So Is There Any Particular Reason Why You're Sitting In The Litter Box?

A few days ago, I'm sitting at the computer, when I hear a voice from the other room. "Cleo, what are you doing?" I walk over and find the smaller of my two black cats sitting in the litterbox. Not doing or planning anything, just relaxing. It's like lounging on the couch watching TV. If the couch was a toilet.

It's not the fact that she was sitting in the litterbox that's so bizarre so much as if anyone was to do it. . . she's the one I would least expect to behave in such a way. For the most part, she's a fairly calm, composed, and collected little feline. I wouldn't say snobby, more like high class. She refuses to drink from the water bowl, like the other cats do. No, she'll only enjoy a refreshing drink straight from the running tap.

The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized that she is kind of weird. Now, don't get me wrong, all cats are weird. That's the purpose of this blog. But she's pretty exceptional. She's also pretty. You better tell her that. Right now.

Are you ever minding your own business, in your own little world, doing your own thing, when you suddenly feel that someone is watching you? You feel the eyes on the back of your head, you get nervous, you start to look around. Then you see a little cat staring at you, mouth and nose lost in her black face, only her large, unblinking eyes gazing at you? Into your very soul?

This happens to me on a regular basis. I'll be watching TV or working on the computer or eating my noms and I'll turn to see her staring at me. Now, I'm not being paranoid. I know the difference between looking at something and staring at it. And she is definitely staring at me. With morbid curiosity.

Imagine if you came across an animal you'd never seen before. You don't know what to call it or feed it, you just know that it breathes and makes noise. What is it? What's it supposed to be? Who's responsible for this train wreck?

Her diligent observation leads me to believe that she was sent here as a sort of cat zoologist (but we're on the other side of the bars). Cat zoologists study and observe our behavior, then report their findings back to the mother ship. I don't know what they use this research for - perhaps they use it to enrich their understanding of Planet Earth. Or maybe they use it to pinpoint our weaknesses.