My juvenile cat Peanut’s weird habit of scrubbing at invisible ghosts is getting stronger and stronger. He’s doing it more often, for up to half a minute at a time. In front of him, overhead, to one side or the other – there’s phantoms everywhere, and he’s going to keep at it till he snags 'em!
Once in a while he dabs at the side of his face, or an ear. Made me wonder whether there’s some kind of physical cause, so I brought him in to see the vet. Dr. Anderson gave him a good going over and pronounced him healthy, with no signs of anything amiss aurally or optically that she could find. Other than being a potbellied neutronium-dense twelve pounds in a nine-pound-cat suit, he’s just bursting with health.
And yet this behavior goes on. And on. And on. Dr. Anderson thought there was a chance it could be neurological, a form of seizure, but the fact that I can snap him out of it with any small distraction (like poking his potbelly) argues against that.
So he’s mental. Which, actually, is Dr. Anderson’s other hypothesis, and one that makes sense: He’s developed an obsessive-compulsive behavior, like cribbing or windsucking by a horse, that gives him a nice little endorphin rush. Unless another explanation surfaces, I can go with that.
Thanks to the (to me) newly discovered wonders of Windows Movie Maker, I’ve been able to stitch together a bunch of snippets into a 2:20 minute movie, duly posted on YouTube. I still haven’t acquired the ability to overlay a soundtrack, but I was thinking “Ride of the Valkyries” might do nicely.
Our calico does something like that, usually when there’s a bug or something she can’t get to. Sometimes its for no reason at all. But she sticks her hands together so she looks like she’s praying. Maybe he’s playing with the dust motes? He looks so puzzled.
Have you shown the vet the video? What an odd fellow! Am I the only one to exclaim about how much muscle he appears to have built up doing that? Look at those “wings”! (Shoulderblades.) Is he actually slimming down due to this activity? Could it be that he’s just decided that’s how he wants to excercise?
Zabali, yes, I had those videos on my digital camera and showed them to Dr. Anderson, because, really, would you believe it from merely a verbal description?
OMG, you really need to find some good music to add to that video. I couldn’t decide if the cat looked more like it was playing in an air band or conducting an orchestra.
I love the compilation. I was wondering whether it might be something neurological. Glad to hear it’s just a quirk. I think it looks like Peanut is scratching his invisible friend’s back.
Now to train him to tolerate having his paws dipped in non-toxic fingerpaint, and to do those motions upon a canvas! You could get rich selling “crazy cat” artwork!
I was going to say that he looks like he’s conducting a symphony orchestra. Turn on some music and see if he does it to music. His timing looks pretty good.
