Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Plotting

Pssst! Cat-moms, dads, Food Ladies, Human servants and Pink Monkeys! Quick! Toss a jingly ball or catnip toy!



Good. Now that the kitties are distracted, there's something very very scary going on, and I have to warn you before it's too late! I may not have much time, so I'm taking this dangerous step of using their own network of communication to get this info out before I 'disappear'!

I was going to hijack Jack's blog to make a joke about the two House Panthers plotting by osmosis.

Well, sort of joking.

You see, all those photos of the Box Deconstruction for the Cat Olympics were real (though they were taken over 5 months), but the final image of them in the new box together was staged.

Truth is, the only reason they were in the old box together is because it was winter, and my desk is in the living/dining room which takes up about half our apartment and is always a bit cold. And they like being close to me (or rather scritchy fingers, let's be honest here) and they can see down the long hallway from the box, but not from the cat cave on the low bookshelf on the other side of the desk. It didn't happen often. Usually they just took turns in it.

But they don't cuddle much. Unless it's really cold.

So I thought it was a bit odd recently, when it hasn't been cold, that they've been spending a lot of time in the box together. And not just for the few minutes it takes for Jack to climb in and clean Persephone's ears, then bite her neck to make her give up her spot to him. In fact, Persephone now sometimes climbs into the box with him. And they cuddle!!!

A little confused (and suspicious) I looked at the dates of the photos I have of them in this box, and noticed that other than the staged photo, I have only one picture of them in this box. One. Out of a whole month of pictures, when it was still cold. Just one.

March 1

Until March 1st.

March 3

I didn't think much about it at first.

March 5

I mean, it was just cute and a little odd, but they're cats, right? And it was only every few days and all...

March 6

Until it was every day. Several times a day. And I started wondering...

March 7

Then I thought it was just that March 1st was the day that Tenzing first came to our house.

March 8

I thought that it was just that they wanted to establish who's first in line for the pettin' around here, by hanging around me.

March 10

I thought it was just that the box is one of the few places they can be safe from his Lion-on-the-Savannah-Wildebeest-Hunting impersonations.

(Bonus Picture: an hour later)

Then suddenly they stopped. For about a week. I thought, maybe they're starting to accept the little monster.

March 16

And then it started again. Curled up together...butt-to-butt, or head tucked under each other's head...paws wrapped around each other, purring in each other's ears...looking up suddenly, suspiciously if I sounded like I was getting up, or worse turning on the camera....

March 19

And I realized something...they started doing this every day the first time during the four days Tenzing was at the shelter getting "snipped and chipped".

March 20

They're doing it every day now, when Tenzing has calmed down enough to actually be allowed to hang out with the big kitties most of the day, if supervised!

March 21

They're doing it now, climbing into the box and settling in even when Tenzing is in time-out! Or hanging out with the Big One in his office!

It's NOT TENZING!!!

March 23

But I must be imagining it, right? I mean, this is crazy, right? Plotting? By osmosis? With their butts?!?


And then it got really weird! This is Jack's basket! Persephone never goes in it! EVER! This picture, taken just a few months after she came home to us, 3 years ago, is the only time I've ever seen her in it!

March 24

Until last night! I got up and went past the other living room doorway where Jack's basket sits. Tenzing was in his room because they'd just gotten gooshy food a little while earlier and he's a piggie and the vet said he was already getting a little plump!

And there they were...IN THE BASKET TOGETHER!!!!!!!

I'm telling you, cat-slaves! There's something going on!!! The cats are beginning to move! Or...nap. Suspiciously.

It's time to stockpile the Weapons of Mass Distraction!

It's time to lay the Comfy Napping Spot minefields!

It's time to carpet-bomb our homes with catnip propaganda!

(Bonus SQUEEEEEEEE picture!)

Don't be fooled by their innocent purrtestations!!! Prepare yourselves! Things are about to get hairy around here! Or, er...furry....

10 comments:

Everycat said...

Our Mum is squeeing her head off here due to the glossy, pantherene, snuggled up goodness overload!

Could it be safety in numbers, a sleep in (john and Yoko style), squatters rights?

Whicky Wuudler

The Creek Cats said...

Awww these pictures are so sweet! Mom loves to see kitties snuggling together. She says we don't do it nearly enough around here!

Marg said...

We love black cats. Two live here. And we like to snuggle just like you two do. Those are super pictures all snuggled up together in the basket. Have a great day.

Kea said...

That's snuggly cuteness overload! LOL.

Hmm, this behavioral change certainly is bizarre. Definitely plotting something. Don't turn your back on them! ;-)

Anonymous said...

mwahahaha, there is more afoot than you realize, human bean!!!

The Crew said...

Hmmm...could be they just feel safer being together (strength in numbers!) while Tenzing is running around.

Amy & the house of cats said...

Ok, at first it sounded crazy, but then I started to think back - and two of my four cats, who never really snuggled much before (especially since Barney is a crazy kitten and Kirzon is the old man of the group). Kirzon will be on my lap, and Barney will come over and snuggle with him. No hissing, Kirzon doesn't leave, they just sit together. The thing is this just started a few weeks back - I checked the blog and I posted about it the first time on March 9th. Now maybe it is just a coincidence, but maybe not. Weird either way.

Quill and Greyson said...

::Dangles feather toy to distract::

That seems very suspicious. I am headed to the store now to lay in supplies.

The Island Cats said...

We think they are training for the next Cat-O-Lympics synchronized snoozing competition! You can never start training too soon!

Ivan from WMD said...

Snuggling is good!