Bleecker, Arline - The Secret Life of Cats by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Format: epub

CAT CHAT

"The problem with cats is that they get the exact same look on their face whether they see a moth or an axe-murderer."

-Comedienne Paula Poundstone

Just what is it that makes a cat a cat anyway? Does some single defining trait describe them? Independent, perhaps? Or curious? Maybe psychic or courageous? How about confident, resourceful and intelligent? My favorite is loving.

Surely, most cats (except maybe some purebreds) look pretty much the same. Especially the alley cat varieties. Same size. Same body characteristics. Give or take a change of color here and there, and a cat is a cat is a cat.

I'm certainly not saying this is bad in any way. In fact, this attribute of "sameness" is precisely why I adore cats. If I'm around a dog, for example - whether a stray dog, a neighbor's dog, even dogs of friends or relatives - it's perfectly obvious that each dog is different. Some hunt. Some slobber. Some bite. Some don't. And they certainly don't all have equal appeal (at least to me).

Ahh, but cats. They're another story. I can be anywhere in the world, come across a cat, and in an instant I know who he is. It doesn't matter if he's an Italian cat or a British cat ... a rich man's cat or a homeless cat. With cats, there's no guesswork. Looking into the nature of cats may help you understand them better too.

All cats are territorial, even those that live indoors. They live in family-type hierarchies according to a very carefully defined social order - and heaven help the intruder!

Inside my house, each of my cats lays claim to anything with a flat surface as his or her own - from an entire room to a corner of the bed. Of course, indoor cats have less space available to claim as their own territory than they might outdoors, but they can always use the third dimension — up!

Outdoors, it's especially important for cats to stake a territorial claim. It could be nothing more than a backyard, or it could be quite large - limited only by how big an area a cat feels she can defend. New cats in a neighborhood have to fight to be accepted and to win territory, and neutered females are way down the rungs of the social ladder. These are two of the main reasons I no longer allow my cats outdoors.

A cat establishes territory for the same reasons that we live in homes or apartments: She needs a safe place for sleeping, eating and playing. (Only cats don't have to pay property taxes. I knew they were lucky!)

Each cat's territory includes a few kinds of spaces. First, she needs a private place where she can sleep and feel safe. Then there are the commonly held grounds that she will share with other cats. There are also the meeting grounds where a batch of cats will meet, sort of like the local pub! There's also an outer part of her territory, where she can hunt and roam.

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