Happy Cats

Cats are so weird.  They find happiness in such strange ways.

Like altitude.

Harking back to the old days when they used to hang around in trees, I suppose. Watching over their prey.  Waiting to pounce.

No, wait.  That's leopards.  Cats get stuck in trees, so they generally look for low-altitude branches -- no more than four or five feet off the ground -- from which to hunt.  Any higher, and they tend to get a bit queasy about the trip down.

Here in the house, we don't have any low branches.  We have furniture.  Backs of chairs.  Cat trees.  Fireplace mantels.  (Well, they've only done that one once.)  Occasionally, table- and counter-tops. But they get in major trouble for that kind of thing.  Especially if there happens to be food on said tops.

Still, you can't blame them for trying.  They like being up where they can see things.  Their favorite perches are the cat trees in front of the windows, where they can look outside and see the birds dancing around, taunting them.  And when they do catch sight of a bird, they start that weird chattering noise.  Sounds like someone who's been left out in the cold.

The really weird aspect of the getting-up-to-altitude thing is that the cats apparently have some rules about who can be on the highest spot in any one room at any one time. And if one of the cats is already at the highest spot, the other one won't try to get any higher.  At least in that room.

Also, each cat has preferences for the time of day when they wish to be up on the perch.  One is more likely to do so in the morning while the other is more likely in the afternoon.   I don't recall which one is which time.

That's the fun things about cats.  One mystery after another.  No possibility of ever understanding them.