Alan's Blogcast

A Homage to James Thurber

Alan

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A homage to James Thurber, by way of thanks..

SPEAKER_00

A homage to James Thurber, The Cat in the Attic. The author Terry Pratchett once opined, in ancient times, cats were worshipped as gods, they have not forgotten us.

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Mr.

SPEAKER_00

Pratchett was ineluctably correct on that score, which has been a bone of contention for felines ever since. For the most part, humans failed to grasp this fundamental notion, instead preferring to live out their own master servant illusion. Generally mewing, the net result is organized and forced training for us four legged creatures, a series of misfortunes we tolerate with ancient and long suffering Elan. In particular, humans need help with three concepts play, petting, and catflaps. We look forward to hearing from you. Answer The short answer can be found in Woody Allen's I know, I know, I know. The longer answer is predicated on the axiom that most humans live in awe of themselves, inhabiting a pre Copernican universe where the elf earth revolves around them. So disabusing them of this pedestal of privilege can be very tricky, but could be managed with some equally tricky slate of hand strategies. Namely one, humans tend to think the own the ground rules of play, so shifting the ground becomes imperative. This can be achieved by random but planned play boycotts, inviting them to model correct play by chasing toy mice skins of wool, etc. And when all else fails, try uncontrolled scratching. Two, establish clear petting zones and times, changing them now and again to keep humans confused. And three, repeatedly show humans the exit and entrance points in the house. Eventually, they will get the idea that they're supposed to be the cat flaps.