(Or alternatively, "Can I has kofee kup?")
Since 30 minutes isn't really a sufficient amount of time to involve myself in a constructive project before my next appointment, I think I'll take this time to blog about cats, instead.
Specifically, my mom's cat, Lucy. Lucy has always been a little crazed -- crazed for attention, crazed for food, crazed to get outside, etc. -- and like any cat, she's accustomed to equate the clinking of silverware on a dish with the possibility of forthcoming yumminess.
So my question is: Do cats have object permanence? That is, do they still recognize an object for what it is, even when it's out of sight?
See, lately (oh, who am I kidding, for the last 18 years) I can't stand at the kitchen counter without Lucy making every attempt to trip my feet in an effort to obtain her share of what I'm preparing. I can be doing the dishes, and she's still crazily clawing my pant leg to get some of whatever it is I am certainly keeping from her.
I have taken to trying to amend this by actually showing her my countertop secrets. She stands there on the floor, "mreep! mreep! mreep!" and I, without setting anything down, lean way over to present her with the spoon and coffee cup that I am manipulating up there. She inspects it. Sniff, sniff, sniff. Then looks up at me accusingly: "Come on," her look insists, "what do you really have?" I turn back to the counter, and she starts trilling eagerly again.
I put the lid on the peanut butter jar and turn to put it back in the fridge -- only to trip on the cat.
"Dammit, Lucy!" I mutter, trying to retain both balance and jar. "Mreep!" she demands. So I lean down for her to get a better look at the closed peanut butter. Sniff, sniff, sniff. "Nikki, this is totally uninteresting." "Yes, it is! And that's all I've got up here!"
So back and forth, back and forth she follows me across the kitchen floor. Counter, sink, fridge, coffee pot. I always show her what it is I just pulled out, yet she never equates this with the strange goings-on beyond her level of sight. Am I right in calling this a lack of object permanence? She observes me returning a boring item to the countertop, but as soon as she can't see that it's the same boring item, she imagines it's something new.
Her nagging can't be due to simple hunger -- she just ate, and there's even food left in her bowl. It's not attention -- I pick her up to snuggle her, and she just twists to get a look at the counter. I hold her closer to the glass of beer; she inspects it; I put her down; she resumes frantically trying to see what's up there.
Am I a bad catsitter? Are these unmistakable signs of some need that I, in my incompetence and neglect, am not divining?
Help me, O Internetworldland!
4 comments:
Hahahahaha! I love your writing!
Well, I think she does have object permanence, since she's sure there's something up there. A six month old baby who doesn't have that yet will just give up, figuring the fascinating item has completely disappeared, and move on. When they gain object permanence (picture learning to play peekaboo), they realize the item might come back and anticipating the possibilty is so much fun.
So, Lucy... I think she's just sure you're holding out on her and you have something more up there! It can't possibly be simply coffee and peanut butter. After all, her food comes from somewhere in the great beyond....
Since her curiosity probably signals continued health, just smile and try not to break your neck tripping over her! :-)
Hahaha, the great beyond! Yes, indeed -- in fact I'm probably being a bit petulant, expecting the cat to grasp how the whole Food Thing works. And yeah, thank goodness she's healthy enough to be irritating; it'd be much worse if she weren't! Bert and I were snuggled on the couch with her last night, and a program came on featuring a cat they presented as painfully ancient: at 15 years old. We both looked at Lucy. She meowed at us. We scratched her head.
By the way, THANK YOU for the package! Picking up a box of sunshine at the post office just makes my day..... :) :) :)
that blog post was Sooo cute!!
Cant talk much. writer's block. but i hope everythings going well!
yer bro
I laughed myself silly reading this. It's such a perfect description of what she does! Thanks for taking such good care of her while I'm gone. I don't worry so much knowing that she's with someone who actually loves her.
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