In 2001, Crafty Cat readers were invited to tell us about their cats’ favourite places to rest, sleep and keep a watchful eye on the world. The answers were affectionate, funny and wonderfully familiar.
Most cats have a favoured cushion or a reliable patch of sunshine. Others have rather more individual ideas. Looking back through the original Crafty Cat site, I found this collection of reader stories about the places their cats had claimed as their own.
The smaller, the better
Louise’s four year old ginger tabby, Clyde, loved curling up on plastic bags and squeezing himself into small boxes, including puzzle boxes that appeared far too tiny for him.
“The only way to get him to settle is to place a plastic bag, a magazine or a box anywhere you want—and he will run to it.”
Nanda’s cat shared Clyde’s enthusiasm for cramped quarters. At the computer, he would lie between the keyboard and whoever was trying to use it: not always helpful, but always warm. When the family once collected him after a holiday, they eventually found their very large cat on top of the cages, tucked into the smallest basket left by another owner.
Even the vet thought his travelling carrier looked too small. He, apparently, disagreed. The smaller the space, the better.
Cuini, always looking for a new hiding place
Macarena, writing from Chile, told us that Cuini loved small, concealed places—but also enjoyed sitting on top of the computer monitor while somebody was working.
“She is always looking for new places to hide, especially inside closets, bags and cardboard boxes. It doesn’t matter if they are small; she always manages to get in there.”
Tigger and the plant-pot saucer
Diana’s cat Tigger slept in all sorts of odd places. His latest discovery was a plant-pot saucer that had been left behind when its plant was moved into the garden. Diana returned indoors to find him neatly installed in it.
Tigger was not a small cat, but, as the photograph proves, that did not stop him enjoying the challenge of fitting himself into a much smaller space.
The warmest machines in the house
Jennifer, from Cape Town, shared her home with three Siamese cats who loved sleeping on top of the video recorder and its two stacked decoders. Sometimes two cats would balance there together. The nearby television offered another warm perch and an excellent view of the room.
Misty, the youngest and smallest of the three, preferred sitting solemnly on top of the computer while Jennifer typed. Cosmo, her large ginger tabby, stretched out on the polished dining table, or, in summer, lay on his back directly beneath the overhead fan with all four legs in the air.
The strawberry plant that never stood a chance
Kate’s cat chose the small flowerpot on top of a strawberry plant as her favourite place to lie. The arrangement suited the cat perfectly, but the plant rather less so: every flower was squashed, and the family had gone without strawberries for several years.
Sinks, buckets and antique cupboards
Lara wrote about Midnite, Majik, Merlyn and Melisante. Majik was the most inventive, sleeping in the bathroom sink, on the lid of the laundry basket or in a bucket, “and the wetter the better”. When the cats were younger, they climbed inside desk drawers to hide. Their enduring favourite, however, was the top of the antique cupboards.
Looking back, twenty five years later
The technology in these stories and the fuzzy pictures dates them beautifully: warm video recorders, bulky computer monitors and stacks of television decoders. The cats themselves feel entirely contemporary.
A small enclosed space can offer warmth and security. A high perch provides a view of what is happening below. A keyboard, magazine or freshly placed bag smells of us and reliably puts a cat at the centre of our attention. Sometimes, of course, a cat simply chooses a place because it is there - and because we would never have chosen it for them.
“The surroundings have changed. The feline logic remains impeccable.”
These little accounts capture something I still love about sharing life with cats - their ability to turn the most ordinary household object into a treasured retreat, and to make us notice it anew.