Do a Study on This

It's human nature to want to know why our beloved pets do the things they do. "Are Cats Smarter Than Dogs?" "Cats Can Hear You Calling Their Name:  They Don't Care." "A Cat's Purr Has a Healing and Destressing Effect." "Having a Pet Reduces the Chance of Kids Getting Allergies." "Pet Owners Have Naturally Lower Cholesterol and Heart Rates." These are some of the studies done with pets. If you've had pets in your life for a long time, you know these titles are true and probably rolled your eyes that money was spent on the study.

The Norwegian study on cats knowing you're calling them but just don't care was a particular eye-roll. Pilchard does that. I know she can't have gotten out, but I don't know where she is and she isn't coming when called and I'm starting to worry and what if she's stuck somewhere and I don't find her and...there she is. She's behind the recliner, just sitting there, looking at me as if to say, "I'm right here. I know where I am. I don't know why you're getting all panicked."

Here's something I want someone to study.

I went through the closet this morning, to get a shirt for a run to the grocery. Pilchard is lying at the foot of the bed. Why is it that she moves to lay on top of the clean clothes? I could see lying on something I've worn because it has my scent on it, but you can see these two shirts are still on the hangers. She got up and plopped herself down on top of the clean shirts.

Do you suppose it's scent related? Could she be attracted to the scent of the fabric softener? I usually try to use unscented but I'm sure there are subtle smells my far less sensitive nose can pick up. Are the clean clothes softer? She loves it when I bring clothes up from the basement and dump a pile on the bed. Both her and Mija will make nests in pile. In the morning, when I lay out my work clothes, someone jumps onto the bed and lies on them. If I want them to move, I just need to pull out a clean tee shirt and sit it at the end of them bed. The offender willingly moves to the new article of clothing. Why?

We cat owners joke that the reason our cats lie on the clean laundry is because they can tell it has no fur on it and that it's important we leave the house wearing something from our cats. I'm curious why cats do this. I don't know how you'd test for it, but it would be interesting to know.

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