Monday, February 17, 2014

The Art of Persistence


Lucy wants on my lap. I've told her no, but the word is fairly irrelevant. "No!" applies to other creatures and circumstances. Dogs, for instance. However, I am reading, and clearly there is no room for both a cat and a book on my lap. I explain this. She pretends not to hear me, but she hears, and understands the message. The change in facial expression gives her away, an ever so slight narrowing of the eyes. Mild displeasure at being thwarted.


Why is it that a lap containing a book or newspaper is such a cat magnet? It's amusing to watch her move in. Lucy seems to believe that if a cat body part moves slowly enough, humans cannot see it. Generally speaking, this is true. I can't tell you how many times I've shooed the cat away, become absorbed in what I'm reading, only to look down a few minutes later and notice that she's sleeping on my lap. How did she get there? I have no recollection. It probably helps that she's always been a petite little cat, and in her old age tips the scale at just over 6 1/2 pounds. Even when she jumps up onto my lap from the floor, it's hardly noticeable.


But today she is employing major stealth tactics. After standing completely immobile for some minutes, slowly, ever so slowly a paw moves forward. Weight shift to that paw. Then, the other paw creeps forward, followed by the head...slow motion progress toward the desired destination.

"The trick is to be persistent, and to shrink your body into the space under the book ever so slowly, so the human doesn't notice. Eventually, because you are so cute, and so persistent, the human will give up and put the book away, devoting all attention to you. And then things will be as they should be."
Works every time!



9 comments:

  1. I can SO related! haha! As soon as I sit down, it's like a beacon for Corbie. Within a minute or less she is pushing my book or blanket I am crocheting out of her way. My lap is her domain. =)

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  2. Love it! 😂😂 "Persistence overcomes resistance!"

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  3. OMG! ROTFLOL because this is our Guinevere all over (except for the petite part)…You described it so well that I even had to forward it to my DH at work. :-) Guinevere is definitely an expert in this stealth, as you say "Lucy seems to believe that if a cat body part moves slowly enough, humans cannot see it." Again, totally LOL

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  4. Cats are relentless especially when warmth and comfort are involved.

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  5. OH, and this is interesting… My long-time friend, who comes from a family of cat-people and who has had multiple cats (upwards of 10 rescues at various points in all shapes and sizes) her entire life, has never lived with a Stealth Cat! Can you believe it?!

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  6. Very nice! I need a stealth cat to teach my Maine Coons how to be light on their feet. (they think they are spry, Ha!) I normally cannot stay focused on things I read on the internet, I have a trigger mouse finger, but somehow you get me to stick around, so thank you.

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