As I mentioned in my last post (Where's the Cat?), I soon established myself as the boss of the house. It’s really quite an easy feat. I simply parked myself on any and all horizontal surfaces, high or low, leaving remnants of my sleek coat wherever I lay.
Although confined to the indoors, my new home proved a delight for an athletic feline such as myself. Amazed at my leaping abilities, the humans gaped as I investigated the tops of cupboards, refrigerators, and tall pieces of furniture. A few feeble attempts to remove me were soon aborted as my cowering skills allowed me to wither just beyond reach. It surely helped that they were still a bit wary of me. A lesser feline may have warmed to them more quickly, but I was close to having them right where I wanted them.
In addition to the leaping opportunities, I discovered a route to keep my sprinting skills honed. If I began my run at the farthest end of the kitchen, I could gain momentum down the hallway, bank off the wall at the bottom of the stairs and catapult myself to the sixth step, thus maintaining my speed as I ascended the rest of the stairway. Taking a sharp left at the top, then a sharp right, I would sprint down another hallway, through the open bedroom door, and once again bank off the wall propelling myself back in the direction from whence I came.
Retracing my route, I had two options at the bottom of the stairs. I liked to change this up, just to keep the humans off guard. I could return to the farthest end of the kitchen and repeat the route, or make a sharp left, leap to the top of the sofas and sprint across the tops of the furniture, catapult to the adjacent recliner, drop to the floor and race to the start of my course.
I repeated these maneuvers up to six times, depending on the engagement and amazement level of the humans. The physical fitness benefits were simply a byproduct of my efforts to train the humans.
I am happy to report they were quickly learning who was boss!