Conference misery::feline_v1

    Ours ALL like to jump into the trash cans, no matter WHAT the size.
    Just to make the time worthwhile, they never forget to empty them
    before leaving for another adventure.
    
    The first thing Lucy does on a hot day is race to the bathroom and
    curl up in one of the sinks (the small, oval type - just her size).
    She may be the only one to keep her cool!
    
    She also likes jumping onto/into the clothes hamper.  The other
    day, when she wouldn't leave it, I just gave up, threw my shirt in on 
    top of her, closed the hamper, and went about a few chores in the 
    vicinity.  Not hearing a peep, I opened the top to find her sitting 
    there, calm as you please, looking up at me.  I gave her a lift out, 
    which she seemed to be waiting for, and she was happy as a clam.

    Gary

    Sherlock will climb into anything - no matter how small.  He frequently
    tries to get into a Glenlivet box (the box is just large enough to hold
    a 1 litre bottle of Glenlivet scotch - Sherlock weighs 12 pounds).  He
    manages to get his head in, and usually gets it stuck.  He then shakes
    it around until it falls off his head.  Then tries again!
    
    

    Cho Cho did the very same thing this week-end climbed into the small
    bathroom wastebasket that I had left out in the dining room  she
    then started to check the dog out and everytime the dog came close
    to the basked she would shring down and you couldn't see her.  She
    looked like a jack in the box shringing down  and then coming up
    when she thought it was safe.  We spent quite some time watching
    and laughing. Animals are so funny.

    Shnitzel loves the clothes basket.  While I'm folding clothes she'll
    sit patiently until the last item is barely out of the basket and
    hop in.  If I'm hanging clothes outside on the line, she'll rub
    up against the basket (maybe trying to get them out quicker) and
    tip it a few times.  As soon is it is empty she hops in, curls up
    and looks at me as if to say "Now what are you going to do about
    that?"  I pick up the basket, Schnitz and all, and walk back to
    the house.....she does have a look of surprise on her face at first,
    but then she realizes she's enjoying it and, I swear, if she could,
    she'd giggle!
    
    She also loves paper bags, especially the crinkly kind, boxes of
    any size and crawling under the chest in the living room, which
    she needs to "puddle out" to get under.
    
    P.
    

    
    
    	Puddle out!!!  Thats funny!  I can picture it cause I've
    	seen Bandit do it, but T.K. is much too dignified for
    	such a thing.  I wonder if he knows he is sooooo funny.
    	I've always called T.K. my comedien because he seems
    	so "cool" and "dignified" but he always does the funniest
    	things!!!  Its almost as if he knows he is a riot!
    

    
    Sammie loves to play and curl up in the washing basket but Dillan....
    he loves to get into anything - he sleeps in the dirty laundry bin,
    he will try to get into shoe boxes and sleep but most of all he
    loves to climb inside of carrier bags, curl up and go to sleep which
    worries me as I am frightened he will suffocate....but he loves
    it and gets most upset when I tip him out!!!! (oh mum I was asleep!!)
    
    It's just like having my own two clowns.
    
    Sharon
    

   
    This weekend, our mailbox was knocked down by some boys with a bat.
    We went out and bought a new one on Tuesday.  It was sitting on
    the floor with the front open.  Of course, old nosey Tabbatha has
    to go and investigate.  She crawled inside the mail box and layed
    down!  Then after a while, she tried to get out and couldn't figure
    out how.  She was so funny trying to wiggle her way back out of
    the mailbox!
    
    
    Holly
    
    

    
    
    	I was relating my T.K. stories to my mother last night and
    	she told me that Cinamon does similar things.  He is 
    	especially fun at Christmas because he has to get into
    	every box and try it out.  She told me about the time
    	he decided to get in the napkin holder.  I guess it was
    	hysterical since a 15 pound cat cannot fit in a napkin
    	holder.  She said he got his bottom in it though.
    
    	Bandit has taken to sleeping in the bathroom sink....
        I found him there for the first time last night.  What a
    	cutie!
    
    	Karen

                                               
    Another thing Dillan does is to hide his head and the top of his
    body under a newspaper in the floor and his rear end and tail are
    sticking out but because he can't see us he thinks we can't see
    him under there and gets most upset when you tickle his tail.  (How
    did you know I was under here mum?????)
    
    Sharon
    
    P.S This note totally destroys the theory that cats will only go 
    through gaps that are wider than their whiskers!!!!

Nickie, my thin male is always getting into snug little corners of the
world.  I was awakened the other night by a thumping sound in my bedroom....
when I looked up, there was Nick with his head firmly stuck in a partially
empty square kleenex box, trying to shake the box off, and banging it
around in the process.  I was laughing so hard I couldn't get it together
enough to help him at first...I finally grabbed the box so he could
pull his head loose and stomp off with a "yoda cat" expression on his
face.  My roommate asked what I had been cackling hysterically at the
night before....it was hard to explain with a straight face.

    The aforementioned Lucy also has a favorite napping place when it's
    cooler.  My wife has a small wooden desk with one pedestal containing
    three drawers, each approximately 3 inches high.  For some reason,
    the inside wall of the pedestal doesn't go to the bottom of the
    desktop.  It leaves a gap of under 2� inches into the side of the
    top drawer.  There is a skirt on the front of the desk, so the gap
    is not visible from the front.  We searched high and low for Lucy
    one day - over an hour.  We literally tore the house apart - closets,
    basement (where they aren't allowed anyway), inside the box springs
    (another favorite kitty hiding place - through the gauze and up
    on the boards!), - everywhere.  We only found her when Janet tried
    to get a piece of writing paper from the drawer, and it wouldn't
    open.  When Lucy is inside, it can't be opened because she expands
    into the space above the drawer.  The only way is to let her come
    out of her own accord.  We are just waiting for her to put on some
    weight so this will no longer be a problem.
    
    Gary

    My Patch is long and thin.  She loves to get into, around and behind
    things.  One of her favorite places is behind the kitchen stove.
    The other night, my husband and I had been out and when we came in the
    house, we could hear Patch crying.  We searched the house and found
    her behind the stove.  Now this is not an unusual place for her
    to go, but Patch is pregnant and due to have a litter any day now.
    I guess she just didn't realize that she doesn't have the shape
    she used to for fitting in to narrow places.
    
    J
     

    Ok gang, I knew I shouldn't have read this note with a hurtin' back.
    It kills me to laugh.
    
    Yes all my babies love to get into the darndest places.
    
    Deja is TERRIFIED of young children and hides behind Lynda's bookcase
    when one is in the house.  There is less than 3 inches but she manages
    to get behind and out from.
    
    Deja and Lightning both love boxes and bags.  I don't care how SMALL
    the box is but Lightning will definitely try to fit in.  Deja loves
    the dryer, especially when the clothes has just finished drying
    and I am TRYING to fold it.  I always do check before I close the
    door to make sure she isn't still in there.  Deja and Lightning
    both love open drawers.  One time Lynda couldn't close a draw and
    couldn't figure out why.  Lightning was behind it.
    
    Thunder hasn't really found a favorite box, bag, or place to hide
    in yet.  She just loves to SNEAK out the back door when I'm trying
    to get the dog in.  Did you EVER try to SEE an all black kitten
    in the dark??
    
    Sandi (Lightning's, DejaVu's & Thunder's mom)
    
    

    Hershey will find the most impossible places to get in to.  Her
    favorite place is *inside* a recliner.  We have to check it before
    anyone sits in it.  Because she has a dark face and tail, it's hard
    to find her in there sometimes.  When she was a kitten, we found
    she had crawled under the dishwasher.  She got all scared and stuck
    and dirty, etc.  Well, wouldn't you know, the minute we blocked
    it up after we got her out, she cried to get back in!  We have also
    found her between the fridge and counter (about 2 inches accross),
    under the furnace and in the droped ceiling.
    

    Eirene and Panther also hide under/inside the recliner, usually
    in pounce or tail-zap position. 
    
    Deb

    This morning I found Oscar in the window.  We had the window open
    only 3 inches just in case it rains today.  Oscar usually sits in
    that window sill to watch the neighbors bird feeder.  Well today,
    he climbed through the crack and was standing on his hind paws between
    the window and the screen.
    
    How he maneuvers himself into such positions is beyond me.  What
    a contortionist!

    The other day Ken and I were getting ready to take Lyscentia and
    Kalliste to a show.  We had everything packed except for the cats,
    so I rounded them up and stuck them in their carriers.  
    
    Lyscentia is only 6 months old and weighs about 7 pounds so I put
    her in the small carrier and put the gargantuan Kalliste in the
    big carrier.  Ken picks up the two carriers and proceeds to chastise
    me for cramming poor Kalliste into the small carrier!  Meanwhile
    the small carrier is careening about in Ken's hand.  
    
    I take the small carrier and open it up and there is poor Lyscentia
    squished into the back corner, with Tilly (aka "the pig"), rolling
    luxuriously around in front of her! 
    
    Tilly has a thing for small tight places.  She also has a thing
    for carriers.  Our problem is, that whenever we leave the house
    with a carrier now, we have to check for our little stowaway.  What
    a suprise it would have been to get to the show and discover we
    had an extra cat with us.
    
    Jo