Up, Up and Away

Rafa has finally made it to the top of the kitchen cabinets, a place he’s been striving to reach since he first saw Zanzi and Treacle jump seemingly effortlessly up there many weeks ago.

And now he’s found a novel way to reach the top too. Seizing an opportunity and with complete disregard for the possible damage his claws can inflict, he uses us as a stepping stone. He climbs straight up his human, onto the shoulders, the top of the head and from there it is only a short leap to the top of the cabinets. At last! Another ambition realised.

It’s lucky that neither of the torties was up there already or a furious paw might have send him hurtling back down again much more quickly than anticipated. Instead he’s able to explore alone.

But having achieved the dizzy heights he finds there is nothing much of interest up there, no toys, nothing to bat about from paw to paw as he has in abundance at ground level. And so, as Tolstoy observed in Anna Karenina:
‘The realization of his longing showed him the eternal error men make by imagining that happiness consists in the gratification of their wishes. …Soon he felt rising in his soul a desire for desires—boredom.’

Clearly this applies to cats as well as to mankind. Within minutes he wants to come back down again.

As with his very first tree-climbing endeavours he discovers that coming down is more challenging than he’d anticipated. He prowls along the top, along to the far side and back again looking for the best route down. He tries sliding down the glossy cupboard doors, changes his mind and recovers his balance. After several unsuccessful attempts he finds a place where he believes he can reach the worktop, finally commits himself, slithers down and lands in an untidy heap (luckily not in a greasy pan), after which he rights himself and jumps to the floor.

And then, of course, he wants to try it again. Another spring up to the top via handily positioned humans and this time he discovers a new way of getting down – via the kitchen door.

From there, a few careful steps and a bounce down to a convenient shelf.

Now he’s discovered he can get up by the same route. Jump onto the shelf, make a calculated leap onto the top of the open door, creating a momentum that swings the door towards the cabinets. Another quick bound to the top before he loses his balance. For the moment, boredom is suspended while he practises this technique several times over, each time with increasing confidence.

Then it’s off to Poppy’s soft bed by the Aga for a well-deserved rest.

Poor Zanzi and Treacle. Their place of retreat to escape that cheeky little ginger hooligan has been violated. Now they’ll get no peace.