2004-07-28 19:28
TheCat Learns A New Skill
The other day, I was sitting on the bed, yapping away on the phone with my mother, when I heard some weird noises coming from the hallway outside the bedroom.
They went something like:
thump
...
scrabble scrabble scrabble
kTHUNK
scrabble kTHUNK kTHUNK
pop!
tik tik tik tik tik tik tik tik
They were the sounds of fondest ambition being realized. Yes, TheCat has figured out how to open doors.
She can't open all doors -- just doors that hadn't quite been pulled shut all the way. In a house full of doors that aren't hanging quite right, though, this is more of a moral victory than a practical one.
The first time it happened, we thought one of us had left the office door open. The cat, who was found in a smug little bundle under the desk, was perfectly content to let us think so.
The second time (well, we think it was only the second time, anyway) was the maneuver brazenly executed right under our noses. From this TheCat was reminded that the value of stealth can be measured in minutes or even hours of time in forbidden places, which is way better than instant and forceful extraction followed by an hour or two of sulking in the human-approved hiding spot. So the third (we think) time happened when we weren't home, and TheCat was found in the back of the bedroom closet, some indeterminate but undoubtely glorious amount of time later, getting her smug on once again.
It sucks to be outwitted by a creature with a brain the size of a walnut. Granted, 99% of her neurons are screaming MUST. HIDE. IN CLOSET, but that doesn't make it much better.