House guest
We have a furry house guest for about 7 weeks. My parents are going to Australia and New Zealand on holiday, so we’re looking after their cat, M, so that she doesn’t have to go into a cattery for the duration. M was a rescue cat and spent some time on the streets, but she’s also very fond of human company, and didn’t get on at all well when she had a short stay in a cattery once before. She’s not the kind of cat who is all over you, but she just likes to know that you’re around. My Dad works at home, and every day, she follows him up to the office in the morning, parks herself on the sofa, then follows him down to lunch like a little shadow.
The folks weren’t looking forward to the three-hour drive to our house in the car with her—-like most cats, she associates going in the cat basket in the car with men in white coats who do painful things and undignified things to you—-but she was actually very good once she’d settled down. It was funny watching her exploring the house, checking out every nook and cranny and marking every conceivable cat-head-height upright with her cheek scent glands.
Anyway, she seems to have settled into a demanding and rigourous routine of sleeping, eating and light sessions of neighbourhood watch. She sits on the windowsill of the living room window, twitching the nets and observing the comings and goings of the neighbours closely.
She has one rather disconcerting habit; when you’re stroking her, she suddenly stares fixedly at a point behind you, about two feet above your head, pupils wide. I can stand it for a few minutes before I crack and have to look to see what she’s looking at (nothing as far as I can see). It’s a bit freaky.
I’ve been suffering with a very heavy cold and a slight fever for the past couple of days, so it’s really comforting to have a soft, little furry body sitting on the duvet with me, purring her rough two-stroke engine purr.
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I once had a cat that stared at odd fixed points. Morpheus, at the strangest times, would suddenly stop what he was doing and stare fixedly at a spot in the ceiling. New spot each time, and it often lasted for several minutes. You know how cats "chatter"? Not always, but most of the time he'd chatter at that spot. Nothing, not even petting or the sound of food, would make his attention waver. I never could see or hear anything, there was nothing above the ceiling that I could find. It freaked me out.----- I suspect all cats do that, just to keep you on your toes.
by Em³ @ 19/03/2006 6:04 pm • Permalink •
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Unfamiliar cats are best ignored. Cats are such a superior lifeform, looking down on we mere humans as they do, Cats get miffed if you don't give them the opportunity to supercilliously move away when appoached, so eventually they will come to you and ask why you are paying them no attention? Of course this pre-supposes that you actually like cats; if you don't, they will, of course, immediately attempt to sit on your lap!
Now I've got my Mac Mini back, how do I get rid of that bl**dy silly weather thingy in the middle of the screen. I'm sure that there are lots of usefull Widgets to be downloaded, but not until I find out how to "Eject" the ones I decide not to keep!
by Jonathan Briggs @ 19/03/2006 7:03 pm • Permalink •
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Nathan Ladd: Weird. I've heard a number of different interpretations of that "chattering" you describe, from frustration (a previous cat we had would do it when birds were on the other side of the window), to a kind of hunting communication to warn other cats off going from the same prey---a kind of 'mine! leave it!'.
Em3: I did slightly suspect that the moment my head was turned something equivalent to "Heh. Sucker." would be going through M's little head.
by bsag @ 19/03/2006 7:04 pm • Permalink •
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I've known a lot of cats, but that's not behaviour I've come across before.
Get well soon, by the way.
Jon
by JonH @ 19/03/2006 7:04 pm • Permalink •
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I know the staring-past-your-shoulder trick, I always figured that was the cat's way of showing she knows you're bigger than her, she's not staring you down, but she still wants her head there while you stroke it...
Cats don't like staring contests. It's a power thing.
by Chris @ 19/03/2006 10:04 pm • Permalink •
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What you are describing is of course the moment when cats are receiving their orders from Satan.
by john(jc.) @ 20/03/2006 7:03 am • Permalink •
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Our cats would always 'chatter' like that when they hunted birds (behaviour which we frowned upon, of course). That's if you mean the 'k-k-k-k-k' sound? It's loud enough for birds to hear, but it doesn't scare them away. Maybe it somehow placates the birds or disorients them or has some other hunting function.
by Martin @ 20/03/2006 9:03 am • Permalink •
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Our cats chatter but they make "pirrups" not "k-k-k-k-k" noises.
Jonathan click the plus sign in a circle when you are in Widgetland to add or take away widgets. The Rail Timetable widget is useful if you use trains regularly, but on the whole I don't like them much.
by ThoughtBadger @ 20/03/2006 1:04 pm • Permalink •
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Cats kill their prey by biting on the necks of rodents and birds with a fast scissoring motion. There's speculation that the chattering is an exercise of that motion, kind of "if I had you in my mouth this is what would be happening to you..."
by Pica @ 20/03/2006 2:04 pm • Permalink •
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Thanks Pica, I rest my case.
by john(jc.) @ 21/03/2006 10:04 am • Permalink •
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Jonathan Briggs: That's because (as Chris mentioned) staring is very rude for cats. People who like cats tend to stare at them, whereas those who don't like cats don't stare at them, thus giving a kind of feline 'come hither' signal. A case of inter-species miscommunication. Another way to quickly get rid of dashboard widgets is to hover the mouse over the one you want to remove while holding the alt key, then click the cross icon that appears as ThoughtBadger described.
JonH: Thanks. I am gradually, but it has been a bit of a nasty one.
Chris: It's possible I suppose, but she's perfectly happy to look adoringly into my eyes (if I do the slow blinking thing), then she suddenly looks at the wall. So that doesn't quite seem to fit as a hypothesis
john(j.c.): Heh
Martin: That's another theory I've heard. There seem to be lots.
ThoughtBadger: "pirrups". That's cute.
Pica: A kind of displacement behaviour or appetative behaviour? Possible, I suppose.
john(j.c.): Our M is a lover not a hunter, and somewhat agoraphobic after being beaten up by the thuggish cat next door almost every time she stepped out of the door. So she mostly stays inside and the wildlife is safe.
by bsag @ 21/03/2006 7:04 pm • Permalink •
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