but I admire you trying to figure out what your cat is trying to communicate.

to me.

When she was just a kitten, she was playing with a ball that is attached to an elastic cord. Usually, I swing and bounce the ball around for her to swing at and "catch." But that day I was at the kitchen table, in a hurry to finish a shopping list and get to the store before it closed, so I ignored her. She did meow a couple times to get my attention, but I rushed out the door.

When I got home, the ball was in the middle of the kitchen table, sitting on the note pad that I'd been using. The message was very clear.

will probably answer most of your questions.

outdoors in her carrier for a couple hours while some maintence work was being done inside my apartment. The idea was for both of us to be out of the way.

Both times the weather was good. I sat on a bench in tge yard with her carrier next to me. People stopped to peek at her and some of my apartment neighbors were walking their dogs, so Ember and the dogs met. She totally enjoyed the experience, so maybe she is asking for a repeat. Her carrier is a boxy, hard plastic thing, too hard to carry around, but with a backpack, I could take her out more easily.

I've found cat toys in food bowls from time to time; I think they put them there as their pretend food. As to the door levers, cats learn by imitating. Maybe she wants to go out, or maybe she's just imitating you opening the door. One of my cats figured out how doorknobs worked by watching me - he'd reach up and try to turn them, but lacking thumbs he never succeeded. Sometimes when I was in the bathroom with the door shut I'd hear the doorknob rattle; then, when that didn't work, he'd just stick a paw under the door and try to pull it open.

Last edited Tue Aug 22, 2023, 11:38 AM - Edit history (1)

I've never seen her attack Chickie.

Ember used to have a stuffed cat (Fluffy) when she was about 3 months old. She dragged Fluffy around everywhere with her, which was always funny to see since Fluffy was the same size as Ember so she tripped over Fluffy while dragging her around.

But when Ember was 6 months old, Fluffy became her prey. Ember would place Fluffy behind a footstool, then walk away and come back to the stool in a stalking posture. When she pounced, she went straight for the neck and gave a hard shake that would have snapped the neck of a real animal. It was so calculated and ruthless that I felt relieved to have Ember on my side.

Once that hunting phase passed, she lost all interest in Fluffy, who never again went back to being just a companion.

but from day one with Ember, when she was only 9 weeks old, it was already evident to me that she is the quirkiest, cleverest, and most amusing one that I've known.