite for themselves.)
Finally, I am impressed by Perry's capacity to shed fur at twice the rate that I can sweep it up. I am chalking this up to its being spring - maybe he is just shedding his undercoat. Of course, why a cat who lives indoors even needs an undercoat, I'll never know. And how these cats are able to lose what must be half their weight in fur each day is also beyond me. Cats are deeply mysterious - this, of course, is why we worship them.
Back to cleaning...
Posted at 11:22 am by
mishaele
