We have a veritable menagerie here—a dog, two cats, and a parrot.
When asked if I am a dog person or a cat person, I paraphrase Mark Twain, saying I am neither refined nor unrefined. I am the type of person who keeps a parrot.
Mind you, every one of the animals both demand and receive a lot of attention. It’s true that from their perspective it is woefully inadequate, but we go out of our way to make sure that they are spoiled well past the point of rotten.
All the mammals want to play and the laser pointer is one of their favorites. The bird is the loudest and isn’t interested in the pointer. Feed her a peanut and she’s happy.
The dog likes the pointer, but also loves chasing a soccer ball around the yard or a smaller ball in the house. Around 4:00 pm he starts demanding that someone play with him. Lately it seems as if he’s trying to form words to better explain what he wants. The clearest word he can say is, “Aroooh!” I assume it means, “Play with me,” but that’s just a guess.
The cats, on the other hand, have provided me with an epiphany. As we all were taught, cats were perceived as deities for the Egyptians. Many of their gods were portrayed with cat-like heads. Why did they believe that cats were god-like?
When you stop to think about it, it’s easy. Cats’ behavior basically says, “I am here. Feed me. Adore me. Feed me. Don’t bother me when I’m trying to nap. Feed me. And, for heaven’s sake, keep my litter box clean.”
In between feedings, they are wont to ignore their humans.
I believe that the Egyptians merely took the path of least resistance to get the cats to stop bugging them.
sfnowak 