Franklin: All I really need to know…
… I learned in Kittergarten.
Mom is telling her friends how surprised she is that my brother and I show courtesy in our kittling romps. I guess there’s some famous book about how humans learn all they need to know at a tender age. Why, my sibling and I wonder, would it be any surprise that Winston and I would have absorbed a similar philosophy in our early months?
The thing that surprises Mom is this whole “sharing” thing that we do. She has remarked that she thought the instant she waved that tantalizing fishing pole (mylar, and fabric, and feathers—oh my!) in front of us, it would be every kit for himself. She expected to see us heads over tails in a flash of fur and claw, a muddle of limbs as we tried to best the other in wrestling the toy into submission. Au contraire, ma mère!
We take turns, as any polite creature would do. First to the pole gets the initial romp, and the other of us sits down and patiently awaits his turn. Ok, perhaps “patiently” is stretching it a bit -- IMpatiently may be a whisker more accurate. But still, if Win is first launch on toy-attack take-off, I hold my pounces for when my round comes up and the toy is clearly moved to my side of the triangle. If the toy crosses some invisible line between us and comes into my space, I take up the chase and Win waits. If one of us is racing in a circle around the other, we have the good sense to recognize a queue, and we stand our ground to allow our brother the completion of the current foray.
It's about courtesy. Or, to put it another way...
Feather toy: $4.98
Fishing Pole: $9.98
Good Manners: Priceless
Sharing the new kitty tree!
posted by Gaile Gray @ 5:29 PM
6 Comments
6 Comments:
I've wondered if it is indeed good manners, or waiting for the other to try out this intriguing, but scary, new item first. Wiggle a feather, stick, or leaf and you get little kitten rumps up in the air, waving back and forth until just the right moment to pounce. Never do you get two jumping at the same time!
The only time there is no waiting in our house is when special food is given. Over the years we've had cats, there are always some who politely eat their portion, and the one who has their paws covering extra treats while they chow down.
That's a reasonable theory, Linda, and at first I was thinking that as well. After all, "Fools rush in where wise kits fear to tread" seemed a reasonable assumption. BUT... this continues, weeks later. They well know the parameters of "the bird game," and underneath it all they know there's nothing to fear from a bit of feather and a jingling bell. And yet there's that invisible "Line of Courtesy," and they never fail to doff their hat and say "You turn, old chap" when the toy crosses it. So young, and so polite -- it's almost eerie. :)
Well, it must be the power of names- They are just living up to theirs!
If you don't want to post links in your blog, that's understandable, and you can just delete this post.
I thought you would appreciate this post from my daughter. We felt about Herbie the way you did about George, I think.
http://ameranth.livejournal.com/304523.html#cutid1
Aww, that's a great post and I love the photos! When I was a child, my orange tabby cat had kittens, and I used to bundle them into my doll stroller and walk them to the corner and back, with Mom (nervously) on board. Never had a kitty I could dress up although *cough* I tried a few times. ;)
I think it's a matter of avoiding pain...
Our cats did that "pouncing together" once... And they collided spectacular. I could almost hear their skulls crack... Now, they'll wait their turn. But they don't want something as base as "mylar, and fabric, and feathers", they want fotons!
And Linda, one of our cats will eat his food slowly, wait till the other has gone and then see if he has left something in his bowl. Then he'll eat that first and then finish his food...
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