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Ratso, the cat who understands human time
Mar. 22nd, 2004 11:29 pmRatso, our 10-year old cat, wakes us up at 5:10 every morning. I'm not really sure when it occurs since it's hard for my eyes to focus at that hour, but it's sometime around five. Her routine proceeds as such: if the door is shut, she meows, scratches and rakes the door till we wake up. Sometimes, I believe she actually charges her entire body into the door because I wake up to the sound of *thump...thump...thump*, and it's the sound of her little body crumpling against the door. And other times, I wake up to the frightening sound of the door knob jiggling and think Freddy Kruger is here to get me (I know, he strikes at night, not at dawn).
Almost every night, though, we leave the door slightly ajar (I don't like waking up to the sound of a cat's body making contact with the door, yes), and at five o'clock, she daintily walks into the room (she is one of those cats with an air of nonchalance and anger at all creatures ever created), jumps on the bed, and claws us till we wake up. She nudges, cries, pushes, licks, and even pats you on the nose with her paw. It does not matter that neither of us have to go to work till 8 am. But do you know what is most surprising?
This cat, Ratso, understands daylight's savings. You would think when that comes around, she'd be thrown off by an hour, because perhaps this strange behavior is triggered by a chiming grandfather clock (we have none), by observing the sun rise (though she wakes us up religiously at 5:10 whether it is summer or winter, so it's not triggered by light conditions outside) or by counting the ticking sounds made by a clock (we secretly think she reads the digital clock). But miraculously, when we humans spring forward or fall back, Ratso does so too. The very next morning, like magic, she wakes you up-- at 5:10. Anyone got any ideas?
This post, by the way, was triggered because we made lasagna for dinner today. I set the microwave timer for 30 minutes and went upstairs to surf the internet. Next thing we know, Ratso runs up the stairs, bolts into the computer room, sits at my feet, and starts meowing. *Meow... meow... meow... meow.. meow. meow. meow. meow. meow. meowmeowmeowmeow*
Thirty minutes had passed! "The lasagna!" B exclaims, and Ratso, upon hearing this (I kid you not), gets to her feet, and with one last look over her shoulder at us, runs down the stairs to the kitchen, and waits by the microwave, which had, when I looked at the time, gone off just a minute before. (The great thing is it wasn't the smell of burnt food because the lasagna wasn't ready, so we had to set the timer for another 10 minutes, but somehow she knows that I set the microwave timer for a reason). She also doesn't eat human food, so it isn't conditioning to knowing that's what triggers her next meal.
Almost every night, though, we leave the door slightly ajar (I don't like waking up to the sound of a cat's body making contact with the door, yes), and at five o'clock, she daintily walks into the room (she is one of those cats with an air of nonchalance and anger at all creatures ever created), jumps on the bed, and claws us till we wake up. She nudges, cries, pushes, licks, and even pats you on the nose with her paw. It does not matter that neither of us have to go to work till 8 am. But do you know what is most surprising?
This cat, Ratso, understands daylight's savings. You would think when that comes around, she'd be thrown off by an hour, because perhaps this strange behavior is triggered by a chiming grandfather clock (we have none), by observing the sun rise (though she wakes us up religiously at 5:10 whether it is summer or winter, so it's not triggered by light conditions outside) or by counting the ticking sounds made by a clock (we secretly think she reads the digital clock). But miraculously, when we humans spring forward or fall back, Ratso does so too. The very next morning, like magic, she wakes you up-- at 5:10. Anyone got any ideas?
This post, by the way, was triggered because we made lasagna for dinner today. I set the microwave timer for 30 minutes and went upstairs to surf the internet. Next thing we know, Ratso runs up the stairs, bolts into the computer room, sits at my feet, and starts meowing. *Meow... meow... meow... meow.. meow. meow. meow. meow. meow. meowmeowmeowmeow*
Thirty minutes had passed! "The lasagna!" B exclaims, and Ratso, upon hearing this (I kid you not), gets to her feet, and with one last look over her shoulder at us, runs down the stairs to the kitchen, and waits by the microwave, which had, when I looked at the time, gone off just a minute before. (The great thing is it wasn't the smell of burnt food because the lasagna wasn't ready, so we had to set the timer for another 10 minutes, but somehow she knows that I set the microwave timer for a reason). She also doesn't eat human food, so it isn't conditioning to knowing that's what triggers her next meal.
