From the Desk of the Editor....
Dear Fellow Feline Fancier . . .August, 1999
THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THIS NEWSLETTER ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR/CONTRIBUTOR AND NOT THOSE OF MENSA, WHICH HAS NO OPINIONS.
Well, it's finally OVER! We moved into our new home on August 17; and our babies came in on the 19th. They survived the ordeal better than we did, I think! Although it took them a good 24 hours to start being themselves. Usually, when we get back from vacations, and bring them home, they're all over the place. This time, from a cage to a new environment, I think they were a little frightened. Roberta, our eldest, went on a hunger strike at the vet's. So the receptionist was feeding her people tuna with relish and braised ground beef. That she'd eat. So when we picked her up, the vet warned us to keep an eye on her. First thing in the door and she's looking for food. She gobbled down half a can of her own food! I think she was just mad and was voicing her opinion about this entire "cage" thing. We're not settled in yet and a good portion of the upgrades are yet to be completed, but we're in, its' comfortable, we have the babies, cable is hooked up . . . what else could one ask for?!
Our sympathies go out to Wanda Shelton, Deer Park, TX, on the loss of her precious Rovie, who died in early June. He was over 16 years old.
Norman Whaland, New York, writes . . . Oddly, cat books make little or no mention of cats' athletic ability. I found my Pumpkin's jumping very impressive. The African wildcat, ancestor of the domestic cat, must spend a lot of time in trees.
When Pumpkin jumped up onto a surface, her paws barely cleared it. She never misjudged and hit the side of the object. She had to accurately determine the location of he surface and then accurately judge the amount of force needed to put the paws in position. These are nontrivial problems, as you would find if you tried to build a robot to do it.
Jumping onto the rim of the sink was a more complicated task, but only once, when Pumpkin was dying, did I hear the scrape of claws on the rim, indicating that she had misjudged. She had to position her paws precisely horizontally as well as vertically. In addition she had to push off in such a way as to rotate her body through 90 decrees in order to bring her hind paws onto the rim.
One day Pumpkin flew into a rage because a cat was on the fire escape. In her rages she would attack anything that moved, including me. When I reached up to draw the shade, she leaped in such a way that she ended up hanging upside down for my arm by all four paws. She had to not only turn herself upside down I mid air but also rotate to match the slant of my arm.
I suspect that I saw only a small part of her potential. It's likely that cats can jump in such a way as to put their paws in any desired position. It's an outstanding ability. I never saw Pumpkin muff a jump in her prime.
Yours, in love of cats,
Marianne
