Three Things Thursday: Cat Quirks

I'm actually really excited about this post. A lot of times, I think of good topic ideas for "Three Things Thursday", but then I have a hard time coming up with three things that fit the topic! For this post, I had SUCH hard time narrowing it down; I literally considered making this a one-time "Thirty Things Thursday", hahaha.

So, what has me so enthusiastic with ideas? Cat quirks that make them the coolest pets ever.

Here are three things that are quirky, but awesome about cats.

1. Their curiosity.

"Curiosity killed the cat" and "curious as a cat" are sayings for a reason. When it comes to wondering what things are and how they work, cats are like toddlers (to the tenth power). If you bring something new into the house (it doesn't matter what it is) they simply MUST find out everything about it. Why is it here? What is it? Where are you going to put it? Of course, it belongs to them (regardless of what it is). They sniff all around it, tentatively touch it, then whole-heartedly touch it, and then sit on or in it.

Their favorite things are boxes. I've seen a bunch of memes about "how to catch a cat" and it's literally just placing a box on the floor. Within 60 seconds, you'll have caught a cat, guaranteed. ;)  Buy them toys that come in boxes, and they'll ignore the toy but most certainly go inside the box. They also have no doubt that their body will fit into any size box. Just ask Duck--today, he decided to "sit" in this tiny box. I was cracking up at how chill he was, hanging out in the box.

Some cats need constant attention (i.e. Duck), and the easiest way to entertain them is to keep them curious. So, all I have to do is move something from one part of the house to the other--even if it's just across the room--because all of the cats will be dying of curiosity. If I just tip their scratching pad on its side, all four of the cats have to go inspect it. Or I'll drape a blanket over a chair, and suddenly, the cats want to see inside the fort--then hang out in there for a while.

Here, all I did was put their scratcher on a couple of chairs. Entertainment for HOURS.

2. Parkour Skills

If you're not familiar with parkour (pronounced par-core), Britannica describes it like this:

It's really amazing to watch people do it, but to see CATS do it? Hilarious. Sometimes one of the cats (or both Chick and Duck together) will suddenly act like they snorted six lines of cocaine. They run as fast as they can through the house--up and over the couch, across the treadmill console, sliding underneath chairs, jumping completely over the coffee table, using my lap or shoulders to leap as far as they can, yet they still somehow maintain enough grace not to step on unintended objects. They make it through all of the obstacles like they're David Goggins during SEAL training.

There is nothing that compares to the entertainment of watching this happen. When one or more of the cats goes completely crazy in my house, all of us stop whatever we're doing and just watch. It's been extra funny since we replaced the carpet with vinyl planking--the cats will try to go from 0 to 60 mph in a millisecond, and they end up running in place for a second until they're able to propel forward.

"This treadmill looks like a comfy place to hang out."

I'm not sure if cats ever stop doing this. Phoebe is 15 years old, all of 5 pounds, and once in a while she'll just tear through the house like a bat out of hell. The kittens (I still call them that, even though they're THREE years old--can you believe how long we've had them already?) like to chase each other in this way. Let's say Chick is chasing Duck--they do all of the parkour moves all over the place--and then somehow when they race back through the living room, it'll be Duck chasing Chick. At some point, they switch!

"I'm just gonna hang out here on your knee for a while, so don't move."

3. Their finickiness.

This sounds like a negative thing, but it's SO FUNNY how finicky cats can be are. (There are also a ton of memes about this.) "You may pet me exactly four strokes. Don't test me by attempting a fifth." "You may touch me here, but not a single hair over here" (a centimeter away). "My toe beans are off limits. Most of the time. You can try and see what happens." "Whatever happens, do not scratch above the base of my tail for more than 1.6 seconds." (You get the idea.)

Phoebe, just waiting for Jerry to make a wrong move.

Basically, cats know what they like and what they don't like and they are not afraid to let you know. Once you learn what is "acceptable" to them, it's natural. But they may change their mind at any moment about how many times you may pet their face before moving to scratch their chin, or whether it's okay to pet their belly. It's basically a gamble that we cat-people are always willing to make. Just look at the scars on our arms.

This may not fit under "finicky", but cat-people will also attest to the fact that you should never, ever, under any circumstances, move a cat that is asleep. And God forbid you move that cat if they're sleeping on your lap.

They are so sweet when they sleep that it just seems cruel to move them. So what if I stop drinking any beverages to avoid having to get up and pee or if I'm late to an appointment or ignore someone knocking on the door? Moving the cat? No way! ;)

As obvious as it is, I am a total cat-person, through and through. They are so entertaining, loving, fun, curious, and hilarious!