How about another detail that is a kind of celebration for us cats? I think you humans refer to it as “kneading,” although in our minds that is not the correct term to be used at all. You know what I’m talking about, right?
It takes place when you’re sitting in a comfy chair and we jump up and begin to move around our front paws most often on your tummy region, totally absorbed in this pleasing activity. Well, there is no kneading involved here, I’ll have you know, but rather, this is our happy dance!
Yeah, we’re dancing, showing clearly and openly how thrilled we are that you are in the house and that we can spend some time with you.
Dance, dance, dance. Left paw, right paw, left paw, right paw, one-two, one-two, one-two. Do you see how it goes? Isn’t it great!
We’ve got our body and mind synchronized for this celebration of the loving union of our two species. And as you may know, we can carry on with these enjoyable movements for an extended period if the moment urges us to do so and we are permitted to continue uninterrupted.
With experience though, I have become aware that I need to be a bit careful with my happy dancing in relation to a couple of key factors. First, if my caretaker happens to have some rather thin-material clothing covering up her midsection, it seems that my left-paw, right-paw action with my extended claws appears to cause her a certain discomfort or even pain, especially when I’m into a heavy-dance mode.
Please believe me, that is not my intention. I guess the humans’ skin tends to be overly sensitive to the sliding of my pointy objects over that thin and delicate covering they have on their bodies, and that is the source of the problem. Sorry about that, but no hard feelings, okay?
Secondly, ignoring the thinness or thickness of the particular piece of material that I’m dancing on, I’ve also learned that certain things the humans put on are considered to be for every-day or casual wear, whereas others are designated as more formal or even designer, exclusive kinds of stuff.
In these latter cases, whether my claws are roughing up their skin or not, I’ve been surprisingly scolded for “destroying their expensive blouse, shirt, and so on.” It seems that my very original, decorative modifications made in the form of little holes or slits in their clothing are simply not appreciated.
I innocently assumed that this wouldn’t matter since this should make their designer things even more original. It turns out that there are limits to the creativity desired on their part, and therefore the secondary effects of my delightful dancing are not valued.
Such is life. I do hope though that you will allow us to continue with this valued tradition and showing our affection. For our part, we’ll try to not be so strong with our claws and be more aware of what kind of clothing you are wearing when we get the uncontrollable urge to… dance, dance, dance!