Actually, this behavior may not be confined to cats.

A long time ago, when I had a cat, I had to move four times in a year. All of these places were in the same(ish) neighbourhood. (A couple of bays around, in most cases – I was living by the sea.) The cat used to sleep on my bed, and each time I moved, as soon as I made the bed he’d sniff it carefully, making sure the bedspread smelt and felt just right. Then he’d disappear for a day or two. When he came back, he’d usually have a new rip in his ear, from establishing his territory, I guess. He’d make a beeline for the bed, have a very long nap, and after that all would be fine.

The fourth time I moved he figured out a way to make the local cats leap off the balcony, and didn’t get any new rips in his ears. I think he did it by mistake the first time. He was chased to the end of the balcony, and stopped suddenly when he remembered the long drop at the end (the balcony started flush to the hill but the other end was pretty high off the ground – it was a steep hill). The other cat flew off the end, landing noisily in a tree. But the next two times I’m SURE he did it on purpose. That was three times in ONE EVENING. I’ve never had a cat put on such wonderful after dinner entertainment as that evening – I had friends around, and we were admiring the view from the big windows. It was funny enough the first time Jonathan raced past with another cat after him and screeched to a halt (and then peered off the end of the balcony to watch the other cat crash). By the third time we were howling.

People say cats can’t learn, but I reckon if a new trick is interesting enough and funny enough they’ll learn it really fast.

The cat has pretty much settled in, though she had a couple of days when she was showing considerable stress. She still tends to start calling in the middle of the night. “Are you still there??, Please?”. We made her a bed out of a wicker hamper before we left. I think it helped.

When I try to imagine moving from this place, which we’ve been in for more than fifteen years, dread leads me rapidly to the ‘light a match and run’ type of scenario.

How is the cat? Is the cat there yet? If the cat is fine and funny then everything else becomes bearable.