Making a splash

If there’s one thing we cats strive to be, it’s mysterious. Let’s face it, dogs — as well as birds, fish, guinea pigs, or just about any other popular pet — are pretty predictable. They live to eat, and will convince their humans that they love them in order to be fed. I’m not saying I’m not capable of playing on the affections of Those Two in order to get my bowl refilled, but in general I like to do my own thing, if for no other reason than to keep them guessing. They might not know where I’m sleeping on any given afternoon, for instance, and sometimes I’ve camouflaged myself so well that they panic and think I might have escaped. I’ll sleep with them in their bed for months, then suddenly decide I’m a nocturnal loner. Oh, and this classic one drives them CRAZY: I’ll absolutely love one kind of expensive wet cat food that they’ve carefully picked out for me, only to decide three days later that it’s the most disgusting stuff ever!

Anyway, I really had them scratching their heads recently when they came out into the kitchen and wondered how my water bowl got “way out there.”

It used to be tucked right into that empty spot to the left of my food dish, but in a moment of boredom I decided to rearrange the furniture, so to speak. I tugged and tugged at the towel underneath it until the bowl was just in the right place — right in my mamas’ way as they try to navigate through the kitchen! Sometimes the water splashes out when I move the bowl, creating the potential for a spill of another sort.

I know, you’re probably thinking by now that I’m an awful creature. What can I say? Sometimes our behavior is just hard-wired. It adds to the mystery.

My mamas finally gave up moving my water bowl back to where it was originally, and dodging it has become second nature … at least until I decide to rearrange my furniture again.