The Cleverness of Felids

Let's face it, cats are remarkable creatures. The big ones are the apex predators, but the house cats are pretty awesome too.

Aside from looking beautiful, I mean.

Case in point: when we brought Lacey home, we showed her the litter pan in the basement. She showed no interest at all and went off to explore. Not to worry. When she needed it, she knew exactly where it was — way down there in the basement somewhere. I don't know how she remembered something that she hadn't paid any attention to.

I have seen her and other cats thread their way around objects in tight spaces without apparently looking at the objects. Let's face it, their hind ends are pretty far from their front ends, but they move around objects as if they have some sort of mental map.  Even their long tails miss the objects. How do they do this without intensively sizing up the situation first?

Last evening, I turned around from my computer to see her mesmerized by the bookcase behind me. I don't know what caught her attention, but after two months, something grabbed her attention.

But there was no space for her to get up there.

Except there was. With one delicate, pussy-footed leap, she landed without touching anything. This would be impressive from any cat, but Lacey is a stocky middle-aged puss. How she managed that jump with the impeccable landing, I cannot tell. And she won't tell either.

She roamed around some still hardly disturbing anything. Truly remarkable in my estimation.